In 15 days, it will be one year since a large submarine volcano erupted off the coast of the South Pacific island nation of Tonga.

Prayers were offered to the victims at the local church, and the participants expressed their determination for reconstruction.

In Tonga, a submarine volcano erupted on January 15 last year, and according to the Tongan government, a tsunami of up to 15 meters surged, killing four people, including related deaths.



On the 15th, one year after the disaster, in Tonga, where most of the people are Christians, churches across the country held services to commemorate the victims.

Of these, more than 1,000 people gathered at the country's largest Catholic church in Nuku'alofa, the capital, from the morning, and everyone offered a minute's silence at the beginning.



After that, the clergy called out, "Let's all work together to continue the reconstruction," and the church resounded with people's prayers.



A 60-year-old housewife who attended the service said, "Even now, when I think about how I desperately ran away from the tsunami a year ago, tears come to my eyes. I am grateful that I was able to survive." rice field.



A 26-year-old male farmer said, "Tonga is continuing its recovery efforts toward a better future. We will not forget the painful experience and will work together to move forward."

Local agriculture and fisheries affected by the disaster

Tonga's main industries, agriculture and fisheries, both have long-standing exports to Japan, and Japanese people of Japanese descent play an active role in the country.



Masahiro Kawaguchi, a second-generation Japanese American, produces mozuku mainly for Japan.



The tsunami washed away all the underwater nets and other items at the fish farm off the island of Nuku'alofa, the capital, and destroyed five of his boats.

After the tsunami, we resumed production using old nets, but exports to Japan, which used to be close to 200 tons the year before, were only 15 tons last year.



Mr. Kawaguchi says, “I had just bought most of the equipment, so it was a shock to see it washed away by the tsunami. Furthermore, some customers were worried about the impact of volcanic ash on the quality of the mozuku, so the number of orders has decreased. I have no choice but to keep doing what I can and move forward."



Under these circumstances, some people are looking for ways to utilize the large amount of volcanic ash accumulated by the eruption.



Minoru Nishi, a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian who produces pumpkins and other products for Japan, had about 100 hectares of crops damaged by volcanic ash.



Since it takes a huge amount of labor and money to remove a large amount of ash, when the ash was mixed with the soil and cultivation was resumed, citrus fruits and other crops were able to be produced without problems, although the growth was slower than usual.



The Tongan government is currently analyzing the composition of the volcanic ash to see if it can be used in agriculture, and Mr. Nishi wants to store the volcanic ash that has accumulated on the roof of his office and use it in the future.



Mr. Nishi said, "We Tongan people are so strong that we will definitely recover. We are required to endure natural disasters and make the most of what we have now." rice field.