Tag: Japan

“Anne’s Rose” was created by a Belgian breeder in memory of Anne Frank, a girl who died in a Jewish concentration camp during World War II.

Anne’s father, Otto Frank, gave its roots to a pastor in Nara Prefecture in 1972. After that, a former high school teacher in Kyoto Prefecture cultivated it with her son and sent it to various parts of the country and spread it. That is the its roots in Japan.

About 30 years ago, a seedling came to Mr. Hirotatsu Aoki, a rose farmer in Ono Town, Gifu prefecture through the UNESCO Association. “If I don’t keep growing it, it will extinct.” Aoki grows about 10 grafts a year.

Last year, when photographer Hiroyuki Miura visited “Wind Phone”, he heard the story of Anne’s rose, “Rose related to Anne who endured adversity,” and “It encourages people who visit the telephone box after losing a loved one.” He asked Mr. Miura to act as an intermediary. Mr. Aoki also entrusted the seedlings to Mr. Miura, saying, “I would be happy if the roses would heal the visitors,” and this time, on the 15th, he visited “Wind Phone” and handed them over to me.

I am deeply grateful to all of you for your efforts and to have another item that will help to recover visitors’ hearts. thank you!

Lecture on “Wind Phone Story” held at ALWF Rocky Center in Shizuoka Prefecture on February 25th. Initially, more than 100 people gathered for the recruitment of 50 people, and we were able to spend 90 minutes happily and meaningfully.

The contents include the damage situation of Otsuchi, the progress of reconstruction, the background of installing “Wind Phone”, the origin of the idea, the background of the establishment of tThe Library of the Forest, the way of thinking of management, the essence of things is invisible and hidden. In addition, there was a storytelling of “Picture Book Kaze no Denwa” by Mikiyo Ueto of the local NP corporation Human Care Support Organization, and it was a short 90 minutes.

The lecture ended at 17:00 and the venue was moved to the AOI Hall of the Shizuoka Conservatory from 18:30, and a violin concert was held by Katsumi Matsumoto, the 1st violin player of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. The proceeds of the concert were used to support the disaster area and were donated to support the activities of “Wind Phone”.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the NPO Shizuoka Volunteer Association, Katsumi Matsumoto Violin Concert Executive Committee, Shizuoka Workers Welfare Fund Association, and Life Support Center Shizuoka Division.

PS:
I was away for a week and came home on March 1st. However, when I looked at the phone box, there was no Jizo who always kindly welcomed the people who visited the phone, and only a small cushion without him remained. It seems that someone in need took it.

Jizo thinks that it is useful for someone. If possible, I wanted you to bring a cushion with you.  Don’t catch a cold, Jizo!

The 4th day of repair was also painted and the day was over. Yesterday, the acrylic board did not arrive and the completion was delayed today.

Around 11:00 in the morning, Mr. Minato, who went to Miyako to pick up the acrylic board, came and started work immediately. Cut the acrylic plate according to the size of the three sides of the phone box and fit it in. He fixed the surroundings with a crosspiece and finished in the morning.

In the afternoon, five people from Tono Magokoro Net rushed to paint the crosspieces that they had installed, and the work to improve their strength was carried out separately. However, the temperature in the afternoon of this day was getting colder, our hands and feet were cold, and our runny nose were dripping. At the time of completion, the thermometer was reading -4 degrees.

I really appreciate all the volunteers. The “Wind Phone” restored under such harsh conditions. I’m sure that everyone who uses it will be able to convey that feeling. And I hope that I can recover from the grief work as soon as possible.

We also caused great concern to everyone who visited us from all over the country for the collapse of “Wind Phone”, and thanks to all of you, we were able to completely recover. I would like to thank you again on this blog. Thank you very much.

For “Wind Phone” repairs, all that was left was painting before the acrylic board was fitted and replacing the cracked slate on the roof.

Today, the third day of repair, I am painting the newly made door and the phone booth body.

There isn’t much wind, and I think I can manage to do it alone. First, apply sandpaper to the entire surface to remove the peeled part of the paint and smooth the front surface. However, this is a difficult task, and it is an important task that affects the finished product. The paint was applied twice to eliminate unevenness. Therefore, I think that the result will be able to answer your baldness.

Please laugh when you come next time.

In this case, we received many inquiries from people all over the country who wanted to raise funds for repairs, but thanks to the volunteers, it seems that the cost of materials will be small, so please do not worry. In addition, at Bergardia Kujirayama, we ask for the cooperation of activity support funds.

Bank: Japan Post Bank
Store No. 838
Account: 1938776 (Ordinary deposit)
Name: Itaru Sasaki, Bell Gardia KUJIRAYAMA

Repair work started at 9:00 on January 10th. Mr. Minato, the president of Minato Architecture, cuts and separates the part where the broken telephone box can be used neatly and the part where it is thrown away, and repairs the broken piece of wood to its original shape by screwing it or further scraping it.

I and Tono Magokoro Net helped by drilling holes, handing tools, and sipping a cold runny nose according to the instructions of the harbor ridge.

Later, Mr. Minato’s wife told me that when he heard the collapse of “Wind Phone”, he said “I’d like to manage to start up the main unit because some people may come on the anniversary of the great earthquake on the 11th.” and he came over to see how it was like.

After the earthquake, there were many opportunities to read the poem “Rain won’t stop me” written by Kenji Miyazawa  all over the country. The poem says the importance of expressing the feeling that even though the house and property have been lost due to the earthquake, we will not lose despite adversity, and that if anyone is in trouble, we will go and lend a hand. I think it is. Mr. Minato may say, “I don’t know that,” but it may be that Kenji’s ideal way of life is natural.

We were able to set up the main body and put the roof on it in one day today. Tomorrow we will start building doors and repairing roof slate. The glass on the side will still take days, but I’d like to finish the set and use the phone, notebook, and other things around 3 o’clock tomorrow.