Ever since the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat has sent teams of volunteers to assist survivors in disaster-stricken areas as far afield as Kashmir, New Orleans and Indonesia. But according to Takashi Yamamoto, current director of Peace Boat's relief efforts in Tohoku, nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed when he first arrived in the small seaside city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
"Six days after the tsunami struck the community, the damage was still on an entirely different level. The only thing I could compare it to was photographs of Tokyo after the 1945 air raids."
Given the degree of devastation, Peace Boat's criteria were understandably strict when selecting the first group of 50 volunteers from the general public to travel to the area on March 25. Candidates had to be physically strong, hold a manual driving license and be able to endure sleeping outdoors in Miyagi's subzero temperatures.