Japan's tsunami-hit town raises yellow handkerchiefs with wishes

Sendai:  Sendai residents have begun stringing together yellow handkerchiefs in a coastal area hit by the March 2011 tsunami in a symbolic expression of their hopes for reconstruction of their hometown from the disaster. Each of the handkerchiefs, placed at sites where tsunami-caused debris has been cleared, bears printed messages or drawings transferred from those sent originally to the northeastern city’s Arahama district from well-wishers across the country and overseas. [caption id=“attachment_272579” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Agencies”] [/caption] “I’m praying for Arahama’s recovery,” says a message on one handkerchief, while another reads: “Let’s walk hand in hand. “Arahama residents started the movement late last year after only a yellow flag out of five different colors hoisted at a local temple – which also included white, red, blue and black – survived last year’s quake and tsunami that devastated a large swath of Japan’s northeastern region. Yoshio Sato, a 77-year-old fisherman who has placed yellow handkerchiefs at a site where his home had stood before the disaster, hopes to see a house for him and his family rebuilt at the same location. “We can’t fish if we don’t live near the sea,” Sato said. “I’m raising these handkerchiefs in hopes that we can continue to live here and hang tough. “The Sendai city government has prohibited residents in Arahama and other areas facing the risk of more than 2 meters of tsunami-induced inundation from building new houses or extending their houses. The local government is encouraging them to move out instead, but many Arahama residents are unwilling to leave. Early this year, a Nagoya-based nonprofit organisation joined the handkerchief movement, which typically features a string of handkerchiefs hung to two ropes pegged to the ground on one end and the top of a 4-meter pole on the other. As of late March, the handkerchiefs were set up at 21 locations. PTI