I came to the Tohoku area last March
and got to work with everyone at Sanriku Railway
as part of my job shadow series.
Have any of you seen that video?
Oh, good!
I had been wanting to do a meet-up here ever since
and I'm so happy we finally made it happen!
At first I was worried people wouldn't show up.
But look at all of you here!
Thank you guys so much for coming!
Last time I was here,
Konno-san from Sanriku Railway,
who has been such a big help in planning this,
told me how important it is for them that people come visit.
Not being from the area or having experienced any kind of natural disaster,
I honestly didn't know how to be
or what to say,
I had mixed emotions coming here last year.
But once I got here everyone I met was so cheerful and positive.
They told me that simply visiting and having a good time is more than enough.
So today, I wanted to bring us together here in the Tohoku area (in Miyako)
and have a great time on the Sanriku Railway!
I know you guys are all here to see Chika so I'll make this quick lol
The Sanriku Railway is a railway that runs along the coast of the Iwate prefecture.
5 years ago, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake destroyed much of railways, bridges, and stations.
Over 300 areas were damaged.
It took us three years, but we've finally gotten back on our feet and all of our lines are running agian.
If you look to your right, things may look normal now
but actually...
Grandma is waving?
This is what our town is like!
Everything but that house right there
was washed away by the Tsunami,
and they're currently rebuilding the area.
Thanks coach!
To your right, you'll see a seawall in the far back.
It rises about 10 meters from the water,
but the tsunami that destroyed this area was approximately 7 meters higher.
From the earthquake and the tsunami
this entire town was completely wiped away.
The big white building you see there
is relief housing where those who lost their homes will be living.
The people of this area evacuated to higher ground
where they're building new housing complexes.
The Tanohata station, which we're headed to now, and the station before it called Shimanokoshi,
had the most damage.
Everything from the railway
to the 120 houses in the area, were all stripped away by the Tsunami
If you remember this when we pass Shimanokoshi,
please take a minute to look around.
Thank you all so much for coming today.
Thank you all for riding the Sanriku Railway today.
It was a short trip, but I hope you all had a good time.
Please do come visit us again!
We would love to have you!
Thank you very much!
Through my videos, I share English words and phrases with you
but another bigger goal that I have
is to give people the little push that they need to try something new.
Whether it's learning a new language
or visiting a new country, giving people a reason to get out.
and this time, I wanted to create an opportunity for us to come visit the Tohoku area
and I hope that this experience will give us all a reason to come visit again.
I definitely will.
I don't have a lot of time on this trip, so I'm looking forward to my next trip out here.
Thank you guys so much for coming today!
After the train ride we had a meet up in front of the Miyako station.
A big thanks to Sanriku Railway and to all of the Chikatomos that came from all over Japan!!
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