I got an email from a blog reader telling me I hadn’t written in a week and she was missing it, so here I am, on an Air France flight to the UK, with the first spare time I’ve had since the drive back from Oshika. (And let me just say how the loos on [...]

Today was my last day on Oshika and I spent most of it relaxing; after Saturday’s six hours of food preparation, and yesterday’s five hours of cooking I am glad I didn’t plan anything for today so I could just spend a bit of time at the Sasakis’ and watch my last Ohara sunset (at [...]

I came here to offer a bit of practical and emotional support and to maintain awareness, but I also came here to find some small projects to fund from donations I collected in the UK and also in Japan. I found three projects costing ¥75,000, ¥150,000, and ¥100,000; each making a big difference to people [...]

I’ve been rather inspired by some Tohoku before and after photos going around on Facebook and thought I’d like to start recording Oshika’s progress for the Ohara community. The photos aren’t always as uplifting as some of the ones circulating on the Internet, but that’s the reality here — the shrine is falling apart, people [...]