[3.11 Earthquake: Rebuilding] How Handwritten Newspapers Offer Hope for Ishinomaki

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How many times have you asked yourself: In an emergency, who is the main factor? What are the most important jobs?

We have reminded COVID-19 of the importance of the people who keep our community going. There are rescue workers, medical workers, supermarket employees and garbage collectors.

But perhaps surprisingly, at the start of the pandemic, we were reminded that the media is also key in times of emergency.

Ten years ago, a small newspaper – Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun in Miyagi Prefecture – brought local readers hope in the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Their tools: Literally just pen and paper.

Photos and newspapers on Ishinomaki News

Handwritten newspapers from Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun are still on display worldwide, most recently in Taiwan in March 2021.

This post itself became a center of children’s interests. By founding a children’s newspaper called Kodomo Shimbun, she helped the youngest earthquake and tsunami victims find their voices and speak on their own terms after the earthquake.

Even 10 years after the M9.0 earthquake and the giant tsunami that followed, we remember the vital importance of communicating the news.

We caught up with Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun reporter Michiko Hirai, 60, to learn more about how the resilience the world found in Ishinomaki and other parts of the Tohoku region sometimes comes from the power of the pen and the ability to tell your own story.

Representing the spirit of journalism

Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun has won international recognition for its efforts to communicate news in times of emergency.

There are a few recent disasters that have taken a heavy toll on the local population such as the earthquake of 11 March 2011 and the subsequent tsunami and nuclear accident.

The entire area has been left with massive loss of life, scattered rubble, no water, no electricity, or direct connection to a lifeline for food or rescue.

Michiko Hirai was a reporter on that fateful day. After the earthquake, she remembered her climbing across the main hill next to town, Hyori Yama, to get a better look at the sea.

I saw a tsunami in front of me. The truth is, it was surreal. People around me were crying because they saw their livelihoods vanish, everything was dear to them. “

Hirai’s local newspaper, Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun, was also in trouble. History was unfolding before them, however, and they also had no water or electricity, both of which were necessary to operate the printing presses. Moreover, the water from the tsunami affected the printing machine.

But the head of the newspaper, Hiroichi Konoe, had no doubt: Whatever it was, they had to inform the citizens of what was going on. It was important to tell the story.

Konoe took a black marker, and wrote in large letters on a 1.5-meter-long piece of paper, “The largest earthquake in Japan’s history, magnitude 8.8 (later corrected to M.9) hits the Tohoku region.”

It was the first of six handwritten newspapers to be printed that week. Every day, there were six copies of the newspaper, and because it was hung on the walls of the evacuation centers, it came to be called “kabe shimbun” (wall papers).

Explaining the content of the paper, Hirai said, “For the people here, it was not important that they knew, for example, how the nuclear plant in Fukushima was performing. First and foremost, we wanted to pass on useful information to them: which stores were open, which roads It was safe. ”

On March 13, the newspaper published a list of more than 100 evacuation centers across the city: pachinko halls, supermarkets, and parking lots that have been turned into improvised evacuation sites, some even house more than 4,000 people.

“The phones were not working. It was difficult to find anyone. We thought that by sharing this information, one might be able to track down a loved one who might have been working next to Supermarket X, which is now a shelter,” Hirai said.

Infinitely, many of the addresses were filled with hope among locals. “Self-defense forces are on their way.” “Food is on the way.” “The water process is restored.” And finally, on March 19, “Let’s all get through this together!” The latter was a perfect fit in the Ishinomaki dialect.

2011 earthquake and tsunami

Looking back, Hirai wasn’t shy to say it, for a moment, the decision to manually write the paper sounded like a crazy idea. “To tell the truth, when I was first told that the editors want us to hand-write the paper, I was a little worried. I wondered if the locals would laugh, would they think too much of us?”

But it turned out that people were grateful later. They would congregate around the newspaper when it is hung and read it seriously.

In an age where fake news can spread like wildfire on social media, Hirai told us how she was reminded at that moment of something important: “It was a belief built over nearly a century of work, and what was written in the newspaper was basically not wrong. They believed what we wrote, and we could not relinquish this responsibility. “

To this day, collections of kabe shimbun are on display around the world to remind the world of the importance of the flexibility of journalists in disseminating information.

Hirai spoke of the importance of communicating the correct information in light of the lessons learned 10 years ago:[After 2011] A professor from a university in Tohoku conducted a study of how rumors spread in the immediate post-earthquake period in Sendai – things that were scary but turned out to be untrue. That’s why we’ve been trying to invite people to be careful about sharing information unless they know it is accurate. We wanted everyone to ask themselves, “Is that correct?”

Listening to Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun I was reminded of one key point: Being able to tell your story, with real information, can help create connections between people. But most importantly, it can aid in healing.

In a time of frustration with COVID-19 and fake “news”, as journalists and news readers, it is best to remember this.

Find articles related to this story in the series, 3.11 Earthquake: Rebuilding, at this link.

Author: Ariel Busetto

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