Sho Taiji, a member of volunteer group "footbath squad," gives a hand massage to an evacuee from Fukushima Prefecture at an evacuation center in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday. (Kosuke So)
As brutally cold weather continues in the areas worst hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, young volunteers are doing their best to warm the hearts and bodies of evacuees with massages and footbaths.
At an evacuation center in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, a dozen or so cheerful students and young people make up a "footbath squad," who give much-needed relaxation to those who either lost their homes in the tsunami or had to evacuate due to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture
Around 500 evacuees from coastal areas are staying at the center, which is a public gymnasium. Snow is still piled up outside, and chilling gusts of wind blow through the building every time someone opens the door. Life is tough and full of uncertainties. Unsure of what the future holds for them, the evacuees are understandably anxious.
In a steamy corner of the gymnasium, however, the mood is light and playful. When the squad members announce that the footbath is ready, children, apparently bored by protracted refugee life, flock to the corner. Older people hesitantly follow to receive a 15-minute relaxing massage from the group.
"All we can do is to try to ease their stress and negative feelings. We want to share their pain," says group member Sho Taiji, a 21-year-old student of a high school correspondence course from Yonezawa.
Soaking his feet in hot water steeped with ginger, and having his hands gently massaged by Taiji, 63-year-old Yoshikazu Sekimoto from the village of Naraha in Fukushima Prefecture gradually opens up. His hometown is located within the 20-km evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
"It's devastating. I have a home but I can't go back to it," Sekimoto tells Taiji. After the massage, Taiji promises, "We will do what we can."
The inspiration for the "footbath squad" came from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. Masamichi Yoshitsubaki, a member of a Kobe-based volunteer group, instructs the squad members on how to give massages and emotional support.
After the March 11 earthquake, Taiji witnessed the flock of evacuees from Fukushima, including those who were injured or seeking shelter without any belongings, while he was working night shifts at a local convenience store. Stung by the plight of the evacuees, Taiji joined the squad.
Group leader Yoshitsubaki expressed his regret that volunteers' access to the coastal areas of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, which were hit hard by the devastating tsunami, has not been restored, even though two weeks have passed since the quake.
While he voluntarily participated in recovery efforts after the Kobe quake and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China, Yoshitsubaki said the efforts are unusually delayed this time and those affected by the March 11 quake are possibly in a worse condition than those hit by the other two disasters.
"But we will never give up trying to reach those who are afflicted by the triple disaster of an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis," he said.
If the access to the coastal cities is restored, Taiji and the other members of the footbath squad will be the first to arrive, Yoshitsubaki added.
(This article was written by Kosuke So and Taro Nakazaki.)
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