noji chrysanthemum and snow camellia

"Noji Chrysanthemum and Snow Camellia"

After the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 and the Chuetsu Earthquake 2004, when their evacuation lives became long terms,
Hyogo and Niigata Prefectural Police formed a team of female police officers named after flowers.
Their mission to visit as many shelters as possible to "listen the voice of earthquake victims".

Team Noji Chrysanthemum engaged in a picture‐story show and ventriloquism puppet shows,
"We cannot help anything, all we can do is listening and nodding what they say with tears" said in the report back then.
With a support of other prefectures, their team grew to 150 officers, visited 5,000 locations, 760,000people's stories and they "teared and encouraged by the locals who strived to live positively".

After the Tohoku Earthquake this March, there have been many police women coming from all over Japan to patrol each shelters. Their activity is wide and everything like "taking a walk with a local lady who has a difficulty on walking".
the tires of their patrol car wear out in a day because of its bad road environment, and the filter of air conditioner were blocked up from the dust of broken buildings.

We heard from Iwaki-cuty, Fukushima prefecture that their cherry blossom had bloomed this year for the first time, and its local school children in shelters started new term.
The scenery had dramatically changed, but there again a new spring season arriving in the area.
Noji Chrysanthemum flowers even in the sandy coastal road and Snow Camellia blooms after enduring under the heavy snow of winter.
The areas once swept away from Tsunami, where we could only stand aghast, would surely bloom.


13/4/2011
Shunshuu corner, Nikkei Newspaper

「のじぎく」と「ゆきつばき」。阪神大震災、中越地震のそれぞれの後、住民の避難生活が長期化する中で兵庫、新潟県警は女性警官中心の部隊を編成し、花の名をつけた。任務は避難所を回り「とにかく被災者の声を聞く」だった。

のじぎく隊は紙芝居や腹話術の人形を片手に奔走。当時の記録に「どうしてあげることもできず、泣きながらうなずくしかない。つらい」とある。それでも全国の応援を得て150人体制を組み、「前向きに生きようとする被災者の姿に涙し、逆に励まされて涙し」、５千カ所延べ76万人の話を聞き続けた。

東日本大震災でも、被災地の県警に加えて、警視庁のきずな隊など各地から駆けつけた女性警官たちが避難所巡りを始めている。「足の不自由なおばあさんと一緒に散歩」など活動は幅広い。道路環境が悪いため車は一日でタイヤの表面がボロボロになり、粉じんでエアコンのフィルターが目詰まりするという。

福島県いわき市から桜の便りが届き、避難先の子供たちは入学式や新学期を迎えた。情景は一変してしまったが、被災地にもまた春がめぐってきた。のじぎくは海岸の砂地にも咲き、ゆきつばきは厳しい冬を雪の下で耐え、花開く。津波にのまれ、今はただぼうぜんと眺めるしかないこの地にも、花はきっと咲く。


2011/4/13付
日本経済新聞　春秋欄