Photo/Illutration People make a toast on Jan. 19 at the Katarotei pub set up in an evacuation center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the wake of the Noto Peninsula earthquake. (Takumi Wakai)

NANAO, Ishikawa Prefecture--Whooshes were heard all around as customers popped open canned drinks and raised a toast. Then, pent-up laughter broke out.

It was a happy hour, even if the daily respite for evacuees from the Noto Peninsula earthquake would only be temporary. 

An “izakaya” pub called Katarotei opened in a meeting room on the second floor of the Tatsuruhama gymnasium, which provides a refuge for those needing shelter following the massive New Year's Day quake.

Katarotei started up on Jan. 18 but is open for only one hour each day, as customers stop by a little past 8 p.m. The pub's menu changes every day.

Dishes offered on Jan. 19 included not only a simmered bowl of yellowtail fish and radish but also “oden” hot pot and an innards stew.

Beer and soft drinks were available in a commercial refrigerator. Patrons were asked to deposit 200 yen ($1.30) into a can for each dish or beverage.

More than a dozen people walked in that day. Individuals of all ages from parents with their offspring to a man in his 70s talked about the damage to their homes and neighborhoods inflicted by the New Year's Day temblor over glasses of amber-colored beer.

Hidemitsu Nakano, president of Kanazawa Samuraiz, a professional basketball team competing in the Japanese B. League B3 division, came up with the idea for the izakaya to help evacuees. 

“I beg that people do not describe our endeavor as ‘inappropriate,’” he said.

Hailing from Niigata Prefecture, Nakano experienced the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake and the 2007 Chuetsu-oki Earthquake. He was engaged in rebuilding efforts in areas victimized by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

“Living as evacuees constitutes long-term battles for people, and they are gradually worn out mentally,” Nakano said. “Having conversations with others is significant. Loneliness can result in subsequent disaster-linked deaths and other problems.”

Katarotei literally means “let’s talk.”

The Tatsuruhama gymnasium is the home practice arena for Kanazawa Samuraiz. Its players and other staff members who live nearby took refuge there on the day of the tremor.

Team executive Hiroyuki Harashima, who has run a restaurant and knows a thing or two about cooking, made “something hot.” A stock pot owned by the team was used to make pork and vegetable miso soup.

Harashima has since dished out “kenchinjiru” and “chanko” soup meals, along with other dishes, on a daily basis. Other staffers and athletes extended a helping hand.

Regional evacuees provided vegetables while the team’s fans volunteered to transport meat and other ingredients to the evacuation center from Kanazawa.

Nakano heard from the gymnasium’s designated administrator a week after the earthquake that “beer cans can often be spotted in trash bags.” He thus suggested a plan to set up an izakaya for “everyone to enjoy drinking together for a much better time.”

The tavern is modeled after one operated by sports clubs in Europe. Users, including elderly citizens and children, can interact with each other in those facilities, with such beverages as beer in their hands.

“I wanted to create a community in the shelter where local individuals can mingle with one another,” recalled Nakano.

Kaede Yamamoto, 27, a nurse, visited Katarotei.

“I feel embarrassed somewhat about chugging alcohol in the aftermath of the temblor, but we would have spent days this way during the New Year holiday season if the disaster had not occurred,” Yamamoto said.

“I am content with seeing this kind of place offered, because I now have the chance to speak with people whom I would otherwise not encounter were it not for the earthquake.”

(This article was written by Kogo Shioya and Takumi Wakai.)

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