On the morning of November 16th, I left my snowy village, Showa, to be welcomed by sunshine and beautiful weather in Iwaki. After 3 years, it is sometimes still unbelievable that although we are located within the same Fukushima prefecture, the weather can be so different. When news about a tour available in Iwaki came around, I was very interested in joining the tour. I’ve been to Iwaki 3 times prior to the tour: before the Great Japan Earthquake, a couple months after the earthquake, and a few months ago. However, my visits to Iwaki never really allowed me to explore and enjoy Iwaki. So when the chance came up, I was very excited.
I am very glad to have participated in this tour. It was a very fun and informative tour. I was particularly glad to have at least driven by the Onahama area by the aquarium. It was great to see that the area I helped clean up after 3.11 was up and running again. Next time, I would definitely like to take a walk around that area.
After enjoying some fresh tomatoes, we arrived at Hisanohama. It brought back memories from 2.5 years ago. The images I saw on TV and the stories I read in the papers… Throughout the tour, we talked with many locals. The talk given by the workers at Tomatoland Iwaki and Kisen Kamaboko factory, were particularly memorable. 「地産地消」“We hope our products will be consumed by locals. We hope people from around Japan, around the world, will come to our local areas to try our specialties. Right now is our chance. Let’s grab hold of the opportunity we have!” |
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