一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

On March 11, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., 12 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, we planted six cherry trees on the land in Hiraizumi where we built a monument last year, led by Mr. Ichiro Murakami, who has supported our activities since the foundation was established. On the day of the event, we were joined by many people who have always supported our activities, including Father Takahashi of Mizusawa Church, Ms. Chida, Ms. Oyama, Mr. Ogata, Mr. Onodera, Mr. Hagisho, and Mr. Sugawara, former mayor of Hiraizumi, as well as Mr. Chiba Yoshiji, a father of Ms. Junko Chiba, who is currently running for the Iwate prefectural governorship election. Afterwards, each participant watered a cherry tree with a wish.

In addition, a water basin on which the Angel stands was brought to the same location for the occasion, and Father Takahashi, who came from Mizusawa that day, held an installation ceremony to pray for world peace for the angel statue.

Our representative director said, ]"it is a great honor for me to be able to visit Tohoku region again this year on March 11th, 12 years after the disaster. I hope that the cherry trees we planted today will be of help along the tree-lined path from Hiraizumi Station to Chuson-ji Temple, even if only in a small way". We hope that this place, where cherry trees and angel statues have been added to the monument erected last year, will be a place where visitors can feel love and peace.

We visited former Okawa Elementary School, which was reopened in July 2021 to the public to convey the lessons learned from the Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki City, where a total of 84 pupils and teachers were killed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake 12 years ago. The elementary school is a very meaningful place for us as we donated an angel statue to the school on March 10, 2013 to repose the souls of the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Despite the fact that we had called them just before our arrival, Mr. Ikuo Takeyama, who was instrumental in donating the angel statue to the school, and Ms. Ogawa, a fisherman and long-time guardian of the angel statue and an alumnus of the school, were waiting for our arrival. They explained to us about the devastation that occurred at the school and the surrounding area 12 years ago, and we visited the school building, the schoolyard, and the Okawa Memorial Museum that was opened near the school.

Young staffs who were elementary school students at the time of the earthquake were participating for the first time in this time. They realized that unspeakably tragic events had happened to many people, including children who were their generation at the time, in the perfectly peaceful place where we are now standing. We were very much aware of the gravity of what had happened. Still, Ms. Ogawa, who was involved in the disaster, told us that she would go out to the sea tomorrow, March 11, to search for the missing people, as she felt that if she gave up, it would be the end. We would like to thank Mr. Takeyama and Ms. Ogawa for taking time out of their busy schedules to give us a detailed explanation.

After leaving the school, we headed to Chishouin Temple in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture as Mr. Chisaka Gempou, former chief priest of the temple was scheduled to give a speech at a lecture hosted by us on the following day. Mr. Chisaka guided us on a tour of tree burial cemetery he had designed and the Kubokawa Ihatov.

The Kubokawa Ihatov, including Chishouin, is a very large area of land. There is a facility for learning about ecosystems and biodiversity, a tree burial park cemetery at the temple, and several reservoirs that were created to serve as habitats and breeding grounds for endangered species of organisms. There is also a nature restoration practice site a few minutes' drive away, where researchers such as Mr. Nishihara of Chuo University's Conservation Ecology Laboratory, with whom the foundation had an exchange last year, are working together to restore abandoned farmland, eliminate invasive alien species, and protect endangered species. In addition, all electricity there is generated by solar and wind power. We were overwhelmed and learned a lot from their efforts to create an environment for the regeneration of nature, using a vast area of land. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Chisaka who spent a long time explaining the vast land in detail.

Before the inauguration of the Haibuden (worship hall) in the afternoon of the same day, the local people treated Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, a classical Japanese dancer, and the Jikata, who visited Kurikoma to perform the "Shizuka no Mai" and us with mochi (rice cakes) which is a local cuisine of Kurihara at the guest house Nagomi no Ie run by Mr. Yasutoshi Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd, who built the Haibuden with his wife. All the rice cakes were freshly pounded, and there were many varieties on the table, including Zoni Mochi, Anko Mochi, Zunda Mochi and Natto Mochi. All the rice cakes were very tasty, and it was a warm time that eased the tension before the ceremony and brought smiles to everyone's faces. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi for providing lunch and a place to prepare, and the local people for their hospitality with freshly pounded mochi.

After the inauguration ceremony, the participants visited the tomb of Yoshitsune's body in Hanganmori under the guidance of Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara, Chairman of the Oshu-Kurihara Yoshitsune Society. Mr. Sugawara gave a detailed explanation of the history surrounding the mound, including why a gravestone was erected in Hanganmori. Mr. Sugawara said that when the foundation's Tahir first visited Hanganmori in July this year, he was impressed by the Islamic azan prayers offered there, and said with a laugh that Yoshitsune would have been surprised that Muslims were paying homage to him more than 800 years after his death.

Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara,
President of Oshu Kurihara
Yoshitsune Society

From 6 p.m., the Yoshitsune Society held a dinner party at Kurikoma-so, run by Tsugio Sugawara, who walked the 500 km from Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture to Kurikoma, Miyagi Prefecture for 43 days after the joint enshrinement in June 1999 of the sacred earth of the body mound of Yoshitsune in Hanganmori and the head mound of Yoshitsune at Shirahata Shrine, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Mr. Hiroyasu Sato, vice-president of the Yoshitsune Society, told us that he was very much looking forward to the visit of Ms. Suisen Nishikawa and the Jikata to Kurikoma, and that 12 of his old classmates had worked together to prepare mochi in order to entertain them. He told us that he had written the banner outside the Haibuden himself to convey his feelings of welcome. At the end of the dinner, our foundation's Tahir also expressed his gratitude to everyone, saying that the connection with the warm-hearted people of Kurikoma was like a gift given to him after 11 years of supporting the Tohoku region, and that he thought that Rentai Tohoku-Seinan had entered the next phase of its activities.

Mr. Hiroyasu Sato,
Vice President of Oshu Kurihara
Yoshitsune Society

When the representative of our foundation first visited Kurikoma at the end of July this year, framework of the Haibuden had just been laid by Mr. Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd, with several young people. The inauguration ceremony was successfully held only about 3 months later from our representative's visit. We would like to pay tribute to the selfless efforts of Mr. Takahashi and everyone else involved in the construction.

From 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 November, the inauguration ceremony was held at the Haibuden (worship hall) built by Mr. Yasutoshi Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd., and his wife near a hill called Hanganmori, where the body of Yoshitsune of Minamoto is enshrined, in Kurikoma, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture. The ceremony was hosted by the Society for Protecting the Grave Site of Yoshitsune of Minamoto and the Hanganmori, and Oshu Krihara Yoshitsune Society, and our foundation also supported the ceremony. Around 150 people gathered at the Haibuden.

The opening address was given by Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara, Chairman of the Oshu Kuriharara Yoshitsune Society and the Society for Protecting the Grave Site of Yoshitsune of Minamoto and the Hanganmori, followed by a congratulatory address by Mr. Suzuki, Chief Priest of Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, who participated as a guest and prayed that Haibuden would remain for generations to come. The representative director of our foundation also made a speech, explaining that the foundation has been carrying out activities for the past 11 years with the aim of supporting self-reliance, and that we have been working together with local people to think about social issues such as the declining birthrate and ageing population. He said that as a part of our activities, we built a monument to commemorate Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi of Minamoto and Shizuka Gozen in Hiraizumi. Also requiem services for Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi of Minamoto were held for the first time at the Shirahata Shrine in Senmaya, Iwate Prefecture in this June and July. He also said that he was able to hold a wonderful inauguration ceremony in Kurikoma thanks to the relationship between Mr. Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife, who was present at the ceremony.

At the inauguration ceremony, commemorative performances included "Oshu Shinobi Uta" by Hiroyuki Hashi, a singer and younger brother of Mr. Takahashi, who built Haibuden, Kurihara Kagura and Jono Kagura, and a special performance by Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, who was invited by our foundation to perform "Shizuka no Mai".

It was a heart-warming moment that the "Shizuka no Mai", which Shizuka Gozen, who once parted alive with Yoshitsune and became a captive, danced at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kamakura to express her grief at parting, was performed near the Hanganmori where Yoshitsune was laid to rest over the ages. The performer, Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, also expressed her feelings for Shizuka's love for Yoshitsune, as recited in Shizuka's Dance, in order to convey them more strongly, apart from the feelings of Shizuka standing in the dance hall of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine.

In addition, the seven accompanists of jikata (nagauta, shamisen, kotsuzumi, otsuzumi and fue) graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts gave us a wonderful performance in this performance of "Shizuka no Mai". We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Ms. Suisen Nishikawa and the jikata for travelling all the way to Miyagi Prefecture to show their wonderful performance, and to a gurdian, Ms. Suina Nishikawa, and the staff. We would like to thank each and every one of them for their cooperation.

You can watch the full version of the inauguration ceremony of Haibuden on YouTube Official Onokun Channel.

On Monday 31 October from 6 p.m., a dinner with about 20 people was held at our base camp, Senmaya International Club.

In addition to members of the local community with whom we have had a long-standing relationship, this time we were joined by Mr. Nishihara from the Laboratory of Conservation Ecology at Chuo University, a postgraduate student Ms. Saijo, and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka at Chishouin Temple in Ichinoseki City. Mr. Nishihara is conducting research on living creatures and environmental changes throughout Japan, and on efforts to conserve biodiversity (i.e. to protect the links between various living creatures and their habitats) in Ishikawa and Chiba prefectures. Our representative director, who was interested in his research, contacted Mr. Nishihara and heard that he was regularly visiting Chishouin in Ichinoseki City for his research, so we invited him and Chishouin's former chief priest Genpou Chisaka to join the dinner for the first time.

Chishouin is known as the first cemetery in Japan to have conducted tree burial, but according to former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, the 'Jumokusou no Sato (Tree Burial Village)', which has been active as a branch temple of Shouunji Temple, a family temple of the Tamura family, the 30,000-goku feudal lord of the Ichinoseki Domain, descending from Ukyo-dayu Tamura, was approved as a religious organisation as Nagakurayama Chishouin and is now a separate brother temple of Shouunji and is engaged in nature conservation activities. The wife of the Oyama priest of Shirahata Shrine, who has been very helpful in our activities and was also present at this dinner party, is a member of the Tamura family, so she was very happy to meet the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka again.

For the dinner, Sukiyaki was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama from Okago and as usual was a great success. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama for their preparation.

The dinner was also attended by former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, which led us to a visit to Chishouin on the following day, Tuesday 1 November. Chishouin, known as Japan's first tree burial cemetery, is a tree cemetery of the satoyama type, maintained and managed with the idea of preserving the ecologically rich natural environment and leaving it for future generations. The cemetery was made possible by the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka himself, who has a deep knowledge of living creatures and plants and is also involved in local ecosystem conservation activities and environmental education initiatives.

During these activities, we found that Mr. Nishihara and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka,with whom we were able to make new contacts, are strangely connected to the Ichinoseki and Senmaya areas, where we are based. We would like to continue our activities in the future, valuing both old and new relationships.