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“Kodo Guest Appearance at ‘Iwate Sanriku Chinkon Fukkosai’ Festival” by Eiichi Saito


“Iwate Sanriku Chinkon Fukkosai” Festival

Sep. 13, 2015 | Miyako, Iwate

Photo: Yuki Nakagawa

“Iwate Sanriku Chinkon Fukkosai” is an annual festival that began in 2013 to help recover the spirit of Sanriku’s festivals and local folk arts in the wake of the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake.

The backdrop for our taiko performance at the festival was the blue sea, white cliffs, and green pine trees. Jodogahama Beach is a famous scenic spot in the Sanriku Area. It may look like a peaceful place, but I heard that when the tsunami came after the 2011 Earthquake, it went up over these huge rocks and right over the rest-area buildings.

That was four and a half years ago. Even though the rubble has been tidied up, it has not been removed as they are still waiting for a designated place to take it. There were so many vacate sites throughout the town. As you’d expect, we saw so many scenes that you could only see by actually going to the disaster area, and honestly, it made me regret that my own sympathy for the recovery efforts had somewhat faded with time.

 

Photo: Yuki NakagawaPhoto: Yuki Nakagawa

The audience watched our performance and applauded for us to the very end, despite the rain.

Thank you very much to everyone who came along!

We will continue to do what we can to help keep the plight of the disaster area from fading away.

 

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