ISHINOMAKI — Cathartic flute melodies have been soothing the nerves of evacuees in the earthquake-hit cities of Sendai and Ishinomaki and the town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture this week, during a series of charity concerts given by a popular South Korean musician at evacuation centers.

"The flute purified my heart," said Shozo Aoki, 62, who was listening to every note during the performance by Song Solnamoo to an audience of around 80 at a shelter in the Mangokuura Junior High School gymnasium on Wednesday, the final day of Song's three-day charity tour.

"It was great when the Japanese Self-Defense Forces set up a makeshift bathtub here. But today's event is even greater. It encouraged me to go on living," Aoki said.