Japanese make traditional paper cranes in memory of earthquake victims

Abu Dhabi: Japanese community members in the capital made scores of Orizuru — a paper crane as part of a traditional practice — to commemorate the third anniversary of March 11 massive earthquake, that triggered a tsunami in north-eastern Japan.

“We pray for the people for whom we make Orizuru and we are sure our prayers must have reached the survivors of the earthquake,” Tama Tanaka, a Japanese homemaker in Abu Dhabi told Gulf News yesterday.

She and her friends were teaching the non-Japanese how to make Orizuru and serving Maccha, a traditional Japanese green tea over to the customers at a Japanese restaurant in the capital during the past few days.

“In Japan, we make Orizuru, making wishes for the people we care to be in peace or to get well. We made the birds with prayers and shared with people who love Japan in Abu Dhabi,” Tanaka said.

Almost all Japanese know how to make Orizuru.

“We learn it in the school. When a dear one is sick even we make a thousand Orizuru,” Tanaka said.

She said the earthquake survivors needed support because many of them are still living in temporary accommodations. About 98,000 people still living in temporary shelters three years after the March 11, 2011 earthquake, leaving about 19,000 people dead or missing and hundreds of thousands homeless as it wiped out entire towns, according to a Bloomberg report. Only 3.4 per cent of the planned public housing has been built because of a shortage of labourers and building materials, according to the government.

The restaurant will donate the proceeds from the sales of Japanese tea for the earthquake survivors. “The amount maybe small; but we want to give a message to the survivors that Abu Dhabi still remembers them,” Tanaka said.

Farag Barakat, 57, the Egyptian owner of Samurai Japanese restaurant, said he was very much impressed by the Japanese camaraderie.

While working in Japan for six years in 1980s, he had made many friends and one of them was about to visit him in 2011 March to enjoy his vacation. “But when the earthquake happened, the Japanese friend cancelled his vacation in the UAE and said he would contribute that money to the earthquake victims. It was so touching,” Barakat said.