Mabi New Year Festival ～ A Reconstruction Event Connecting You with the People You Want to See and Spreading a Circle of Support

Interview with Noriaki Kitayama

How the event came about

First, could you tell us what kind of work you usually do, Mr. Kitayama?

Kitayama

I work as a carpenter specializing in the restoration of traditional Japanese houses. I usually work on-site Monday through Saturday, and on Sundays I meet with clients, prepare estimates, and draw up plans.

I restore homes for people who have moved here from Tokyo and Yokohama, working with the clients to build their homes using traditional methods.

Could you tell us what the Mabi New Year Festival was held for?

Kitayama

The event was proposed at the regular “Disaster Support Network @ Kurashiki Meeting” held at the Kurashiki City Disaster Volunteer Center, and its organization was approved.

There were two main reasons I proposed holding it.

One was to raise awareness of and strengthen coordination among support organizations, and the other was to bring people together.

After the disaster, I set up “Team Momotaro” and became involved in recovery support. I’ve seen that each support organization has its own character.

Rather than having them pop up one after another like bamboo shoots in Mabi, I felt the time had come for them to be firmly connected at the roots and work together to support recovery.

More than six months had passed since the disaster, and most of the consultations were about “housing” and “money.”

Nobody likes being sent from one place to another, do they?

The deadline was later extended, but the original deadline for publicly funded demolition was March 31, 2019, so we wanted to make consultations and procedures go as smoothly as possible.

Information about support organizations gets around, but anyone can feel hesitant at first about asking someone they don’t know for help.

So I thought, “I want people to at least be able to see the faces of the organizations’ representatives.”

We called it the “New Year Festival,” but its main purpose was to raise awareness of the support organizations.

We also wanted to create an opportunity for residents to meet one another and build connections.

At the opening ceremony, you said, “I hope we can create a place where people can say, ‘We got to see each other here again today,’ whether they were affected by the disaster or not.” That really stayed with me. Could you tell us more about what you meant?

Kitayama

If we put the support organizations front and center, only people affected by the disaster would come from within Mabi. Also, people had become “used to events,” and it was getting harder to capture their interest.

And people who weren’t affected by the disaster can feel that it’s difficult, or that they don’t want to, attend an event.

So we were allowed to use Makibi Park, where people could listen to music and relax, as the venue, and aimed to create an event where people could “meet the people they wanted to see,” regardless of whether they had been affected by the disaster.

We also visited neighborhood associations in areas that hadn’t been affected and invited them to take part.

Challenges in organizing the event

We heard this was the first event of this scale in Mabi. Could you tell us about the challenges you faced before it was held?

Kitayama

It was my first time organizing such a large event. It was great that an organizing committee was formed, but the core members who took the lead worked incredibly hard, day and night.

• The SEEDS team at the Disaster Volunteer Center
• Everyone at Green Co-op
• Gorilla from the disaster support group
• Araiguma, the photo-cleaning group

and others helped us.

I’m a carpenter, so I can make things like signs, for example, but

“Kitayama, you’re busy. We’ll take care of what we can, so you do what only you can do.”

They helped me so much. Thanks to my friends’ support, we somehow managed to make it happen.

After the event

Now that the Mabi New Year Festival is over, could you tell us what you thought of holding it?

Kitayama

A lot of people took part.

Many children who are usually used to attending events also came.

What made me happiest was seeing so many moments when people said, “We met!”—not only residents affected by the disaster, but also residents who weren’t.

Preparing for it was hard, but that alone made it worthwhile.

We also did a lot to raise awareness of the support organizations. Apparently, people were able to discuss all kinds of things at the New Year Festival.

I think people were able to connect with the people they wanted to meet.

I think it was a really good event. By the way, are you considering holding a second one?

Kitayama

Rather than a second event, I hope we can support residents in taking the lead in organizing events and projects like this.

Mabi has seven districts in all.
But I think now more than ever, we need a community like those of the past, where three generations work together and neighbors help one another.

From the Writer

Many people in Mabi were affected by the disaster and have left the area to live elsewhere.

It is important for those who hope to return to know about the support organizations that can help them.

It may be five or ten years from now, but I was reminded of the need for a place where people can gather regularly, talk, and stay connected, so that as many people as possible can return to Mabi.

The real spring in Mabi may still be a long way off.

But the smiles of Mabi residents that I saw that day, and the smiles of those who planned the event and continue to provide support, all felt warm.

I hope to keep sharing information so that as many people as possible can return, and that we can help remove even a few of the many “walls” that Mr. Kitayama spoke about, which divide Mabi.

Makibi Park and Makibi Memorial Hall — Learn about Kibi no Makibi, the historical figure behind Mabi’s name, and try stepping into his shoes

Do you know about Kibi no Makibi, the historical figure after whom Mabi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, was named? During the Nara period, he traveled to Tang China twice as an envoy to Tang China, where he studied calligraphy, military strategy, and more…

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