Coming back up to the north direction, we arrived back in Ishinomaki to stay for a few days. For us, even though it was one of the most heavily destroyed area, Ishinomaki is relatively alive with recovery activities. Within the last year, many new places had opened or re-opened. Without these new establishment, we probably won’t have a place to stay while we are there.
One of the places that we visited and excited us was the Ishinomaki Laboratory. It was established by designer with architect Keiji Ashizawa to support the recovery activities, education young people and ultimately create jobs.
Overall, the space is really cool with their signature timber furniture in the front space, and workshop in the back room, and it was a real nice touch that they serve cheap coffee - 100 yen a cup, and 300 yen for the whole day! I really think that such a project is key to the future of a recovering community, as they bring in people and new connections. We had already met a few young people that found jobs in the recovery support work and decided to stay in Ishinomaki. As a foreigner passing-by, we can tell that there is a lively energy in the air, it would be interesting to see what Ishinomaki will became in a few years’ time.
