Waon Project

Hello everyone, happy New Year. This is Eto from Public Relations of HARU.

How did you spend your New Year holidays? For me I went back home, met my old friends, and spent days with my family. But the best thing I was looking forward every year is Wiener Philharmonic New Year Concert! I felt ‘the power of music’ again when I enjoy watching it. People enjoy beautiful harmony and performance, which get us more energy.

Now let me introduce “Waon Project” which is working for disaster area in Japan with the power of music.

Check their website out: http://www.waon-project.com/

The ‘Waon Project’ has two main objectives. The first, collecting unused instruments lying in the cellar at home, and delivering them to the disaster struck regions of Japan. Second, to hold events and concerts to collect donations, which is used to support the ‘Zero-One Project’.

I had a chance to talk with Masayoshi Higashi, a representative of this Waon Project.

Q1. What made you start this project?

A1. I went to the affected area two weeks after the earthquake. I don’t know why but I just thought I should go see there. Then I went around Arahama, Ishinomaki and I was really shocked when I saw the sight with my own eyes. It was totally different from what I knew from TV. . The sounds, stench, scale, the feeling beneath my feet, they were printed in my memory, and I felt that I need to engage myself in lending a helping hand.

After travelling to the affected area, I held a number of charity events and concerts, but at the same time, I realized that they had little influence to the disaster. Half an year later in early October, I went to the sites again and visited the city halls and shelters, to find out ‘what I could really do’. Since my occupation was a music teacher, I made use of my network and met colleagues in the region. There, I found out about the ‘Zero-One Project’, in which the victims themselves ran. Living in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is rather distant from the Tohoku region, I felt that participating in this project would be significant and meaningful. Thus, I decided to support the people who had been organizing musical events, to help rehabilitate North East Japan with the ‘Waon Project’.

Q2. How is the project working so far?

A2. Since this project started last November, there are yet to be achievements. However, as for collecting guitars, we now have over 10 and its number is gradually increasing. As for donations, we have tens of thousands, and they two are increasing by the day.

We have members operating in Shizuoka, Nagoya and Kyoto. 2012 is going to be a big year, as the group will begin fully-fledged activities, and we hope to expand outwards!

Q3. So what are you going to do? What’s your plan?

A3. There will be events held in various places to raise donations. At the same time, we will be looking for partner events to support our project. For further information, please take a look at our website, as we will be notifying from time to time

Q4. Please give us some words for people in the affected area.

A4. I hope that fun times as before or even better times than the past are soon to arrive!

H.Eto

Pre-event of "しあわせきいろ"(Happiness of YELLOW)

This is Kaisumi from HARU  public relation.

Last night, we got snow and winter has come to our town, finally.

About a month ago, on 20th of Nov, I participated in an event at Watari town. I'd like to blog about it.

    As I also belong to HARU's "Field Mustard" project, and we got invitation to this event from Wakabayashi-san from Miyagi University. A company named "My Farm" from Kyoto hosted this event. “Happiness of YELLOW” is another project to plant field mustard, just like HARU’s. This pre-event is for sowing seeds.

    It was b.e.a.utiful day! Thanks for warm sun, my coat seemed disappointed.

I got this cute badge!

   Before sowing, people offered us one of Watari’s popular dish はらこ飯 (Harako-meshi), which is a bowl dish cooked with salmon roe and salmon. Since I’ve eaten Harako-meshi at Watari before 3.11, it warmed up not only body but also my heart.

    First, we removed small rubble from field. Field was mixed with sea sand, and it was like that of beach.

    Farmers’ sorrow is unimaginable, but next spring, the plants will grow here firmly and strongly and make carpet of flowers. I felt so excited.

    Then, we made a long line to sow.

    It was fun sowing seeds with many people: University students from Sendai, volunteers who came all the way from Osaka and the farmers. We all work and pray together for reconstruction.

    By the time we wrapped up, strong wind was blowing from sea.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Wakabayashi-san so much for inviting us to this event!

A. Kaisumi

LIGHT UP NIPPON

    After 8 months of the earthquake, on  November 11th, a lecture by Y. Takada, who have found LIGHT UP NIPPON, was held at Tohoku University.

   LIGHT UP NIPPON was found to act on the situation we had after the earthquake, that people stop holding firework festivals, to cheer up affected area and all over Japan, by volunteers including Takada and workers in Tokyo.

     They realized 10 firework festivals at a time at affected areas such as Sendai harbor and MinamiSouma, involving many people, companies, and even governments, raising over 60 million yen. (for further information, see http://lightupnippon.jp/)

   I have learned many about producing events and projects, feeling much of his feeling for reconstruction at the lecture. The most impressive thing I learned was how important "to act" and "connection of people" are.

"To act"

   We have to actually take action to start something. There are many things you don't know until you start. Though you may face problems by acting, you can find ways to solve problems when you know what the main problem is. You can get more motivated when you overcome problems one by one.

"Connection"

    Connections can be a big energy for acting and challenging things. You can manage doing things more efficient when you know someone know about it better. Takada said LIGHT UP NIPPON have done all this by having professionals of each field in charge. Wider the connection you have, more chance you have.

    3 projects are in progress day by day after restarting HARU.

  New projects will probably be found for reconstruction. For that occasion we will apply what we have learned from the lecture and hopefully help reconstruction of affected area.

"Let's cheer Tohoku up and make them happy"

HARU Public Relations

H. Eto

Tohoku University Festival, Nov. 3rd – 5th

Hi, this is Otsuka, HARU Public Relations Section.

The weather has been nice recently, but during the night it’s already cold. I feel winter coming. Tohoku University held University Festival in this nice, good weather from 3^rd to 5^th of November.

              The theme of this year’s festival is “Link Tompei.” “Link” stands for how we work all together under such circumstance that Tohoku district has had a hard time because of the earthquake. “Tompei” stands for Tohoku University students, with message of bond to be put out. This year they made cute little “Pi-to kun” a mascot character.

              During the festival, a lot of people from the area around visited the university to enjoy. I felt grateful to see it that we could hold this festival after the earthquake.

              At the festival, earthquake-reconstruction-related volunteer teams reported their activities as well as other ordinal events and booths. Although HARU unfortunately couldn’t participate in that, it was pretty good to know other team’s activity. At an exhibition, I felt as much of how lurid the tsunami disaster was by displays of bicycles, tires, and clocks that were swept up.

              What I have learned watching and listening to what people say at those exhibitions, no matter how different the way they stood up or how they act, we have all the same passion “for people in affected area” and goal “Reconstruction of Tohoku.” We should keep on doing what we Tohoku University students can, for long term, changing its contents to fit to needs.

              Each projects of HARU are moving on day by day. We would like to share report of those projects as well on this blog later on.