Kadonowaki flower movement bonds 120 people: JEN volunteer entry passes the 10,000-mark.

A movement of "Spread Flower Garden through Human Connection" started in November 2012 in Kadonowaki district has definitely broadened, which movement came from Ishinomki municipal junior high school students' wish to add color to gray streets. Knowing the movement, Team Dragon JIN, a volunteer organization based in Nasukarasuyama city, Tochigi prefecture, arranged for some 100 pupils and students to plant flowers on June 22, and so they did; the students and pupils are from nine schools in all including elementary, junior high and high schools in the same city.

【They set out 5:30 a.m. for Ishinomaki.】


The pupils and students brought around some 3,000 flower seedlings to plant which they had raised. It was a clear nice day. Covered in sweat, they worked on plowing out rubbles, furrowing a flower garden and then carefully planting sunflowers and so on.

【The second right is Nasukarasuyama Mayor Norio Otani.】


They say Nasukarasuyama is the only city where temporary housing for disaster survivors was set up in Tochigi prefecture and two citizens were killed by the Tohoku earthquake.
Not only did they plant, they stood together before a signboard with a slogan "Hang in and Chin up Ishinomakians!" on it to place their hands in prayer after offering flowers to the signboard. One of them said to us "It would be nice if the flowers we plated could bring smiles to people's faces in Ishinomaki."
A citizen group from Ishinomaki, a total of twenty-four children and their parents, also took part in making the flower garden; the children are members of Miyagi Kin-Ball Club. It was a colorful, round flower garden designed to look like a big ball that they have made.

【Enclose the flower garden circularly with fences.】


【A colorful flower garden】


They worked hard and so it took very little time to finish making a wonderful flower garden.

【They boast their achievement in a posture of expressing "We did it!"】


The very land lot where they planted flowers used to be a residential area before the disaster. Thanks to the land owner who used to live there as well as volunteers including local citizen group, Kadonowaki junior high school students' wish is beginning to develop into a movement that they envisioned. On the 26th of this month, some 150 students at Sakushin Gakuin junior high school in Tochigi prefecture will come to Ishinomaki and join about 100 Kadowaki junior high school students in promoting the movement as their on-site study.

JEN invites all of you to come to enjoy flowers at their best in Kadonowaki district. And the day marked a memorable milestone that a total of 10,000 volunteers have participated JEN's Tohoku reconstruction assistance project since its emergency-relief work started. JEN feels strong gratitude for so many people participating JEN's project. Thanks so much. JEN is committed continuing to recruit volunteers and promote exchange events including making flower gardens with students and so on. So JEN is looking forward to your continued support.

【JEN is now accepting donations for the reconstruction of Tohoku. Your help would be very much appreciated.
DONATE HERE】