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Japan for Sustainability Newsletter #166
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June 30, 2016

Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a non-profit communication platform to
disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world, with the
aim of helping both move onto a sustainable path.

See what's new on our web site: http://www.japanfs.org/en/
E-mail: info@japanfs.org

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In the June 2016 issue of the JFS Newsletter:

- Aiming for Sustainable Tokyo Olympic, Paralympic Games

- Initiative by Kuradashi.jp Cuts Food Waste in Japan and Saves Money

- Tohoku and the World: 5 Years Since The Great East Japan Earthquake
and Tsunami

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Aiming for Sustainable Tokyo Olympic, Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Paralympics

Tokyo will be hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This will
be the second Olympics held in Tokyo, following the 1964 Games 56 years
prior. As with the 1964 Olympics, many people are eagerly awaiting the
event in Japan. Tokyo 2020, however, will focus on a new aspect to which
the 1964 Games paid little attention -- "sustainability."

Regardless of where they are held, the Olympic Games are sports festivals,
but their impact on the Earth varies greatly depending on how host
cities consider, prepare for and run the Olympics.

Previously, when global environmental issues were not yet a major social
concern, the Olympic Games were not connected with environmental
consciousness or sustainability. With concern growing over global
warming and other environmental issues, though, more and more people
have been taking a serious look at the ways the Olympics are delivered
because of their scale and magnitude of influence.

London 2012 was the first Olympic Games to create a clear vision of
"sustainable Olympics." Aiming for the most sustainable Olympic Games of
modern times, London adopted the concept of "One Planet Olympics." To
this end, in 2007 the city established the Commission for a Sustainable
London 2012, an independent body which monitored and assured the
sustainability of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was
the first time such a commission was established in Olympic history.

For the Olympic and Paralympic Games which have a large impact on the
environment, a critical factor is to have sustainability standards not
only for the activities during the event but also for the preparation
and construction of the venues and procurement of various materials.
London 2012 produced a set of strict and comprehensive standards for
procurement, called the LOCOG Sustainable Sourcing Code, so that
environmentally sound and socially responsible products and services
would be used. For example, wood used in constructing the venues and
paper products were required to be certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC), and foods and drinks served at the venues and Olympic
Village needed to be certified as fair trade, organically grown or
sustainably produced.

So, what will the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics be like? Tokyo is
certainly expected to go beyond the ambitious vision and results of
London 2012.

'Urban Planning and Sustainability Commission' Established by Tokyo 2020
Organising Committee

The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee includes five experts' commissions,
covering athletes, urban planning and sustainability, culture and education,
economy and technology, and the media. The author is a member of the
Urban Planning and Sustainability Commission.
https://tokyo2020.jp/en/organising-committee/structure/

The Organising Committee's website contains a page on "Sustainability":
https://tokyo2020.jp/en/games/sustainability/

The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the world's largest sports events,
and the delivery of the Games has a much wider-ranging impact than most
people can imagine. This impact is not limited to sports, but also affects
society, the economy and the environment. We aim to ensure that the
influence of the Tokyo 2020 Games will extend far beyond Tokyo, the
host city, to encompass the whole of Japan and the wider world. Given
the growing global focus on sustainability, it is vital that these concerns
be fully addressed in preparing for the delivery of the Olympic and
Paralympic Games by implementing the Tokyo 2020 Sustainability Plan.

The site provides the Tokyo 2020 High-level Sustainability Plan to
outline the basic approach being taken for ensuring sustainability of
the games' operations. It also presents the overall direction and issues
under discussion so readers can examine specific details of the plan.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games High-level Sustainability Plan
https://tokyo2020.jp/en/games/sustainability/data/sus-plan-EN.pdf

Toward Establishing a Sustainability-oriented Sourcing Code

Delivery is an essential key to Tokyo 2020. For ensuring the sustainable
sourcing of products and services deemed vital to the successful
delivery of the Tokyo 2020 Games, and in consideration of economic
rationality, fairness and equity, the Tokyo 2020 Fundamental Principles
for the Sustainable Sourcing Code provide the foundation for the code
and serve as a guide for the establishment of specific contents to be
included in the sourcing code.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Fundamental Principles for the
Sustainable Sourcing Code
https://tokyo2020.jp/en/games/sustainability/data/sus-principles-EN.pdf

As mentioned above, the sourcing code will have significant effects on
not only Tokyo 2020's environmental load but also Japanese companies'
future environment-friendliness.

As of this time, only four basic principles for sustainable sourcing are shown:

Four Principles
Tokyo 2020 places the utmost importance on:
- how products and services are supplied.
- the origins of products and services and the resources from which they are made.
- compliance to the sourcing code throughout the supply chains.
- the effective use of resources.

>From now on, details of the sourcing code will be set for each item
procured. Will the code set a higher level of standards for
environmental measures such as those against global warming, including
energy saving and the use of renewable energy? Will the code give full
consideration to environmental and social aspects of developing
countries, for example, in the case of wood procurement? I hope that a
strict sourcing code will be established.

A preliminary draft of the Sustainable Sourcing Code is being prepared
by the Sustainability Discussion Group under the Urban Planning and
Sustainability Commission. Though I haven't participated in their
discussion because I am not a member of that group, I will continue to
watch carefully how the discussion evolves.

I am one of five members of the Low Carbon Working Group, who are
considering from various viewpoints how to make the Tokyo 2020 games
low-carbon. The group's position is as follows.

"There is an international trend represented by the Fifth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published
in November 2014 and the adoption of the Paris Agreement at the 21st
Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework on Climate
Change (COP21) in December 2015. 2020 Tokyo is also required to give
consideration to climate change and take steps toward a low-carbon
society. The Organising Committee of the Tokyo Olympics established the
Low Carbon Working Group to discuss low-carbon issues for Tokyo 2020."

Other groups apart from the committee are also addressing various issues
and finding approaches to making the Tokyo 2020 games sustainable. The
Japan Ethical Initiative (JEI), which I help promote, has proposed
making the Tokyo 2020 games more ethical by giving consideration to not
only environmental issues but also social impacts.

JFS article: Planning for an Ethical Focus for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035059.html

The JEI compiled and published the "List of points to be considered in
ethical sourcing guidelines." This should be included in the sourcing
code and guidelines for realizing an ethical Olympics and Paralympics.

Future Developments in Sustainability for the 2020 Tokyo Games

The 2020 Tokyo Games should be prepared and managed without diminishing
the sustainability of Japan and the world, but rather, improving it as a
model project for people, organizations and city planning in the future
from the perspective of sustainability, and contributing to improved
Japanese and global sustainability after the games. Keep an eye on future
developments regarding this issue. I will relay any new developments in
the Sustainable Sourcing Code and its management as they arise.

Written by Junko Edahiro

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Initiative by Kuradashi.jp Cuts Food Waste in Japan and Saves Money

An estimated 6.42 million tons of food loss and waste is generated annually
in Japan. This is about twice the 3.08 million tons of food provided by
the United Nations World Food Programme as humanitarian aid in 2014.
Yes, this huge amount of food is discarded every year in Japan.
This month's JFS newsletter reports on Kuradashi.jp, an initiative that
uses online shopping to reduce food loss while also promoting solutions
to other social issues.

Issues of Food Loss and Waste in Japan

Half of the food loss and waste in Japan is generated by households. To
reduce that amount, individuals need to become more conscious of the
waste and modify their lifestyles. The other half of the waste is from
the business sector (food manufacture, wholesale, and retail industries).

For typical food products on the market, the protection of brand image
and market position is usually a high priority, so businesses tend to
take food items off the shelf, for example, if time is running out before
the "best-before" date, packaging has been damaged, or the item is
going out of season. A large amount of food that is actually still edible
is discarded because of such practices.

Kuradashi.jp Reduces Food Loss, Saves Money

To address this, Tatsuya Sekito, the CEO of the Japanese consulting
company Glaucks Co., launched Kuradashi.jp. In an interview with JFS ,
he said, "When looking at the global food situation, it is obvious that
food losses should not be happening."

In 2020, the Olympics will be held in Tokyo. After the success of the
London Olympics on the theme of sustainability, Tokyo will also be
attracting global attention for its efforts in managing the Tokyo Olympics
to create systems for a more sustainable society. Sekito is passionate
about what he does, saying, "We can't miss this opportunity. We want to
use the power of business to reduce food waste and make progress toward
improvements and solutions for this issue."

His attention was originally drawn to the food losses generated in
business processes. He imagined a system in which food products that
could no longer be sold through the regular retail market could instead
go into another distribution channel. If that could be done, wasteful
(in Japanese, "mottainai") practices could be reduced and food that is
still edible but would otherwise be discarded could actually retain some
value. But what would that system look like? Based on his work
experience in global production management and logistics at a trading
company, the idea Sekito eventually settled on was Kuradashi.jp.

Kuradashi.jp is an online shopping website, launched February 27, 2015.
It sells products supplied by cooperating manufacturers that endorse its
objectives. They provide their products at special prices, so most of
the products are priced at half the regular price or lower. After free
membership registration, anybody can visit the website and make a
purchase. The greater the sales, the greater will be the reduction in
food waste, because these are products that would otherwise be discarded.

Some readers may notice that this system has three beneficiaries -- the
vendor, the consumer, and society. This is the concept of "sampo-yoshi"
(meaning beneficial in three ways), which has been introduced previously
in JFS newsletter articles.

Vendors enjoy the benefit of reduced disposal costs, because the amount
of products disposed decreases. They can also cultivate potential
customers who purchase their products by attracting them with their
inexpensive, easy-to-try products. Furthermore, vendors can attract more
customers through social contributions, and this can boost the corporate
image.

For consumers, the biggest benefit is access to less-expensive products.
Also, the act of purchasing could be considered a social contribution,
so the level of customer satisfaction is expected to rise.

For society, reduced food loss and waste is the most direct benefit.
In addition, this system is designed to help address social issues, as
discussed below, and this is also expected to bring about positive
benefits for society.

Kuradashi's Approach to Mobilize Shoppers toward Social Issues

In Japan, six ministries and agencies cooperate with the private sector
to jointly promote the "No-Foodloss Project," a food loss reduction
campaign. The government members of the project are the Consumer Affairs
Agency; Cabinet Office; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries;
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of the Environment.
They all regard food loss and waste as a crucial problem for the nation,
and the project was started by when they decided to make it a priority
to reduce the waste.

The "No-Foodloss Project" link from the Kuradashi.jp website is one
example of how it is attempting to raise awareness of broader issues.

Sekito says that not many people realize that the food waste issue is
serious enough to need a national campaign. He thinks that many people
are unaware of issues in society like food loss, and even if they happen
to notice the problem, may not know what to do to help solve it.

"We are often told to do something good to solve social issues, but many
of us can't even make a step toward solutions, as we are busy struggling
with our everyday lives and jobs. As a breakthrough, we would like to
present people with the first step they can take by finding our concept
embedded in our service -- their shopping behavior at discount prices
can contribute to reducing the amount of food discarded." Sekito's words
convey his passion to change people's behavior and contribute to society.

"There are many other social issues, and with each of them there are
people making efforts to bring about solutions. I just want people to
experience support in giving, making use of the opportunity of shopping.
Once some people think any activity is worthwhile, they can shift to
direct support. I think this is a good way to start with steps to change
gradually for people and society."

To explain how Kuradashi.jp's shopping website works, let's take an
example of cans of tomato cream soup and onion soup (two types of soup x
24 cans = 48 cans in a set).

The regular catalog price of the soup is 12,192 yen (about U.S.$109).
Kuradashi.jp offers the same items at about half the price, or 5,960 yen
($53), plus 324 yen ($3) for shipping. Most of the products on the
website are listed at half the regular price or less.

The purchase price of a product includes funds that goes to a group
engaged in social contribution activities. The amount of the donation is
pre-set for each product.

On the top page of the kuradashi.jp website, a slideshow explains the
concept that part of its revenue goes to social contributions. Even
people who are simply visiting the website to find cheaper products can
be made more aware of social contributions if they are attracted to
return to the site.

The lower part of the webpage shows a description of each product. It
shows icons for six categories of recipient groups, depending on their
activities: overseas aid, environmental conservation, disaster relief,
medical assistance, animal rights, and social welfare. This section also
serves to raise awareness about social contributions.

Jumping to the webpage of each product, customers can find further
details. In the example of tomato cream soup and onion soup, 180 yen
(about $1.52) will be sent to a recipient organization as a result of a
purchase. The amount of donation and the designated recipient group are
indicated below the total price, so customers can see this information
while they shop.

Kuradashi.jp allows customers to change their desired recipient groups.
The groups' activity reports are updated every three months and direct
links are provided to their websites.

The members-only page provides the registered member's accumulated
amount of donation and "Kizuna points" (kizuna means bond or connection
in Japanese). This is Kuradashi.jp's own point system to indicate the
value of members' social contributions, which increase along with their
purchases.

The Kuradashi.jp website features various "hooks" like these to raise
awareness of social contributions. Even if the primary reason to start
shopping was to buy cheaper food products, Kuradashi.jp expects the user
to gradually become more aware of social contributions.

Expanding Activities and Networks

Kuradashi.jp also engages with the "Reuse! Japan Project" initiated by
Yahoo Japan Corp. This project offers information on activities for
reusing things. Involving individuals, businesses, and governments, the
project aims to realize a recycling-oriented society for things and
resources, by encouraging people to reuse things as a lifestyle habit.

This project handles products from Kuradashi.jp through the online
platform of Yahoo Auction, one of Japan's largest online auction
services. When shopping via Yahoo Auction, buyers donate 50 yen (about
$0.44) per product to a foundation launched by Yahoo Japan Corp., and
the funds are utilized for people in need in disaster-affected areas and
for disaster relief activities.

A new project was launched in partnership with a non-profit group when
Kuradashi.jp added it as a new donation recipient on May 13, 2016, to
help a project initiated by Food Bank Yamanashi to support children.

Through its "Food Safety Net" project it distributes donated food to
households in need. This new project for children will concentrate on
delivering food to these households every week in August during the
summer holidays, when schools stop offering lunch to students.

Kuradashi.jp's activities continue to grow, so JFS will keep an eye on
future developments, and give updates for our readers, including the
collaboration with Yahoo! Japan and Food Bank Yamanashi.

Written by Nobuhiro Tanabe

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Tohoku and the World: 5 Years Since The Great East Japan Earthquake and
Tsunami
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035590.html

Starting in August 2015, JFS has been organizing meetup events to discuss
sustainability-related issues in English. There has been quite a variety in
the programs, including presentations by guest speakers visiting Tokyo
at the time, a climate-talks role-playing simulation exercise, and a
discussion about food issues over a lunch with a variety of Japanese
traditional millet grains as alternatives to meat.

Tokyo Sustainability Meetup
http://www.meetup.com/Tokyo-Sustainability-Meetup/

The sixth meetup, held on April 6, 2016, featured the theme of five
years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and JFS invited two guest
speakers who have been dedicating themselves to disaster relief and
reconstruction support. They delivered presentations about the realities
in the affected areas at the time of the disaster, and changes that have
occurred over the past five years, as well as current conditions and
emerging challenges. JFS also gave a presentation about a visit to
Fukushima.

Report from Fukushima: Five Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035527.html

This edition of the JFS newsletter introduces a presentation by Robin
Lewis, International Coordinator at a Japanese non-profit group called
Peace Boat.

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My name is Robin. I am half Japanese and half British. My mother's
family is partially from Tohoku, originally from Sendai two or three
generations back, and my father is from Wales. I grew up here in Japan,
the U.K., and also in Hong Kong. I graduated from university in 2011,
where I studied business, but just as I was about to graduate, the
tsunami and earthquake happened, in March 2011. When it happened, my
family was over here in Japan, so I came back, very soon after the
earthquake and tsunami. After the disaster, I spent a few months in
Tohoku helping out with a number of nonprofits and relief groups, and
then spent one year working for a corporation in Tokyo.

Now, I work in disaster risk reduction and response, both in Japan and
abroad. I'm the International Coordinator for Peace Boat, a Japan-based
international NGO, and I'm based here in Tokyo. I am responsible for my
NGO's programs related to natural disasters abroad, which covers a
range of different countries. Having worked in Tohoku since 2011 in
different capacities, I'm somewhat familiar with Tohoku, but I am not
an expert! In the past few years, I've been focusing on international
projects, such as responding to the earthquake in Nepal, Cyclone Pam in
Vanuatu, and Hurricane Sandy in the USA.

Here is a quick introduction to the organization. Peace Boat organizes
voyages on a passenger ship that travels around the world, visiting
different countries and implementing educational and exchange programs
in these countries. By visiting different places, interacting with people
from all walks of life, and learning about social and environmental
issues in these areas, it is possible to foster people-to-people relations
and build a more peaceful, sustainable world. The ship travels around
the world usually three to four times a year, and also embarks on one or
two regional voyages, visiting more than 60 ports worldwide during the
course of the year. We work closely with local partners in the countries
we visit to implement these different programs.

Peace Boat has many focus areas -- everything from human rights, to
conflict prevention, to nuclear weapons abolition -- and we have lots of
different projects happening throughout the year. One of the big focuses
is disaster relief. The first disaster relief project took place in 1995,
after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, or Kobe Earthquake. Since then,
we've been working in over 15 countries worldwide. In Japan, we do lots
of domestic emergency relief work, from this big earthquake in Kumamoto
in 2016 to flooding and typhoons, which happen year after year in Japan.

If you look at the map, you can see that we have been active in many
different places, including Chile, Guatemala, Nepal, the United States,
and the Philippines. While we do work internationally, we maintain a
strong focus here in Japan on disaster projects, both in Tohoku and
other disaster-affected areas.

What happened after the Tohoku earthquake in 2011 was that Peace Boat
established a separate organization to work specifically on disaster
relief. We set up an office in Ishinomaki, and have our headquarters
here in Tokyo. I will now introduce some numbers related to our projects.
Peace Boat coordinated one of the biggest mobilizations of volunteers by
one organization in Japanese history. We mobilized over 13,000
individuals for 85,000 work days, which is quite a staggering figure.
Based in Ishinomaki, we continue our work to this day there and in the
nearby town of Onagawa.

We were privileged to have over 3,470 work days contributed by non-
Japanese volunteers, who represented 56 countries. They joined us in
Ishinomaki and took part in a range of relief projects, such as distributing
hot meals, and relief supplies -- things like blankets and household
goods -- to the survivors.

One of the major focus areas for our work was clearing debris from homes.
Mud, wood, and other debris had entered homes during the tsunami and
needed to be removed, so we coordinated energetic volunteers to remove
it from the houses. In many cases, it was very difficult, especially for
elderly people, to remove this kind of debris. We were able to provide
teams of volunteers to work with residents to do that.

That's a brief overview of what we have been doing since 2011. Now we
are focusing on long-term recovery, such as supporting Ishinomaki's
fisheries, and providing assistance to displaced people living in
temporary housing. We still have a full-time office in Ishinomaki to
manage these long-term recovery projects.

I'd like to give some figures that can help to paint a picture of what
is happening now in Tohoku. The peak number of evacuees, in May 2011,
was approximately 470,000 people. For reference, if you think of the
population of Iceland being 323,000, this is the bigger than the entire
population of Iceland. Currently, 171,000 people are still displaced,
called "hinansha" in Japanese. This information I looked up today (Apr.
6, 2016) is the most up-to-date information I could find. These figures
make the situation more real. A very large number of people is still
displaced after the nuclear disaster, including in Fukushima Prefecture.

Next, I'd like to share some information about the number of people
living in temporary homes -- pre-fabricated homes set up by the
government after the tsunami. Currently, approximately 90,000 people are
living in temporary homes in the most-affected areas of Miyagi, Iwate,
and Fukushima prefectures.

Originally these temporary homes were only supposed to last two or three
years. But as we all know, 2016 marks the fifth year since the disaster.
Some people say that the condition of the homes is sub-optimal due to
the length of time that people have been staying in them. But some
residents may remain in temporary housing until as late as 2018.

Now, please let me introduce some of Peace Boat's work in Ishinomaki,
five years after March 2011. The first is the Kizuna Newsletter project,
where volunteers print and distribute a newsletter to hand out to people
who are living in temporary homes. While they are handing out newsletters,
they're having conversations with the local residents. A significant portion
of people living in temporary homes are elderly people. After the Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake in 1995, there was a phenomenon known as "kodokushi"
(meaning "lonely death"), where people were dying alone, because there
was no social safety net. So the idea here is that if we can coordinate
volunteers to go to each home to see how they are doing, it's a subtle
way of doing "mimamori," or "watching over the community" and
building people-to-people relations. Residents say that this kind of
community interaction is very useful.

I'll give you a few examples of things that are happening in Ishinomaki.
I talked about a couple of case studies. We are working a lot in the
area of temporary housing. About 19,000 people currently live in these
temporary homes. It is easy to generalize, and say that people living in
temporary homes are miserable, and yes, there are undoubtedly many
challenges for people living there. But I don't want to over-simplify a
complex situation. There are also, of course, many positive people
living in these places leading very productive and prosperous lives.
Overall, there are a number of challenges here in the temporary homes.
They are generally built on flat land, facing schools and playgrounds --
basically anywhere that could be built on. Immediately after the
earthquake, many people went to shelters and evacuation centers, for
days, weeks or even months.

Roughly eight months after the earthquake, in October 2011, the last
emergency shelters (in Ishinomaki) closed, and people were transferred
to temporary housing or to alternative housing, such as relatives' homes.
If they had enough financial resources, they could rent or buy a new
place. Temporary homes were one of the government-provided housing
options for people displaced by the disaster. The rent is free, but the
residents have to pay for utilities such as electricity, gas, and water.

We have noticed a number of things when talking to the people who live
in this area. A number of psychosocial issues are still prevalent, when
we look at issues like alcoholism, domestic violence, and post-traumatic
stress syndrome, or PTSD. Again, a significant portion of the population
here is made up of elderly people. There's also reportedly something of
a poverty gap. Especially now five years after the disaster, people are
moving to new places, renting homes or going to public housing, but in
some cases, people cannot afford to move. For example, people living on
pensions or who have low incomes.

There's also a big challenge for community-building. Especially in the
beginning, lots of people moved to new temporary housing sites where
they did not know their new neighbors. As you can imagine, it is very
hard to build a close-knit community in such a situation. But now, in
many temporary housing areas, there is a strong sense of community
because people have bonded with their neighbours.

The number of temporary housing residents is decreasing. In Ishinomaki,
people are moving out, so there are some housing complexes with
reportedly as little as 30 percent occupancy rates. I have heard that
some that have several empty houses, which can be a bit intimidating for
remaining residents. If the surrounding temporary houses are empty,
people may feel isolated. A lot of people are going to post-disaster
public housing -- this is again subsidized by the government. It's not
free. It is subsidized, so people still have to pay rent, based on their
income. From what I have heard, access to these new apartments is
decided by lottery. People have to submit application forms, and they
are able to choose preferred locations. Many of these housing blocks are
still under construction in and around Ishinomaki. In some areas, I have
heard that building may continue until 2018, which would mean that at
least some people may have to remain in temporary housing until 2018.

Also, there are reports of increasing costs of materials, things like
concrete and steel being used to rebuild infrastructure and homes in the
affected areas. I have heard that this rise in prices may be at least
partially caused by demand driven by the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic
Games, amongst other factors.

A key challenge is the change in some of the communities in temporary
housing where some people have been living for almost five years and
have developed a strong sense of community. People are increasingly
moving to alternative, more permanent, forms of housing, such as
post-disaster public housing. However, when they move to a new place,
there's another challenge. How do you build a strong sense of community
when you are surrounded by strangers? This is the challenge that has
been faced in some temporary housing communities in Tohoku since 2011,
and which may affect post-disaster public housing going forward, as
large numbers of people move.

There might be a positive impact by coordinating people from the outside
to go to Tohoku to build relationships with residents, and also to build
communities through festival events.

Another area of Peace Boat's activities is supporting fisheries. The
output or productivity of fisheries in Ishinomaki has reportedly
returned to 80% or 90% of pre-disaster levels. But the average age of
fishermen is quite high, and that's one key challenge. Many young
people may be more interested in going to bigger cities like Sendai, to
pursue corporate or other careers.

The fishers say that market conditions are sometimes volatile. Prices
fluctuate. Some say that the market is stabilizing a bit, but harmful
rumours related to the release of radiation after the Fukushima nuclear
disaster may have had a big effect on the market price of marine
products.

Some young people are not interested in being fishermen, as it is
perceived by some to be a tough job. So how is it possible to sustain
this industry? One example of a solution is Peace Boat's Imacoco
project. This is a homestay system in which people from outside the
region stay with fishing families and work alongside them in the
fisheries. In return for their labor, they are given accommodation,
fresh food, and the experience of a lifetime.

They take part in work such as oyster cultivation and seaweed harvesting.
Over the course of this project, several people relocated permanently to
Ishinomaki to pursue fishing as a career. Additionally, approximately 30
participants moved to Ishinomaki to work part-time in Ishinomaki's
fisheries after taking part in the project.

We also have introduced an "oyster ownership" system, called "Kaki-no-Wa."
The idea is that people can buy oysters through this system, knowing
exactly who the fisherman is, visit the oyster farm, and even join the
fishermen on their boats to cultivate the oysters. It is an interesting
way of connecting consumers and fishermen. It really opens up new
markets for oysters and promotes a deeper level of engagement between
consumers and producers.

As another example of impacts resulting from this project, there is the
story of a student in Tokyo who enjoyed eating "kaisen okara gyoza"
(dumplings made from seaweed, seafood and okara which is by-product from
soy milk production) during his stay in Tohoku. He saw an opportunity
because there was a strong need for halal foods (prepared according to
Islamic law) at his university. He began to import the kaisen okara gyoza
from Ishinomaki and sell it in his university. Now he is exploring the
idea of selling the product in Indonesia. From this project, a number of
exciting new projects and business opportunities like this have been born.

Japan is one of the countries most at-risk from earthquakes, typhoons,
volcanoes, and other natural hazards. We must ensure to take the lessons
learned from previous disasters and implement them in different
communities to enhance the levels of disaster preparedness. This sharing
of knowledge and best practices is in one crucial way to connect Tohoku's
experiences with the rest of the world.

To wrap up, here are some points to consider regarding the current
situation in Tohoku. People are forgetting about the disaster with every
year that passes, which is not a surprise. However, it is important to
ensure that people have some kind of connection to Tohoku, and through
these connections, enable them to do something to support the recovery.
Many NGOs are running out of funding or scaling back operations, partly
because people are forgetting about the disaster.

Of course, whilst there is still a need to provide certain kinds of support,
it is important to remember that all assistance to Tohoku should promote
independence and build the capacity of communities to get back on their
feet without external support.

I would like to add my observation that disasters exacerbate
pre-existing problems. For example, places like Ishinomaki were
experiencing depopulation and seeing an increasing rate of aging. The
disaster did not "cause" these issues, but it did accelerate them, and
made them worse. These types of demographic issues are very complex, as
you can't just force people to move back to rural areas. There needs to
be sustainable solutions to these challenges.

On a final note, here are some suggested action steps that you could
take if you are interested. The first is to volunteer with organizations
like O.G.A. for Aid, Peace Boat, and many other groups working in Tohoku.
You could also show your support through tourism. There are many
different tourism-related initiatives happening in Fukushima, Miyagi,
and Iwate. One example is TOMOTRA, which is actually organized by a
group of high school students who conduct bus tours around Fukushima. It
is great to see young people who were affected by the earthquake now
creating new business opportunities to help with Tohoku's recovery.

Also -- I just heard about this one yesterday -- the Minamisanriku city
office is organizing a tour for experiencing disasters. Participants
take a bus tour of the area, and experience a simulated earthquake. They
sleep in an empty school with minimal resources, using candles and
limited water to survive. This kind of experience might be interesting
to some people!

Also, many e-commerce services allow you to buy things from Tohoku
through co-ops, individual farmers and fishermen in these areas. The
websites of the Yahoo Fukko Department (Reconstruction Department) and
Iwaki-no-Jyuni-Nin (known as "The 12 Leaders" ) offer many products
from Tohoku as well.

There are also many events in Tokyo to support Tohoku, like the one JFS
has organized today, and different farmers' markets, such as the Aoyama
Farmers' Market, which sometimes sells produce from Fukushima, Miyagi
and other places. Also, the Ueno Matsuzakaya department store has
display of local products from the Tohoku region and is doing a special
campaign to sell products from that region at the moment.

And finally -- and this is an area where JFS is really creating an impact
-- spreading the word and raising awareness of these issues both in
Japan and abroad.

That's it from me! Thank you very much for listening.

------------

Reading this, What can people to do support this disaster reconstruction
process?
Please "share" your information and leave comments!
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035590.html#comment

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[JFS Web Site Additions of the Month]

- This month's cartoon:
"We are all alive together" (2016/06/07)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/manga/manga_id035579.html

- JFS Newsletter No.165 (May 2016)

The Story of Japan's First Citizen-Funded Wind Power Plant:
The Path to Success(2016/06/23)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035575.html
Toward a Sustainable Society and Economy -- Green Purchasing
Network Celebrating 20th Anniversary(2016/06/13)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035576.html
Sustainable Fishery Catches Only 30% of Fish Entering Net --
Etchu-type Set Net Fishing in Himi(2016/05/31)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035570.html

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