WAIMEA — Rev. Michinori Sasaki and three 10-year-old students from Fukushima will be visiting the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji starting July 20. Rev. Noriaki Fujimori of the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji and the Aloha Fukushima Keiki program are asking for help from
WAIMEA — Rev. Michinori Sasaki and three 10-year-old students from Fukushima will be visiting the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji starting July 20.
Rev. Noriaki Fujimori of the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji and the Aloha Fukushima Keiki program are asking for help from the community in hosting the visitors.
“As you know, Fukushima is contaminated by the nuclear power plants, which exploded during the great disaster of March 11, 2011,” Fujimori said. “The catastrophe damaged the nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, causing radiation leaks and irreparable harm to the environment and health of those living in Fukushima — especially the children.”
Fujimori established the Aloha Fukushima Keiki nonprofit organization as a way to help the children of Fukushima who live with the after-effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
“We want to provide a respite to the children of Fukushima who are facing radiation poisoning through contaminated air, water and food,” Fujimori said. “We want to bring these children to Kauai for a healthy break full of nourishment and aloha. We feel that if these children can breathe our fresh Kauai air, play in our clean Hawaiian waters, and eat our bountiful foods, even if it’s just for a short stay, the health benefits can be enormous.”
Sasaki, a Jodo Shin Pure Land Otani minister from Nihonmatsu City, has established its own nonprofit organization, Team Nihonmatsu, to examine radiation levels in food, temporarily evacuating young children and engage in decontamination work.
“The children have health problems they didn’t have before, including thyroid diseases,” wrote Sasaki, who also serves as the vice principal of Doho kindergarten. “Almost every night parents come to our temple crying about their children’s health problems and their future.”
One of the victims of the nuclear plant disaster is a 100-year-old cherry tree on the grounds of the kindergarten playground that Sasaki had to cut down as part of the decontamination process.
“Those who have evacuated and those who have remained are both suffering and living their lives while enduring this crime,” the minister said. “It has been more than one year, and parents have become exhausted protecting their children.”
He worries about his own children.
“My wife and I want to leave this city becase my children are sick and have diseases,” he said. “But I can’t throw away my temple.”
Mothers want to leave and take their children to a safer area, Sasaki said. But the fathers cannot leave because they can’t find jobs outside of Fukushima.
Sasaki, who admitted to being indifferent to the Chernobyl and Tokaimura nuclear accidents, now has a different outlook.
“I cannot forgive the government,” he said. “I was angry inside. But the children saved me from my anger. Seeing these children who cannot play outside made me feel as if they were saying, ‘You did this to us.’”
The public is invited to hear Rev. Sasaki when he speaks during a July 21 appearance at the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji, starting at 10 a.m. He will speak on the current situation of Fukushima.
“If you are able to help with this project to help alleviate the stress of these Fukushima children, I will gladly accept your help with donations of money, food, and housing,” Fujimori said. “We also need a translator for Rev. Sasaki’s talk on July 20.”
Kaori Shibata from Tokyo, said she is a student at the Kauai Community College studying Hawaiian Studies and is helping with the students with sales of special Aloha Fukushima Keiki T-shirts and other artifacts she and other volunteers have created. The items were available during the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji bon dance and are available at the church by contacting alohafukushimakeiki@yahoo.com, or calling 645-0237.
Fujimori said the Fukushima delegation will be here from July 20 through 27, spending two nights in Honolulu. During their stay at the Waimea Higashi Hongwanji, the group is scheduled to visit Salt Pond, Kokee, Poipu and the Waipa Foundation.
“I thought nuclear power had become the norm, and was safe,” Sasaki said. “Having no feeling for the preciousness of life, I was living as a priest only when convenient for me. I lived like this for 39 years, and in the end, it brought suffering to the children. Once I realized that, my mind got clear. I felt relieved and was able to get back on my feet.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
