The Yomiuri Shimbun
SENDAI--The Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. Army Japan on Thursday launched "Operation Soul Train," a project to clear debris from stations and railway tracks on the JR Senseki Line in Miyagi Prefecture.
East Japan Railway Co. has been removing debris and restoring damaged railway tracks on the Senseki Line, which connects Aoba Dori Station in Sendai and Ishinomaki Station.
Due to severe damage, particularly in coastal areas, the SDF and the U.S. Army Japan decided to assist the efforts at the request of the Miyagi prefectural government.
About 40 U.S. soldiers and 16 SDF personnel removed a refrigerator and a vending machine that had been washed into Nobiru Station in Higashi-Matsushima in the prefecture by tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake. They also used heavy machinery to clear debris left on the platform.
The U.S. Army Japan named the operation "Soul Train." Col. Alan Neyland, who leads the operation, said that they wanted to put U.S. and Japanese soul into the restoration of the Senseki Line.
The phrase "Soul Train" is well known in the United States as the title of a popular musical TV program that ran for decades.
(Apr. 22, 2011)
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