The cleanup effort in the wake of the deadly mudslides in Hiroshima was officially opened up to volunteers in Asaminami Ward on Saturday.

I volunteered the first day and it was a very satisfying, albeit exhausting day of shoveling mud and moving rocks.

We arrived early at the volunteer registration center in Yagi, just before sign-ups began at 9 a.m., and wrote down our names, addresses and cellphone numbers. We were then given our volunteer insurance card, wrote bright yellow name tags and were told to wait for instructions. Other volunteers came over and introduced themselves. They seemed surprised but happy to see our international group.