ぼんやきゅう

Bonyakyu

Bon Baseball

亡くなったひとたちと、いまを生きているものとの交信、それが、盆野球。

東日本大震災によって被災地域の人々が失ったものは、
人のいのち、住まい、仕事、日々の暮らしだけではありません。
「地域のつながり」もまた、そうでした。
震災後の仮設住宅暮らしは地域を分断し、復興の遅れは、多くの人の離村を招きました。中には、戻りたくても戻れずに亡くなる人もいました。
それでも、とぎれかけた人と人・集落のつながりを取り戻そうという動きが出あります。
そのひとつが「盆野球」です。震災前までずっと続いていた、お盆のイベント、岩手県釜石市鵜住居地区の「盆野球」。鵜住居地区は、津波で、ほとんどの住宅が流されてしまった地区です。
この地区の盆野球の復活を描いたのが、この絵本です。
お盆は、亡くなられた方がたを迎えるとき。
復活した盆野球は、震災で亡くなったひとたちと、いまを生きているものとの交信の場でもあるのです。それぞれのひとが、大切な人と一緒に白球を追う。それが、盆野球なのです。

What the people in the affected areas lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake was:
It’s not just about people’s lives, their homes, their jobs, and their daily lives.
So was the “community connection.”
Living in temporary housing after the earthquake divided the region, and the delay in reconstruction caused many people to leave their villages. Some of them died because they couldn’t go back even if they wanted to.
Even so, there is a movement to restore the connections between people and villages that have been broken.
One of them is “Bon Baseball”. The Obon event, which had been going on for a long time before the earthquake, was “Bon Baseball” in the Uzumi district of Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture. The Uzumi district is an area where most of the houses were washed away by the tsunami.
This picture book depicts the revival of Bon baseball in this area.
Obon is a time to welcome the deceased.
The revived Bon Baseball is also a place to communicate between those who died in the earthquake and those who are alive today. Each person chases the white ball with their loved ones. That’s what Bon Baseball is all about.