Name: Michiko IWAMOTO

Age: 49

(Age 37 in March 2011)

Birthplace: Futaba Town

Home address: Shirakawa City

Occupation: Storyteller, Certified social worker

‘The Disaster and Me’

① I had a day off on March 11th, but I went to my workplace right away, and checked if the facility’s residents were safe and made sure they got food. Sometime after 3 pm, I got a call from the Futaba Kosei Hospital across the street: “Can you help us make rice distributions for the evacuees?” after which 30 kilos rice bag were brought in one after another. An evacuation shelter had been opened nearby, and in order to feed the evacuees, I spent hours making rice balls.

② Then-mayor Idogawa of Futaba Town came to Sendan nursing home wearing protective gear, saying: “Evacuate now, on the orders of the prime minister,” so we fled to Futaba High School. But by the time we got there, a riot squad police officer came up to us with a dosimeter, saying: “You can’t stay here, evacuate somewhere further away.” 

③ The designated evacuation center for Futaba was the town of Kawamata, so we asked the Self Defense Force officers to bring us as far as Kawamata. With some of the facility’s residents and staff we made it to the evacuation center at Kawamata Elementary School. Even though we all tried to get to Kawamata, we were split up, with some going to Fukushima City, and others to Koriyama City and Minamisoma City.

④ When I contacted the family of one of the residents, and asked them if it would be possible for them to pick their family member up, they got angry: “What on earth do you think you’re asking of us, at a time like this? We’re evacuating, you know!” Without thinking, I blurted out: “We are evacuees too!” The realization that it might be for the best to stop contacting the families any further was a painful one.

⑤ My grandmother was a resident of Sendan. She was transported to a gymnasium in Fukushima City, where she had to spend days on a cold gym floor, and grew weaker and weaker. A Red Cross doctor told us that “transporting her all the way to Tochigi poses severe risks,” so we ended up having a nursing- and health care facility in Fukushima City take care of here. Nonetheless, her state continued to worsen and she eventually passed away. “She would have lived much, much longer if it hadn’t been for the disaster,” I thought. I felt so much regret over not being able to bring her to my place.

⑥ I spent my time every day thinking, “I want to go back to Fukushima.” When my oldest son started going to middle school, we moved to a Shirakawa City; close to Tochigi, but still in Fukushima. In Shirakawa, we started getting harassed, and having garbage dumped in our yard. One of the hardest things was the effort that went into making sure the kids didn’t know about the harassment.

⑦ There are many things I wish I could have done better, but thinking like that only gets me down. So I try to think positively; that things turned out OK. I teach my children to “develop the strength to pick yourself up again when you fall.” I try to foster the strength in them to recover when they run into an unexpected turn of events. I try to pass on this message through my activity with the ‘kataribe’ story-telling activities as well.

CAPTION

A rice cooker used to provide food on the night of March 11^th to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. They used this rice cooker for making onigiri (rice balls). These onigiri were then distributed to every evacuation center in Futaba Town. Several rice cookers were set up in the kitchen of the Sendan Nursing Home.

This is an announcement about the cancellation of an event, delivered in the afternoon of March 12^th. At that time, electricity was available, so faxes could be received. However, no one had time to check the message. It was only found in September 2023 when then-workers of Sendan first entered the facility’s kitchen.

A notice posted on March 11^th, “The bathroom is currently out of use. Please use the portable toilet outside”. Some portable toilets were set up outside, because the water system was off, although the electricity was on.

A bag of rice with a small hole chewed through by mice. Bags of rice brought over from the Futaba Kosei Hospital on March 11^th were stacked up in the kitchen. Many bags of rice were provided but left unused, as the facility was evacuated on March 12^th. We can see holes in the bags left by mice, leaving rice from the bags scattered across the floor. Mice were found upon entry of the Sendan facility in September 2023.

A bag for emergency water provision. Immediately after the disaster water was stopped, making it difficult to secure drinking water. The bags delivered by the facility officials were still filled with water at the time, which in provided on March 11^th by the Self-Defense Force’s water wagons.

This is a wheelchair that was actually used by a Sendan-resident until March 12^th. Many wheelchairs were lined up in the hall where the residents were gathered.