A memorable trip

Name: Karly Kanehiro Nationality: Japanese-American Location Visited: Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture

Message

　My trip to Fukushima was an eye-opening and inspiring one. It was amazing to be able to get in touch with my family’s roots and our origins, where Fukushima is in the present having come so far since the 2011 disaster, and where it’s going into the future. Thanks to the Fukushima Government and the Honolulu Fukushima Kenjin Kai we were able to go on this once-in-a-lifetime trip where we got to see the beautiful nature of the prefecture with its open rice fields and sunflowers, and taste the delicacies of the areas such as kitakata’s ramen and eat authentic chirashi, but also see how many hands have gone into recovering the prefecture since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and the Daiichi incident. The sheer amount of courage and “ganbatte spirit” that I saw in the people working so hard to fully get Fukushima completely back on its feet is truly inspiring and moving. I hope to bring that with back to Hawaii and I encourage anyone who wants to see a prefecture full of spirit and hope to come to Fukushima!