[Visit Report] Taiwanese professional basketball team "Formosa Dreamers" and Sendai 89ERS President Shimura visit the museum
On Friday, September 6th, the FORMOSA DREAMERS, a professional basketball team from the Taiwan P.League+, visited the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial.
Through the learning program experience, which was the main content of the program, the participants learned about the connection between Taiwan and Minamisanriku Town that continues from their support for the recovery from the earthquake, and the progress of the town's recovery.
【overview】
Date: Friday, September 6, 2024
Visitors: Players and staff of the FORMOSA DREAMERS, a member of the Taiwanese professional basketball team "P.League+"
Sendai 89ERS Co., Ltd. President and CEO Takehiko Shimura and all staff members
[Background to the visit]
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Minamisanriku Town has received a great deal of support from around the world, including Taiwan, and has been working towards reconstruction.
In addition, the Minamisanriku Town Great East Japan Earthquake Memorial Museum "Minamisanriku 311 Memorial" will open in 2022, and many of the Sendai 89ERS players, including President Takehiko Shimura, visit the museum every year.
Given this background, it was decided that the Taiwan Formosa Dreamers would visit the club as an excursion the day after the club's 20th anniversary international friendly match.
On the 6th, the players interacted with the children at a welcome ceremony at Shizugawa Nursery School in the town, and visited Minamisanriku Hospital, which was rebuilt with the generous support of Taiwan, and the former disaster prevention building, a relic from the earthquake. Minamisanriku Town spoke about the situation in the town immediately after the earthquake, their gratitude to the people of Taiwan for their support in the reconstruction effort, and the current state of the town 13 years later.
[Scenes from the day]
The learning program you saw this time was "Protecting Saved Lives," and it centered around video testimonies from townspeople who were affected by the disaster at the Shizugawa Public Hospital before it was rebuilt.
The players and staff listened with bated breath to the testimony of a person who experienced the earthquake while hospitalized, and who witnessed his family's home being swept away from his hospital window, and a woman in a car being engulfed by the tsunami and sinking.
The Minamisanriku 311 Memorial Learning Program is characterized by the time participants spend discussing and thinking about the question, asking "What would you think?" During this discussion, the participants discussed themes that they don't usually think about, and it seemed that even the players themselves could not come up with a clear answer.
After experiencing the learning program, we asked Formosa Dreamers player Lin Junji for his impressions.
Q: Having watched the learning program earlier, I understand that Taiwan is also a country that experiences many earthquakes. What were your thoughts on this?
"When I saw the footage, I was deeply moved by the idea of living resiliently and never giving up. The tsunami wasn't that big in Taiwan, but we do have typhoons and other disasters. I've experienced them myself. But the damage wasn't as bad as it was in the footage."
Q: What did you learn most from your visit to Miyagi Prefecture?
"I prefer areas rich in nature to big cities with lots of buildings. What I learned most during this trip was the strong spirit of the people who are able to move forward towards recovery even after a disaster like the one on March 11."
[Connections between Taiwan and Minamisanriku Town]
The exchange between Minamisanriku Town and Taiwan dates back to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Minamisanriku Town lost its only general hospital, the public Shizugawa Hospital, in the tsunami that struck the town. With no hospital in the town for a long time, many of the townspeople moved out of the town.
The early restoration of the medical and welfare systems that support the lives of the local community was a top priority for many townspeople, but rebuilding the hospital faced major hurdles and challenges, including financial ones.
Approximately 2.22 billion yen, or about 40% of the total cost of rebuilding the hospital, which was 5.6 billion yen, was donated through the Taiwan Red Cross (Red Cross Society), and in December 2015, we were able to rebuild the Minami Sanriku Hospital and Minami Sanriku Comprehensive Care Center, which has both medical and welfare functions.
A monument expressing gratitude to Taiwan has been erected on the grounds of the rebuilt Minamisanriku Hospital.
Since then, we have continued to provide support from Taiwan that is not merely temporary, but has also organized educational trips for Taiwanese high school students, Japanese language training and internships for university students, and training trips to Taiwan for local students, leading to future mutual exchanges.
When Taiwanese students visit town, as part of their earthquake and disaster prevention studies, they participate in a learning program at the Minamisanriku 3/11 Memorial, as well as visit Minamisanriku Hospital and the former Disaster Prevention Office Building.
Thank you to all the players and staff, and Sendai 89ERS President Shimura, for visiting us.
