Make ten-thousand tulips bloom!

On October 7, a fine autumn Sunday, some seventy community residents and volunteers got together at the Kamikama fureai(interacting each other) park located at west end of the city of Ishinomaki. They planted ten-thousand bulbs of tulips in the park with the support of FELISSIMO CORP. funds office.

Many disaster victims were temporary buried in this park because of the shortage of space to lay out remains in the aftermath of the disaster. That's why some people have mixed emotions toward the resumption of the park. But officials in charge prioritized bringing playground back to children and decided to resume the park, after a long and careful consideration of whether to resume the park or not. The renovation work on the park started this April and finally it began to open for public from October. There used to be many cherry trees and azaleas in the park but they had been damaged by the tsunami and cut down. That's why this planting event was organized.

【Bulbs sent from the Netherlands, flower kingdom】



Bulbs are planted carefully so that they might sprout and bloom beautifully.

【If bulbs are planted in the same direction, they sprout leafs on a level with each other and bloom beautifully.】





At lunchtime, local women served participants imoni(hotpot of taro), a traditional dish to celebrate the autumn harvest in Miyagi prefecture. They are women who helped JEN in preparing meals outdoors at Kamikama area as an emergency first aid treatment right after the disaster. Volunteers enjoyed a pleasant time with them over imoni.

【Happy time over Imoni(hotpot of taro)】






【They also plant Azalea, city flower.】



【They have got planting finished by 3 p.m. Good job, today!】



Blessed with good weather, they were able to get scheduled work finished. You participants did a good job, today. Children have very few places to play after the disaster because many parks or town squares have been damaged by the disaster and even survived ones were used to build temporary housing. The renovated park has a basketball court and an artificial turf field and so a lot of children visit the park almost every day.





It's expected to hold a festival hosted by local neighborhood association, titled "'Fureai-Hiroba festival to 'Revive Kamikama'(a festival providing an opportunity for residents to interact each other and renew their resolve to revive Kamikama)", in celebration of the resumption of the park. There used to be some 1,000 households in Kamikama area before the disaster, but now no more than 400 of them remain there after the disaster. The rebirth of the community is only half done. JEN is committed to advancing shoulder to shoulder with the community and people in this area.

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