Miyagi: On the Trail to Recovery
“Along this section of the trail, I was deeply moved by the will, heart and tenacity of the people here. Falling once under the indiscriminate wrath of an ocean they revered and respected, they are now tasked to learn to live with, forgive, and perhaps, even love, that same ocean again. The trail forward remains long, but the journey to healing continues, one step at a time.”
A story of how different individuals that survived the tsunami in 2011 tries to move on and sees only the good in the aftermath of the disaster, as focusing only on the bad, will only bring them pain, suffering and sorrow.
Kanno Ichiyo, lost her husband, daughter and son-in-law at sea but chose to make peace with the past and move on to the present. Something which I know is incredibly hard for most of us and yet she always put a smile on her face with everyone she encounters as she believes in the philosophy of Ichigo Ichie, where every encounter is unique and every encounter could be the last, so she intend to make every encounter lively and memorable. She turns her ruined house into an inn where she meet different people from all walks of life.
You can see more of her backstory here.
Fukuju, is a fisherman who survived the tsunami. Now he is also a teacher teaching the younger generation about fishing as more younger people are moving into the town from other prefecture to help but ended falling in love with the charming place and its people. Fukuju, is thankful that the disaster has brought more younger people into the town making it lively again and more are interested in the fishing industry which are normally shunned by the young.
Nishikawa Midori, is from Yamaguchi who among other young volunteers, decides to settle down in Karakuwa to start over a new life and help the locals. I guess the thing about living in the city is that, you feel that you are replaceable. When you get fired, there’s always someone to take over your place. When you failed an interview, there’s always someone to take over your place too. But in this small town, your help and efforts are greatly appreciated by the locals, which makes them feel wanted and most importantly, they are accepted by the locals for who they are as a person.
Onodera Yuta, is a water sport instructor who wishes to get the locals and most importantly, the younger generation to love the ocean once again, despite of what happened with the tsunami in 2011. He hopes the children are able to overcome the fear of the past and embrace the hopeful future where they can be stronger and braver to face whatever obstacles that they may face in their lifetime.
There are several other individuals in this story worth mentioning and worth watching for, as they inspire you with hopes of the future and staying in the present as the past is long gone and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s very heartwarming to see so many young people moving in to fill the vacant places that was once filled with people and laughter that were lost in the tsunami. And the locals are indeed grateful to see that it’s becoming livelier as it was before.
I guess, the moral of the story is to heal and love yourself after what happened to you that traumatized you, to get better, do what you love that sparks that joy in you that you once lost and try to only see the good in everything bad that has happened in your life and learn from the bad of the past, and make peace with it, something I know to be extremely difficult, which is why I admire and respect them for being much braver than me in facing the tough road of life, accepting the change, staying in the present to forge a better future.
