A little more for the earthquake kids
A restaurateur in Japan builds a park and lines up Bangkok-based Kyoko Abe to paint a giant mural
What began as a park built by volunteers in an unused field in Kamaishi for children affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake is undergoing a major upgrade in the form of a huge mural being painted on the wall of the ironworks facing the park.
Satoru Fujii, who spearheaded the establishment of the park and is organising the mural, expects the “wall of hope” to bring smiles to the faces of children affected by the disaster.
A Japanese artist living in Thailand has offered to design and create the mural, and work starts in earnest this month with help from volunteers and local children. It should be finished in November.
Fujii, 67, who runs a farmhouse restaurant in the Kasshicho area of Kamaishi, was worried the temporary housing units being built in a nearby park would leave children with fewer places to play outdoors. In June last year he began creating a new park in a 3,000-square-metre field he owns next to his restaurant.
Volunteers, including some from overseas, pitched in to build a slide and other playground equipment, and the park is now even visited by children and their families from the neighbouring town of Otsuchi on holidays.
But Fujii thought a mural on the massive grey wall of the ironworks would help it blend in with the natural environment. The idea spread among the volunteers, and this spring Kyoko Abe, an artist from Oita Prefecture who lives in Bangkok, said she would handle both the design and creation of the mural free of charge. The owner of the ironworks enthusiastically granted permission.
The mural will have a large tree in the centre and be surrounded by colourful images of the sun, birds and cosmos flowers. A painter from Hanamaki gave the group a discount on the background painting, which was completed in early August. Abe is scheduled to begin the detail work this month.
Fujii is seeking individual and corporate donations for the project. “I created the park to help heal children who’d been through the disaster, but I find I’m the one who’s calmed by watching the kids run around and play,” he says. “I’m looking forward to seeing their smiles when they see the mural.”
“Just looking at the background is nice,” says a woman from the neighbourhood who brings her three-year-old grandchild to the park. “I can’t wait to see what kind of fabulous painting it’ll turn into!”
