One woman showcased colorful yarns and knitted goods at her booth at a recent handmade market held on the grounds of Hyakumanben Chionji temple in Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward.

Martina Umemura, a knitting artist from Germany, ran the booth that saw a constant stream of customers coming to buy yarn and knitted items.

One such patron checked one of the product’s labeling and found it was made by “Kesennuma Atelier.”

Umemura explained that her company, Umemura Martina Kesennuma FS Atelier Co., sits in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.

The company produces and sells knit garments along with original items such as band-like headwear. It alike imports German-made yarns marked by custom colors in the image of Kesennuma’s waters, forest and cherry blossoms.

The bonds between Umemura and Kesennuma were forged after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami devastated the northeastern Tohoku region on March 11, 2011.

“The course of my life changed dramatically following the earthquake disaster,” said Umemura. “But I have no regrets about that.”

FINDING WAYS TO HELP

Umemura was not significantly impacted by the earthquake because she was in Kyoto as a German language teacher for the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and elsewhere.

However, Umemura thought that continuing to live in Japan could be risky.

She watched scenes of the powerful tsunami and the accident at the wrecked Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant on the news.

After a friend in Germany sent her a plane ticket so she could “flee to safety quickly,” Umemura spoke with her family about what they should do.

Her Japanese husband agreed that they could head for Germany, but their eldest son protested that he “can’t leave my friends behind.”

“I realized Japan is the homeland for my children,” said Umemura.

Making up her mind to remain in Japan, Umemura began considering what she could do for the country.

She then hit upon the idea of delivering yarn and needles to areas stricken by the disaster.

Umemura had long knitted for pleasure. When she was knitting, she felt she could forget her hardships and instead concentrate on the task at hand.

However, some people told Umemura that such things should not be presented to “those who are in more dire need of food.”

But Umemura shipped out several sets of knitting tools, and an evacuation center at Koharagi Junior High School in Kesennuma contacted Umemura afterward asking for more.

This filled Umemura with overwhelming joy.

She visited the shelter in June 2011 to knit together with about 10 women who had evacuated there.

When she visited again in July, Umemura proposed developing “a symbol of reconstruction with yarn.”

Thus, a toy octopus called Koharagi Takochan was born.

As the knitted toy is easy to make, many people at the evacuation site helped make them.

Completed ones were then sold at a handmade market in Kyoto, with proceeds donated to those affected by the disaster.

WORKPLACE FOR WOMEN

In visiting Kesennuma on several occasions, Umemura discovered there were not enough places for women to work.

She thus founded a knitting firm there in March 2012 and hired three local women.

Umemura then changed her address from Kyoto to Kesennuma on her official resident certificate.

“My heart was already in Kesennuma, so it was only natural for me to change my address,” said Umemura. “I wanted to show people around me that I was serious, too.”

She quit her college job in 2015 to focus on her activities in Kesennuma.

She now has 12 staff members as 12 years have passed since the company’s establishment.

“Our business is starting to look more like a genuine company,” said Umemura, who inaugurated a directly run shop in Osaka Prefecture in 2022. “We will be committed to making our company even better in the hopes that people who spent their childhood in Kesennuma will want to continue living in their hometown.”

Umemura organizes knitting classes and other events while going to Kesennuma once a month from her family’s home in Kyoto.

She used to change express buses and travel around 14 hours to reach Kesennuma before the COVID-19 pandemic, but she now relies on Shinkansen.

The bullet train system still requires eight hours to reach Kesennuma, though.

Still, Umemura said she has no intension of limiting how often she shuttles between the two destinations.

“The handmade market in Kyoto is essential for our sales,” she said. “We have staff members in Kesennuma and must keep the business alive to secure employment opportunities.”

The lengthy journey is actually pleasant for Umemura, too, she said.

“I can knit, so traveling such a long distance isn’t too much of a bother for me,” she said.

REMINDER OF THE DISASTER

Reconstruction work has helped clean up the townscape of Kesennuma, but Umemura feels at times that residents still house deep mental scars.

“It’s impossible for me to ask them about stories associated with the catastrophe,” she said.

Every time Umemura hears someone start talking about the disaster in casual conversations, she quietly listens to their accounts.

As people don’t speak as often about the earthquake and tsunami in Kyoto, Umemura hopes her store will serve as a reminder.

“I would like for them to not only remember the disaster, but also notice the attractive qualities of Kesennuma,” said Umemura. “We have recently been particularly stepping up this side of our efforts. Selling our products in Kyoto will have significance in broadening the appeal of Kesennuma.”

A grinning Umemura, who has been working as an envoy to promote tourism of Kesennuma since 2017 as well, went on to say, “I must publicize it as much as possible.”

Keeping in mind the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January, Umemura has discussed with her employees in Kesennuma the idea of extending support to the area at some point once local officials are ready to receive such aid.