Blossoms and Spring festival in Fukushima Pref.

April 11, 2018

VOX POPULI: Fukushima town blossom festival marks a genuine spring of rebirth

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201804110027.html

The extended branches of Yoshino cherry trees that line the streets of Tomioka in Fukushima Prefecture form canopy-like tunnels of pale pink blossoms.

This coming weekend, the Yonomori district of the town of Tomioka will hold its famed annual "Sakura Matsuri" (cherry blossom festival) for the first time in eight years.

The trees were planted during the third decade of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) by local citizens to commemorate the development of what used to be an expanse of wasteland.

The "cherry blossom tunnels" made Tomioka one of the top springtime tourist attractions in the Tohoku region. But the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 changed everything.

The entire town was evacuated, and the festival had to be discontinued--until it was resumed under different names, one of which was "Fukko no Tsudoi" (a gathering for reconstruction).

But the familiar name of Sakura Matsuri is returning this spring, one year after the evacuation order was lifted for most parts of the town.

"Finally, we are able to hold the festival like it's meant to be," beamed Takeshi Owada, 65, who heads the festival's organizing committee.

In the aftermath of the nuclear disaster, Owada and his entire family evacuated temporarily to the city of Iwaki. But his signboard-making company is still in a zone designated as "difficult to return to."

Some of the cherry blossom tunnels are still behind barricades in an "off-limits" zone. I feel sorry for those flowers that will fall and die without being seen by anyone, even though they are no different from all other cherry trees that have graced the town for more than a century.

Around the nation, this year's unseasonably mild spring has rushed cherry blossoms into blooming early. In Tomioka, too, the harsh chills of winter have been replaced suddenly by the almost sweaty warmth of spring.

During my recent visit, I saw some locals "talking" to the trees, telling their swelling buds, "Don't bloom yet" and "Don't rush." These people want the trees to have as many blossoms left as possible for the festival.

This spring, children's voices and laughter are finally heard at Tomioka's just-reopened elementary and junior high schools. The municipal library is also back in business, and so is the local job placement agency.

Even when the cherry blossoms are past their peak, the Yonomori district will enable visitors to see the town's gradual recovery process. This is indeed the spring of rebirth for the community.

April 10, 2018

Spring festival returns to town that evacuated in nuke disaster

By KAZUMASA SUGIMURA/ Staff Writer

The highlight of the shinto ritual called "Hamakudari Shinji," dubbed “Tantan Peropero,” is a purification ritual in which men carrying "mikoshi" portable shrines go around a small area in the shallows of the sea three times in Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture. (Kazumasa Sugimura)

HIRONO, Fukushima Prefecture--For the first time in eight years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster unfolded here in 2011, the happy sights and sounds of the spring festival dubbed "Tantan Peropero" returned to lift the spirits of residents.

High-spirited men clad in festive "happi" coats shouted “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!” and paraded through the town while shouldering a “mikoshi” portable shrine amid the playing of “taiko” drums on April 8.

The festival, which prays for an abundant harvest and good fortune, had been suspended after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, triggered the triple meltdown at the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The Tantan Peropero was named after the sound of Japanese traditional taiko drums and “fue” flutes, which used to be played in the Shinto ritual called “Hamakudari Shinji” that has been handed down at Kashimajinja shrine here.

Although the flutes are not played anymore during the ritual, the festival united the hopes of residents toward the town's recovery.

“I’m grateful that the solidarity of local people allowed the festival to begin again,” said Masahito Nemoto, 71, a representative of the parishioners.

Along the streets, residents celebrated the return of the festival by clapping and cheering on the energetic 25 men, including mikoshi carriers, taiko players and those guiding the mikoshi carriers, and handed them monetary offerings.

The highlight of the festival is the “shiogori,” which is a purification ritual based in the Shinto tradition held in the sea. Mikoshi carriers went down to the shore where waves were lapping about.

The energetic men chanted “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!” while entering the sea and marching around a small area in the shallows three times.

The area around the shrine was engulfed in the 2011 tsunami and an evacuation order was issued for the entire town after the nuclear accident.

A shortage of sufficient participants was a major concern for restarting the festival.

However, three employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, and two third-year students from Futaba Future High School in Hirono assisted in the event.