一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

From 6:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at our base Senmaya International Club, we hosted a concert by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji, in which she played five pieces of music ranging from 200 years ago to the present day. During the day, ceremonies and events were continuously held from the morning; however, the beautiful performance by Ms. Yamaji made everyone feel at peace. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to her for coming from Okayama to Iwate and presenting wonderful performances many times.

From 7:00 p.m., we held a dinner party attended by about 32 guests from local communities. For this party, we requested Mr. Lee Shuei, a Chinese cuisine chef at Tokyo Prince Hotel, and his friend Ms. Fon to cook healthy dishes, which were a fusion of the food from their home countries, Taiwan and Vietnam. For the dishes, plenty of tomatoes and peppers were used, which were offered by Mr. Ikuo Takeyama, who set up a Dutch-style hydroponic farm in 2016 in partnership with local farmers, and everyone enjoyed the delicious taste.

We also invited Mr. Yuichi Yonezawa, his wife and his daughter Tae, from Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, to the dinner party. On the day of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, Mr. Yonezawa evacuated to the rooftop of the three-story reinforced concrete building where he ran a packaging supplies shop. However, the tsunami soon reached there, so he climbed the chimney and had a narrow escape from death. In the meantime, his parents and younger brother fled to the shelter right next to the building and sadly, never came home. In his speech at the party, Mr. Yonezawa spoke as follows: "I feel chagrined at this tragedy, but I believe my wife and Tae survived in exchange for my deceased family members. Tae, born in the year of the earthquake, turned 11 years old this year. Please come and visit the building which saved my life; I put a sign indicating the tsunami water level on it. I am willing to guide you around at any time."

The party was also attended by Dr. Hiroyuki Iwamoto, who runs a neurology clinic in Senmaya Town, and his family. Dr. Iwamoto said that he became friends with Syed Tahir, a member of our foundation, and their friendship mentally saved him very much, and he was thankful to him. Mrs. Iwamoto also gave her speech. She told us that her hometown is Kamakura, and when she started living in Iwate, she felt a distance from her hometown; around that time, she heard about our foundation's activities related to Minamoto no Yoshitsune and felt a curious coincidence.

With this dinner party, once again, we deeply appreciated the connection with local communities and had a strong sense that we would like to continue such a dinner party that would allow us to interact with local people in the future.

Following the chinkonsai (a ceremony for the repose of the departed soul) for Yoshitsune of Minamoto, held on 15 June, the anniversary of his death, we performed a service to pray for the peace of the soul of Shizuyoshi of Minamoto (named by our Representative Director), who is the son born to Yoshitsune and Shizuka Gozen. It was held on 29 July, the birthday of Shizuyoshi, at Shirahata Shrine, which is associated with Shizuka Gozen and located near our base Senmaya International Club.

At the chinkonsai, kencha (tea offering) was conducted by Ms. Kiyoko Chida from Senmaya Town, who is a member of the Urasenke school of the tea ceremony. In addition, a piece of music, "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance), was performed by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji who dedicated it to the souls of Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi; she arranged the piece and performed it for the first time in Japan. In this ceremony, through the good offices of Mr. Jinan Fujiwara (the owner of Kurikomaso, hot spring inn on Mt. Kurikoma), a helmet and armor were placed in the main shrine in order to worship Yoshitsune as one soul; they were created by likening the helmet to his head and the armor to his body. In June 1999, Mr. Fujiwara performed a ceremony to pacify the soul of Yoshitsune at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture by combining the soil taken from the grave that enshrines Yoshitsune's body, located on the Hanganmori hill in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and the soil taken from the grave that enshrines his head at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa. After the ceremony, he walked a distance of 500 kilometers from Fujisawa to Kurikoma, Miyagi Prefecture, taking 43 days. Unfortunately, Mr. Fujiwara was unable to attend our ceremony, but we sincerely appreciate him for his cooperation.

Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.

The naorai (feast after the ceremony) served at the shrine office was attended by guests who gathered not only from Senmaya Town but also from various places, including four from Kurikoma, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and one from each of Nishiwaga and Hiraizumi. The foundation's Representative Director delivered the following thought-provoking speech: "History is often written by statesmen, but the truth lies deeply in the minds of the common people. To develop the areas around Ichinoseki and Hiraizumi to be a garden of love and peace that the Fujiwara clan once aimed for, what can we do today by going beyond the concept of 'world heritage,' which is just a defensive approach?" We also screened a video of "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance) performed at Kamakura Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine to think about the feelings of Shizuka Gozen.

We hope this ceremony will be held annually as a shrine event, along with the Yoshitsune's chinkonsai in June, and will be helpful to promote local development and make this place a garden of love and peace.

An article about the chinkonsai for Yoshitsune of Minamoto and Shizuyoshi was published in the Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun newspaper on 1 August, 2022.

On Friday, July 29 at 1:30 p.m., we held the unveiling ceremony of the stone monument in Hiraizumi that commemorates Yoshitsune of Minamoto, Shizuka Gozen, and their son, Shizuyoshi of Minamoto.

The monument was created in the hope that it would offer an opportunity for people to think about Yoshitsune, Shizuka Gozen, who suffered a tragic fate, and Shizuyoshi, the son born to them. The monument also represents a wish for reconciliation between the Minamoto clan and the Oshu-Fujiwara clan. On the back of the monument, the words "Love & Peace" are engraved, and we hope that this place will become a place of "Love & Peace" for all visitors. This monument was produced by Ishioto Sekizai, a stonemason shop based in Takaishi City, Osaka Prefecture, and the day before the ceremony, they drove all the way from Osaka to Hiraizumi, taking 15 hours to deliver it. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to them.

After the ceremony, a tea party was hosted by Ms. Kiyoko Chida from Senmaya Town, who is a member of the Urasenke school of the tea ceremony. We sincerely appreciate her continuous support. The tea party was followed by a performance of a piece of music by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji. She played "Midare" composed by Kengyo Yatsuhashi in the 17th century. While listening to the powerful and beautiful sound of the koto, the audience relived the moment of Japan 400 years ago.

Reported by Ryu and Tahel, Staff of Rentai Tohoku

Kesennuma Disaster Relief Event "Numa☆FES 2011" which took place at Hongo, Kesennuma on the 20^th August 2011 was blessed with fine weather and proved to be a great success. Rentai Tohoku opened a stall at this event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Pakistani and Chinese volunteers also joined the event to create a bond with people in Kesennuma and welcomed guests with an exotic atmosphere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Mr. K, Age 49, Tokyo)

This time I helped with tying nets for seaweed cultivation, cutting ropes to make nets and making loops. When cutting ropes to make nets for seaweed, I chatted with young fishermen. According to them, there was a meeting at Shiogama where they discussed if fishing rights should be sold to business entities. Apparently, most fishermen were strongly against the idea. One of the reasons was that they had seen a capital investor who obtained fishing rights fail in business and retreat leaving local fishermen with debts. Another fisherman worried that if a salary system was introduced and fishermen wouldn't be able to earn according to how hard they worked, their motivation to culture good quality seaweed might decrease.