When disaster strikes, who are you going to call?
In some places left devastated by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami, the answer is the local superhero.
Such "community-based superheroes" are jumping into action to entertain and console people whose voices have been lost in the rush to resettle in evacuation centers.
In some cases, the mere presence of a costumed hero is enough to bring smiles to the faces of young and old alike. Some heros are helping to raise funds for reconstruction, too.
In Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, the local superhero is "Rias no Senshi Eager" (Eager, the warrior of Rias). He zoomed over to Onagawa Daiichi Elementary School on April 14 in his first public appearance since the earthquake. The school building is now a shelter for people who lost their homes.
"Eager!" children shouted in glee when the blue-masked hero suddenly appeared. About 200 children swarmed around him, begging for his autograph.
Eager's name comes from a common phrase in the local dialect: "Iiga, omedazu" ("Listen up, you people"). "Rias" refers to the region's famous Rias coastline of jagged inlets, rich with marine resources.
The character was first introduced at the Onagawa Minato Matsuri festival in July last year. His mission is to fight the town's arch-enemy, the evil Kurarage, and bring peace to the community.
The promotional "Eager Project" was devised by about 20 younger members of the local chamber of commerce and industry to help revitalize the local economy. They handmade the costumes for the characters.
Then came 3/11. Onagawa was almost completely wiped out by the twin disasters of quake and tsunami. One member of the team, Yoshihiko Abe, 43, who had composed Eager's theme song, was killed by the huge black tide that washed away homes and stores.
But like their superhero, the remaining members vowed not to give up. The group rebanded to do something for their community.
Yoshihide Abe, 42, who operates a newspaper delivery service, serves as a producer for the Eager project. He recently rented a warehouse to resume his business. He dubbed the building "Eager House."
Eager's costume survived the tsunami intact, but his sword and shield, modeled after local seafood specialties--coho salmon and a scallop--were missing.
Eager's fans combed through the wreckage of the town and recovered them earlier in April.
One month after the disaster, the Eager team reassembled at Eager House and then went on to visit shelters in Onagawa to cheer up survivors.
Meanwhile, in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, characters from "Hojin Yatsurugi" have launched a fund-raising campaign thanks to concerned children who raided their own piggy banks to help those affected by the disaster.
"Hojin Yatsurugi" is a live-action superhero TV show produced by Chiba Television Broadcasting Corp. The show, which began airing April 2, follows a young fisherman who turns into the superhero Yatsurugi to battle evil.
The producers have presented a live-action stage show at a hotel in the city each week since February to promote the TV show.
On March 19, they announced that profits from the sales of items sold at the venue would be donated to a tsunami recovery fund.
In response, a group of children came up and offered a box that contained their own spending money. The kids asked Yatsurugi to send it to a disaster-stricken area.
The production team then issued a wider call for donations, which has to date raised about 1.3 million yen ($15,900).
That money was donated to Asahi city, the worst-affected area in Chiba Prefecture. Further donations for disaster-stricken areas will be given to the Japanese Red Cross Society, they said.
Inspired by the "Super Sentai" (Super squad) and "Kamen Rider" TV series, community-based heroes like these are on the rise nationwide.
According to "Local Hero Daizukan," a pictorial guide to local heroes, since the early 1980s, at least 200 superheroes have emerged around the country.
Many are conceived and played by amateurs, and serve as mascots for promoting local industry and agricultural produce. They typically appear at community events to drive home such messages as recycling and trash reduction, traffic safety or combating vice.
(This article was compiled from reports by Eitaro Takeyama and Daijiro Honda.)
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