Traditional warehouses* were heavily damaged by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. These traditional warehouses are really valuable in terms of community renovation because they are used as workshops for traditional activities such as making Wajima-nuri lacquered ware and sake. Habitat for Humanity Japan worked in cooperation with three American volunteers from the U.S. Air Force, Misawa base, in Wajima City on May 21 and 22 and with a local executive committee of Support Activity for Restoration of Traditional Warehouses, which was established by some architects and community renovation consultants.

　I worked with Masao Mizuno, Kiichiro Hagino, and other staff from the committee. It was very helpful for me as a coordinator that both Mr. Mizuno and Mr. Hagino were frequent in English.
From the Misawa-base, we had Joseph Bordonaro, Song W Lee, and Jeremy Huffaker, who had participated in a Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) last year. Since it takes more than 10 hours to drive from Misawa-base to Wajima city, they used their volunteer vacation system to join us, being cheered from other people in the base.

We worked on a two-story traditional warehouse in the Fugeshi area. Surprisingly, the family owns a total of three traditional warehouses. Basically, part of the restoration activity was to knock down the clay wall that got damaged. After eliminating some bamboos and wood from the clay that was knocked off, we crushed it into moderate pieces. Then, we packed the wall clay into a bag and wheeled it out to be recycled (by adding about 2% of new clay into the old).
It was very hard work in sitting hunched over in the dust. Moreover, the wall clay is really heavy! It was about 35kg?40kg per bag which we had to carry outside, using a unicycle. The whole process was different from anything else I had experienced before.
In Wajima, this Support Activity for Restoration of Traditional Warehouses is not only spotlighted, but the local newspaper and TV also came to interview us because even foreigners have joined to volunteer.
I had lunch at a famous Wajima-nuri lacquerer's house in the neighborhood. As I expected, all the dishes used for lunch seemed to be nice and costly Wajima-nuri lacquered ware. Furthermore, the house was magnificent enough that the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, even visited the workshop in the house.
During the two days, almost all the clay wall was removed, and we accomplished more than what we expected. In regards to the three Americans from Misawa base, they were willing to take the harder work, and their attitude of both modesty and frankness impressed a lot of people. It was such an ideal volunteer team for me as a coordinator.

The executive committee has proposed to rent restored traditional warehouses as galleries They have finished researching on all the traditional warehouses; thus, they are currently considering how they can tie up the traditional warehouses and the idea of financial plan and community renovation. In addition, it costs about 5,000,000 yen to repair one warehouse.
I asked them to contact Habitat for Humanity Japan when they need more help in the future.
Supplement: What to Bring, Where to Stay, etc　
This is the list of the things I brought for this program. Also, a goggles and an antidust mask were provided.
1) a helmet 2) towels 3) gloves 4) boots / sturdy shoes 5) some dirty-ok clothes
6) an emergency set 7) some drink water 8) foods 9) a sleeping bag

I stayed at the second floor of the executive office. The information is below:
Address: "Ateno Ie" 4-66-1 Kawai-cho, Wajima-shi Ishikawa Japan
Phone number: 0768-22-2681
*use the parking lot of Marine Town
*it is better to have a mattress with a sleeping bag because the bedroom floor is only planked
*there is a public bathhouse in the neighborhood (Monday closed)
*there are shops around such as morning market, grocery stores, restaurants, and cafés. (restaurants and cafés close early in the night)
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At the same time, we are raising funds to help make this effort a success. The donations gathered at HFH Japan would be used solely to help the earthquake victims in their recovery.
Banking information:
○　Postal Account
Account Number: 00100-2-278431
Account Holder: HFH Japan
* Please indicate that funds are meant for "Disaster Response in Noto."
○　Bank Account
Bank name: Mitsui Sumitomo Bank, Nakano-Sakaue Branch Office
Account Number: 4180738 (Savings)
Account Holder: トクヒ)ハビタット フォー ヒューマニティ ジャパン
* Please notify us of your name, contact information and indicate that funds are meant for "Disaster Response in Noto" at the HFH Japan office.
We truly appreciate your kind contributions.
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○ Acknowledgement
These are donations gathered at HFH Japan for the Noto Peninsula Earthquake victims so far. We really appreciate all who showed the consideration to donate. We will make a use of the donations for the support activity of the victims. These are the group and the people who made donations.
○Charity
March 30 Jesuit Social Center 50,000 yen
March 31 Anonymous 20,000 yen
April 2 Aya Itoh 10,000 yen
April 2 Se Tian 3,000 yen
April 2 Kouichi Okutani 10,000 yen
April 4 Meito Christ
International Church 20,000 yen
April 6 Haruhito Tokuchi 3,000 yen
April 11 Nobuo Morishima 3,000 yen
April 17 Sachiko Ogura 10,000 yen
April 17 Christopher Ruth 10,000 yen
May 1 Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ household of God 18,460 yen
May 17 KUFS Habitat　　　　　15,872 yen
○Offered Supply
April 2　Cosmos Initia Co., Ltd.（Cosmos Group）
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　250 Blue sheets
*Traditional Warehouse: It's a cultural method of building warehouses using clay, which was developed in Wajima area.