News

In the afternoon of 2nd July 2012, the UNI Apro Commerce delegates boarded a bus and with our colleagues from UI ZENSEN was brief by the union representatives about the effects of the tsunami and the experiences of the UI ZENSEN trade union in these effected areas. Truly inspiration response to such challenging circumstances. We went to the site of the tsunami hit areas.



The first place was Ishinomaki where the tsunami travelled 600 meters inland and about 10 meters high sweeping ships, boats, cars and houses as it climbed inland. Many would have seen this place television repeatedly and reaching out to viewers globally as the tsunami came from the sea and from the river. We were told that it lowered the city by 1.2 meters.

Today, it is a piece of flatten land with most of the buildings cleared, piles of waste and cars dumped in designated areas. The waste will be sorted out into wood, steel and others for recycling purposes. Cars and other vehicles were piled high on some sites. We learned the word ‘kaimitsu’ as we stand in the barren ground that day – it meant ‘total destruction’ or ‘annihilation’ thus no buildings will be allowed to be build in this area again.

A simple memorial place with flowers was evident in one spot, a place that people who lost their loved ones can come and pray on the 11^th of each month.

Kadonowaki Elementary School empty and slightly charred building stands rather sad facing the sea, the school was effected by the tsunami that within minutes quickly climbed in the first storey then the second storey before fires broke out ignited by the fuel that escaped from the factories storage. The residential houses in front of the school were sweap away. The children make ropes from scraps of clothing and climbed down from the second storey of the building towards the back of the building that was a hill slop, they climbed it and from the hill top, they saw the ‘black mountain’ the tsunami eating the way towards the town. Only seven children died from this school, all trapped in cars with their parents as they tried to drive away towards the town.

The next stop was at Onagawa … we were totally silenced by the shocking images of space where buildings and factories onces stood. The earthquake caused liquefaction of the surrounding area which enables the tsunami to knock down the buildings. Three toppled buildings will be left as they are – not only as a reminder of the tragedy but to help future generations to work towards preventing such disasters.

The Onagawa hospital sits on top of the hill overlooking the sea, and they were not spared either with the tsunami reaching its first floor of the building. The nurses and doctors did all they can to help their patients as the area were without electricity, water, heat and gas for days.

One in every five family member in this town died and its fishing industry uncertain. There were many stories of heroic people that tried to save other people including those from the health care services and one sad case of a Japanese factory owner that rush backed to warn and save the Chinese workers in his factory to run towards the hill only to perish as he was the last to leave.

We took 20 minutes drive inland, seeing wonderful trees and padi fields along the way. The bus drove up a tiny slope and on the other side; we were greeted by a depilated abandon building and bare land. This is the Ookawa Elementary School where 74 of the 108 students’ and10 of the 13 teachers lost their lives in the tsunami. The surronding residential houses that used to dot around the school is no longer there - totally bared. The school teachers and students knows the disaster drill by heart and had gathered in the clearing; however 45 minutes since the alarm of the earthquake sounded, the tsunami came silently from the river to break the hearts of their parents and the community. It was a turn of events that nobody expected. Grief is evident in the stillness of a quiet summer afternoon …

For the survivors, life must go on and shelters were build to house them until a permanent solution can be found. Specially designed one storey homes were build but in Sendai, there is a three storey shelter build on the base ball stadium. This was a necessity as there were no suitable flat land and the demands for shelter were high thus the first three storey shelter were build here from containers. In this place, there is a library, community center and art gallery. School buses to provide transports for the students were also arranged.

In general, the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tôhoku also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and The Great East Japan Earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on Friday, 11 March 2011 was the most powerful known earthquake to hit Japan and one of the four most powerful earthquakes in the world that triggered tsunami with waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tôhoku's Iwate Perfecture and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in). There were 158 after shocks on that day with a 3 minutes 3 seconds after shocks intervals.

On 12 March 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,867 deaths, 6,109 injured, and 2,909 people missing across twenty prefectures, as well as 129,225 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 254,204 buildings 'half collapsed', and another 691,766 buildings partially damaged. The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse.

UNI Apro Commerce learned much about the inner Japanese strength in overcoming the challanges and rebuilding of a better Japan that is so much part of their culture namely, diligence, speed and patience. Bro Ochiai, President of UI ZENSEN in an earlier meeting recounted the time when he was with the volunteers in the affected areas and staying in a community hall. In the daily scene of destruction, there was a big beautiful cherry tree near the community hall - he often wondered about the contrast. "KIZUNA" he said was the word of that made us strong at that time. 'Kizuna' means 'bond'. This was not a tour of the affected areas but of international solidarity of 'kizuna' of strength and friendship. The openness, kindness and friendship extended towards our delegation were heartwarming. While language barriers may had hindered our communications but the comradeship was very much evident.

UNI and the affiliates contributed funds to the trade union and Japanese people for the rebuilding of the effected areas. 35,000 RENGO volunteers also assisted in the clearing and cleaning process after the tsunami and such assistance will continue be provided to assist certain local communities in a smaller scale.

“Ganbappe” is a Tohoku dialect for the term “Ganbatte” which means ‘to fight’ or ‘stay strong’. Ganbappe our friends in Sendai, we will not forget you, your struggles, your winning spirit! You sharing has made UNI a closer family. Yes we can overcome all challenges!

We thank UNI LCJapan, UI ZENSEN, JSD and JAW for there assistance, support and frienship during this event and the full support of Christopher Ng, UNI Apro Regional Secretary for his contributions in making this event a lifechanging one.