Multilingual Swiss back in Switzerland after 13 years in Japan (was living in Fukushima, Japan, until March 2011)
Momo and Chouchou, my two Japanese cats, are now living with me near Neuchâtel.
I brought them back from Fukushima begin of January. The journey was quite long: it started at 2:30am, going to Narita airport by car from Fukushima, health check at Narita airport, about 13 hours flight, health check at Zurich airport and about 2 hours car drive to Neuchâtel.
After about 3 weeks, they are now nicely settled…
While I was waiting for the first blanket and its wool to reach me by postal mail, I went and bought some more wool for a second blanket.
And started a second blanket. As it is wider than the first one (130 cm wide), its pace is slower… so far, 30 cm long knitted…
Here are some pictures of the temporary housing located near J’s home in Sumida, Iwate Prefecture. This is where I sent some of my former belongings.
The temporary housings are a little different from the one in Fukushima city, pictured here.
Wool could not come with me on the plane to Switzerland.
I had already used up the allocated luggage: 23 kg x 2 suitcases, one bag pack and one small handbag to take in the cabin. Staff of the airline in Tokyo did not allow for another small handbag that contained wool and the 20cm plus blanket I had started last week. My husband will therefore be sending it by postal mail.
I plan to get to a wool store this week (I am still off) and get some more wool. And start another blanket.
I did not have so much time yesterday, as I started packing.
But still, got some more rows done…
Length is now about 20 cm, while width is about 70 cm.
Since I had already packed most of the wool left in my former home in Fukushima into boxes to be sent to J. in Iwate, the first step was this afternoon to return to Aeon and get yarn (100 % wool). I also found some more wool that I had put aside and not yet sent to Switzerland.
To make the blanket very warm, I am knitting several threads at the same time. I made a test, to make sure that the knitting needles were suitable to the threads’ thickness.
I then started the “real” blanket and knitted about 4 cm before realizing that I had made a mistake with the original row.
Undid everything and started again.
The needles are about 30 cm long each and the blanket about 70 cm wide. I need to find a measuring tape 
At the end of the day:
And a closer look:
Can you see the “frame” design ?
An idea just popped into my mind.
What if knitters all around the world would unify and knit warm blankets (using 100 % wool yarn) for Tohoku people who lost everything and are now living in temporary housing…. and show how creative they can be ?
Here is an example of mixing colors, using wool left overs…
This is the blanket I used last March in Fukushima city, when we were without electricity for a few days after the earthquake.
These are pictures of temporary housing in Fukushima city, Fukushima Prefecture.
There are about 20 such buildings and one building probably houses 3 families…
They are located near the Aeon mall.
* * * * * * *
We are now begin of 2012. A new year and, for some, a strong desire to forget how awful 2011 was. But although Tohoku is no longer in the international news, people there still suffer. These past 9 months have been very hard on these communities.
It is now winter, with very low temperatures and snow. Most people who lost their home are now luckily living in temporary housing. And they are grateful to finally have some privacy. But, at the same time, these walls can’t be tick enough in an area that can really get very cold. For those not in Japan: in general, Japanese houses made of wood tend to be insufficiently insulated (from a Western and even a Japanese point of view) – inside our house in Fukushima, begin of January, 10 or 11 C is not uncommon…
I am in contact with J., a foreign lady in Iwate prefecture who was spared by the tsunami. Through family relations, she got to know about small communities that lost everything and are still struggling.
Thanks to her connections, she receives items from friends of friends and can give them to these communities.
Items people still need: warm clothes (coats, jackets, sweaters, etc.), shoes, blankets, towels, etc.
Used items are OK, but they should be useable…
Warm fabric, knitted items, wool/yarn and knitting needles also welcome.
J. cannot pay for postage (NO chakubarai, please).
Contact me if you can send J. some of these items.
As for me, I am sending J. items that won’t follow me to Switzerland, including clothes, fabric, wool yarn and a sewing machine… In the end, about 15 boxes…
