記事詳細
宮城県女川町清水町は２０１１年3月11日の震災で約18メートルの大津波におそわれた。なにもかもを失ってしまった清水町。清水町には私の祖父母も住んでいた。実は、清水町は海から離れている。津波が来ると思わなかったのか、私の祖父母は避難せず、津波に飲まれてしまった。1年9か月が経ち、どこを見ても更地になった去年の12月27日、トレーラーハウスのホテル「エルファロ」がオープンした。なぜ、何もない場所にトレーラーハウスを設置したのか？トレーラーハウス設置者の一人である、女川町宿泊村共同組合の佐々木里子理事長に取材した。
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名前の「エルファロ」は、スペイン語で「灯台」のこと。スペインにあるガリシア地方は、以前津波で壊滅したことがあるが復興した。そして、女川町のように水産業が盛んなのだという。
佐々木さんは、女川町が好き。必ず女川町を元気にしたいと思ったから、女川町にエルファロを設置した。トレーラーハウスは、パステルカラーの黄色、水色、ピンク、緑色でとてもカラフル。今 女川町には色がない。だから、みんなが少しでも明るい気持ちになるようにパステルカラーにしたのだそうだ。
震災後これまで女川町に宿泊所がなかった。「復興作業のみなさんや、家が津波で流されて女川町に帰ってきた時泊まる所がない地元の人にも泊まってもらいたい」と佐々木さんは言う。エルファロに宿泊した神奈川新聞の記者佐藤将人さんは、「外から見るとトレーラーハウスだと分かるのに、中に入るとまったく分からない。置いてある物も暖房も設備も普通のホテルと同じだ」と言っていた。
震災から2年経って女川町はどう変わったかのだろうか。「町民が一丸となって、他の地域に比べると片付けの進みは早いと思う」と佐々木さんは言う。女川町の海で水揚げされた魚を運んでいるトラックを見た時に「女川町の風景が戻ってきた」と感じるそうだ。「子どもたちの元気が大人を動かす。親が落ち込んでいても、子どもたちの笑顔を見ると、大人も元気がでるから、子どもたちにはいつも笑顔でいてほしい。いずれ、子どもたちの時代になる。自分の町を担って動ける大人になってほしい」。みなさん、エルファロに泊まりに来ませんか？
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【エルファロ】
http://elfaro365.com
取材・写真・文：木村 ひな子（門脇中学校１年生）
2013/03/11
Shining the Light of Recovery
The ‘El Faro’ Trailer Hotel
Hinako Kimura | 1st year, Kadonowaki Junior High School
Shimizu Village in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, was engulfed by an 18m-high tsunami at the time of the Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster of 11th March 2011. The village lost almost everything. My grandparents used to live in Shimizu Village. The village is actually quite far from the sea, so, not thinking the tsunami would reach them, they didn’t evacuate, and were swept away. One year and 9 months later, when there were still vacant lots wherever you looked, the ‘El Faro’ trailer hotel opened its doors on 27th December 2012. Why was it set up it in such an empty place? I went to speak to the manager of the trailer hotel, Onagawa Housing Cooperative Board Chairman Satoko Sasaki.
The name ‘El Faro’ comes from the Spanish word for ‘lighthouse’. The Galicia Region of Spain had suffered a tsunami in the same way as Onagawa did, and had recovered. And just as Onagawa does, it has a flourishing fishing industry.
Ms Sasaki loves Onagawa. She set up El Faro in Onagawa in order to bring back health and happiness back to the town The trailer hotel is painted in pastel colours – a colourful palette of yellow, pale blue, pink and green. Previously, Onagawa had no colour. So, she used pastel colours in order to brighten up the mood of the town.
Since the earthquake up till now, there has been nowhere to stay in Onagawa. “I want to provide a roof for people working for the reconstruction effort and for people who have lost their homes in the tsunami and have returned to Onagawa but have nowhere to stay.” Ms Sasaki says. Masato Sato, a reporter on the Kanagawa Newspaper, who stayed at the El Faro, said: “Looked at from the outside, you can see it’s a trailer, but go inside and you wouldn’t know it. Everything looks just like it would in an ordinary hotel: the amenities, the heating, the facilities.”
How has Onagawa changed two years after the earthquake and tsunami? “The people have become united, and compared with other regions, the clearing up has progressed much more quickly” Ms Sasaki continues. “When I saw a truck full of fish caught from the sea around Onagawa, I felt that the town had finally got back to normal.”
“The children’s energy inspires the adults. Even if the parents are depressed, by looking at their children they become happy, so I always want the children to smile. Whatever happens, it’s the children whose future it is. I want them to become adults who own their town.” Why don’t you also come and stay at El Faro?
Pictures:
1.The El Faro logo
2. The interior is bright and comfortable.
3. Board Chairman Satoko Sasaki
4. The numbers on the trailers all have different designs.
5.The trailers are very colourful.
Special thanks to The Japan Foundation London Office Language Center
Mr Oliver Gryce, Ms Vanessa Abel, Mr Luke Adams, Mr Stuart Adams, Ms Cheryl Aldridge, Ms Josephine Audigier, Mr Timothy Bennett, Mr Levi Booth, Mr Simon Campbell, Miss Mikki Carlton, Mr Michael Carson, Mrs Ramata Cisse, Mrs Joanna Dare, Miss Isabelle Demaude, Miss Jennifer Dixon, – JAMES GAHAN, Ms Alison Gray, Mr Alan Gross, Ms Hannah Hunt, Ms Catherine Jakszta, Mr Edmund Jones, Mr Mustafa Kasim, Mr Keith Kelly, Miss Miki Kojima, Miss Ka Yan Li, Ms Angela Maggs, Ms Susan Meehan, Mrs Fiona Michishige, Ms Forum Mithani, Mr Chris Mudie, miss Karolina Nalaskowska, Ms. Takako Nose, Mr James Ovenden, Master Takasolo Ovenden, Ms Heidi Potter, Mr Alex Poulidis, Mr Daniel Pumbien, Miss Carley Radford, Ms Pamela Ravasio, Miss Poppy Reid, Mrs Claire Rennie, Ms Judith Reynolds, Mr Ed Richards, Ms Hana Sato, Ms Yilin Sim, Miss Kei Wun Siu, Mr Kevin Squibb, Ms Catherine Stead, Mr Peter Sutcliffe, Mr. Eric Sward, Ms Kyoko Tanno, Ms Claire Thompson, Ms Arisa (Alissa) Wada (Hew), Mrs Kerry Williams, Ms Kim Woodruff, Dr Haru Yamada, Miss Leanne Yu, Mr Seiji Fukushima, Ms Yuko Murata, Ms Eriko Nishikawa, Ms Takako Nose, Ms Hiroko Tanaka