Dear SSJ-Forum members,

Many thanks to David Slater and Earl Kinmonth for their excellent posts about volunteering in Tokyo - both on where to do it and on the surplus of volunteers offering assistance. One place that's near Tokyo and that is still accepting volunteers is the Saitama Super Arena, which is easily accessible from Tokyo via either the Saikyo Line (Kita- Yono Station) or the Keihin-Tohoku Line (Saitama Shintoshin Station).

The Arena has become the primary spot from some of those evacuated from their homes around the Fukushima nuclear power plant, particularly residents of the town of Futaba-machi. The news reports here indicate that there are about 1200 residents from the town there, though I was told by one of the local volunteers that there are hundreds from other towns as well; I didn't talk to any of the evacuees and haven't done enough research online to be sure.

The place is, however, overflowing with volunteers, so I think one can go and make something of a difference, but for the time being, it doesn't seem that one's absence will be disastrous to the relief efforts either. I went up yesterday and signed in as a volunteer at about 8:45, which was shortly before they cut off the line (and posted a couple of volunteers right outside of Saitama Shintoshin Station with placards indicating that no more volunteers would be accepted for the day). Even so, after registering and getting my volunteer tag, I waited in a messy line with about 120 others to be tasked with specific jobs. The system is, understandably and properly, set up for easy management and for utility to the relief cause, not for the comfort of stragglers who show up to volunteer fairly late. The line moved slowly and a bit unpredictably, so volunteers would best be advised to show up early and to have warm clothes; the staging area is open-air, and yesterday there was quite a bit of cold wind blowing through the crowd. My wait was 3 hours, and although I was at the tail end due to my tardy arrival, it seemed that a large number of people waited, uncomplainingly but clearly cold, for at least two hours.

Tasks were often gender separated, but I couldn't say precisely how; most of the time, the Saitama prefectural staff were trying to shout their instructions in loud voices, but not loud enough to be heard beyond the front few rows of waiting volunteers, given the open-air acoustics. By the time I got up front, they asked for a group of about 15 men and boys to pick up cardboard boxes from Ito Yokado and bring them back to the arena, with further instructions given at that point.

I was very glad at that point to get something to do. The previous group of men had been dispatched an hour earlier for garbage duty, and a few women remained behind us, waiting a bit longer for their tasks; I never found out what they were ultimately sent off to work on. When we got the boxes over, we separated ones that might be cut up and turned into meal trays for the evacuees from those that were useless, then cut/taped the good ones, lined them with newspaper, and set them out for use for dinner (I guess; our task was finished before dinnertime, at which point I left, since I didn't want to be another body getting in the way).

There are apparently different tasks each day, and I ended up on danboru duty because that was simply what was left at that point; given the amount of cardboard and the number of meals that people will need, this particular job will get repeated a few more times, but I there will be lots of other jobs as well. And, again, if I hadn't been there, there would have been no shortage of people willing to pitch in.

For the time being, things seem to be going well as might be hoped, but I'm worried about what will happen next. According to the news, starting in April, evacuees will be moved from the arena to the original building of the former Saitama Kenritsu Kisai High School. Given what we're hearing from Fukushima, my guess is that it will be a while before they can safely return to their homes. While some may find other lodging on their own, there will likely be needs at the high school for some time through April and perhaps beyond.

I don't know what their needs will be like at that point. What is worrisome is partly that spring break will be over and many of the enthusiastic youngsters won't be as available to help (and I cannot overstate how impressed I was with the junior high school and high school students, who made up a substantial portion of the volunteers). Beyond that, it also seems *much* harder to get to the next evacuation facility after they're moved from the arena. According to the wikipedia page about the high school, to get there one has to take a bus either from Kounosu Station on the Takasaki line, or from Kazo Station on the Toubu Isesaki Line, and then walk 15 minutes from the Kisai 1-chome bus stop. I'm not sure if they'll set up a shuttle service or not. It may be that they're using this time to prepare the school well for the evacuees, and that there won't be many volunteers needed. But I imagine that they'll be in very short supply at that point, so anyone with free time after April 1st might want to contact the Saitama Prefectural Government to see about volunteering needs at that point; I'll try to post information when it's available.

In the meantime, if you want to volunteer at the arena:
arrive early, dress warmly, and have some rubber/cleaning gloves with you.

Cheers,

Dave

David Leheny
Henry Wendt III '55 Professor of East Asian Studies Department of East Asian Studies
211 Jones Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
dleheny@princeton.edu