We hope that you are all in good health. As the weather turns even colder, we returned to Fukushima for our final support activities of the year.

After checking our temperature for two weeks, as we have gotten used to doing, our team of 4 staff members made their way to Fukushima City.

 

With coronavirus cases rising in Tokyo, we decided against performing thermotherapy this month. Instead, we focused on helping the non-profit organization Hanamiyama wo Mamoru Kai (Committee to Protect Hanamiyama) with cleaning up Hanamiyama mountain. Our main tasks involved cutting down bamboo trees and carrying them to the wood chipper machine. It was hard work walking up and down the mountain slopes, but we felt relieved and satisfied when the job was done!

 

 

 

 

(Left) Cutting bamboo trees to throw down the mountain   (Right) Piles of bamboo

 

At the children’s facility Rainbow House, one of our staff members performed Christmas songs for the young children on her violin. The children were very curious about the instrument!

After that, they got a visit from Santa Claus himself! We hope that the children enjoyed their early Christmas celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

Hanamiyama wo Mamoru Kai‘s head office is home to many cute animals like the ones pictured below. From left to right, they are the Maltese puppy Pie, the French bulldog Mugi, and the carefree cat Hana. All of our staff enjoyed watching the puppy Pie run circles around Mugi, trying to catch her tail!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope you remain in good health!

We will be continuing our Fukushima support activities in January.