Photo/Illutration Toshiko Sakashita leaves her village with help from Self-Defense Forces personnel in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 17. (Shinnosuke Ito)

WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture—Forty residents who were stranded in the rural Nishiho district after the Jan. 1 earthquake were flown to safety by Self-Defense Forces’ helicopters on Jan. 17.

They were taken from the quake-devastated Noto Peninsula to the city of Kaga, south of the Ishikawa prefectural capital of Kanazawa.

Just before 8 a.m., 24 residents gathered at the Koike community meeting place on the western outskirts of hard-hit Wajima city and waited for the helicopter to land in the rice paddies.

Toshiko Sakashita, 87, left the village where her home was located and was accompanied by SDF personnel down a steep hill covered in snow.

On one of her many stops along the way to the meeting point, she gazed at the clear sky and the calm Sea of Japan.

“I have never seen such a beautiful day since the earthquake,” she said.

Although the damage to her home was minor, she spent several nights in her car, fearing her home could collapse in the continuing aftershocks.

The temperature in the car sometimes dropped to minus 2 degrees.

The Jan. 1 quake cut off the main road to the Nishiho district, and residents ran short of water and other supplies.

Sakashita said she worked with her neighbors to collect rainwater from the gutters and boil it for drinking.

Although she eventually began sleeping inside her home, electricity was not restored. She said she finished her dinners around 4 p.m. when the sun was still out and spent her nights alone in the pitch dark.

“I’ve had some long nights,” she said about the past two weeks.

When she arrived at the gathering place, she was relieved to see familiar faces from the neighborhood.

But she said, “I don’t know where we’re going.”

As she boarded the helicopter, she said: “I have my house and farm here. This is my place. I want to come back here again.”

Koji Tsukuda, 50, also showed up at the gathering place to see his parents off. He has decided to stay in town.

Tsukuda said his father was also reluctant to leave, but he decided to move to safety after being persuaded by his wife.

“My father used to be a carpenter,” Tsukuda said. “He built the house himself, so I don’t think he really wanted to go.”

Tsukuda explained why he is remaining in the Nishiho district.

“If I evacuate, I will have nothing to do,” he said. “I will spend my time volunteering in downtown Wajima city and coming back to check on my home.”

However, he cannot use quake-damaged Prefectural Route 38 along the coast. He will have to walk about 3 kilometers through the mountains to get to the center of Wajima.

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