Salaam Association | Bridge between Japan and Kuwait

Sanriku Railway Forms Ties with Kuwait

By Ikuzo Kobayashi, President to Salaam Associatio

From the Spring Issue of the electronic “Salaam Quarterly Bulletin”, No.49, May 2024

Participation in the 63rd Kuwaiti National Day

Kuwait National Day Ceremony held at the Peninsula Hotel

On February 21, 2024, the 63rd Kuwait National Day celebration was held at noon at the Peninsula Hotel. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Kuwait to Japan, H.E. Mr. Sami Ghassab Alzamanahn, in his address, praised the noble character of the former emir and prayed for the repose of his soul, and congratulated the new emir, His Highness Prince Mish’al Al-Ahmad Alsabaha, praying that God bless the new emir.
The Ambassador said, “I hope that Kuwait will continue and further advance and develop the global humanitarian assistance and development programs that the State of Kuwait has been carrying out. I hope that our friendship with Japan will expand to mutual friendship among our peoples based on the UN rules of democracy and observance of human rights, and will be further strengthened as a strategic partnership in both the public and private sectors.”

Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Sami Alzamanahn visited the Sanriku Railway

Commemorative photo taken on June 5, 2023: From left, Yoshiaki Ishikawa, President of the Sanriku Railway, and on the right, Sami Alzamanahn, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan with the vehicle newly built with donations from Kuwait; Kuwait’s national emblem on the front left and Kuwait’s national flag on the right of the vehicle.

On June 3-4, 2023, the 73rd National Tree Planting Festival was held in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress were present at the ceremony, where they delivered remarks, planted saplings, and sowed seeds. The Ambassador also participated in this tree-planting ceremony. The next day, on the 5th, he visited the Sanriku Railway.
The Iwate Nippo reported on that occasion as follows. Under the headline “Kuwaiti Ambassador Visits the Sanriku Railway, Inspects New Retro Train”, the article stated, “Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Sami Alzamanahn, 54, visited the Sanriku Railway (Miyako City, President Yoshiaki Ishikawa), which his country supported after the Great East Japan Earthquake, on June 5 and observed its reconstruction. He expressed his desire for continued support and confirmed the bonds of friendship with Japan.”
We, the board members of Salaam Association, had the opportunity to interview Mr. Yoshiaki Ishikawa, President of the Sanriku Railway Company, April 23-24. At dinner when we arrived in Miyako, President Ishikawa told us that the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan had ridden the Sanriku Railway from Miyako Station to Shimakoshi Station. At that time, we received a commemorative photo of the Ambassador and President Ishikawa with the Kuwaiti commemorative train in the background.

Symbol of Reconstruction – Sanriku Railway

On April 20, 2024, Masahiko Mochizuki, the first president of the Sanriku Railway, was invited by NHK to give his impressions on the airing of the new Project X. He was moved to tears as he recalled the words, ‘Welcome home.’

I applied for an interview with Mr. Ishikawa, President of the Sanriku Railway, after meeting him at a ceremony celebrating Kuwait’s National Day in February. In the e-mail in which he responded to my request for an interview, he mentioned the screening of “New Project X, Part 3: Spring of Promise: Three Years to Restore the Sanriku Railway” on NHK General on Saturday, April 20 at 19:30. I could not help but be surprised at the timing of the screening, which took place just before my visit. I had a premonition of the “Spring of Promise.”

Mr. Konno, General Manager of the Operations Headquarters, welcomed us with a smile.

Project X on April 20 was a wonderfully composed and heartwarming program. The ‘indomitable train’, which was not feasible in view of the economic situation, not foreseeable in view of the declining population, and then hit by the earthquake…it came back to life like a phoenix. The words that explain why are the words that came out of the mouths of the local people when the train was restored in three years and a trial run was completed: “Welcome home.” Those words were filled with a sentiment of gratitude that the local people had returned to their daily lives, which they had lost. Hearing this must have washed away the hardships, efforts, and fatigue of the people involved in the restoration efforts.

The Sanriku Railway Operation System

On the 24th, we met President Ishikawa at Miyako Station and were guided by cab to the Operations Headquarters on the second floor of the head office. There, Mr. Junichi Konno, who had appeared in “Project X,” was waiting for us. He immediately turned to the control panel and began to explain. “This is the operation headquarters for the 163-km Sanriku Rias Line, which is the South-North Rias Line not related to the JR line. The trains enter Miyako Station from the rail yard, then going down to Kuji and up to Sakari, their signals, communications to the drivers, and announcements to the passengers are managed here, all basically automated. All these are confirmed in an analog manner as well.
In normal times, things are calm, but when disaster strikes, things get very busy. Wind, rain, lightning, earthquakes. The train operation is suspended, the train operation then proceeds, and the driver is instructed to operate the train with a command each time, instructions are given to the crew, and information is provided to passengers, etc. Employees are stationed at only four stations; the others are unmanned. One of the features of the Sanriku Railway is that they also operate extra trains every day.”

Where was the miracle of restoration?

The miracle of restoration was made possible by a president who put his life on the line for the Sanriku Railway, employees who never gave up on restoration, and residents who need.
Mr. Konno, the general manager, was responsible for assessing the damage, creating an accurate recovery plan, and ensuring that the plan was carried out. “By all means, start operating what can be operated. ” “But it is not so simple. ” Mr. Konno was in charge of the safety management, and his wisdom came to the fore. … The seismic intensity on the north was 5, and with that level of intensity, the Sanriku Railway never collapsed in the past … As long as there was no damage from the ocean waves, operation should be possible?! …
Five days later, on March 16, the Rikuchunoda-Kuji service resumed.
It is a miracle that reminds us of the saying, “Heaven helps those who help themselves.”
Residents saw the Sanriku Railway operating, even if it was only for two sections. The news must have been conveyed as a whistle of hope.
The supreme order for the April 1, 2012 opening of the Tanohata to Rikuchunoda line still had to go through the last signal test on March 30. The test took until the morning of March 31. It was an all-night work, and it was completed in time for April 1. Safety management does not tolerate even a single flaw. General Manager Konno softened his voice and said, “The next year, we asked them to move it to April 3.”
In the spring of 2014, the third year after the disaster, the school was able to delay the start of the school year, and the remaining section of the South Rias Line (Yoshihama-Kamaishi) resumed operation on April 5, and the remaining section of the North Rias Line (Omoto-Tanohata) resumed operation on April 6. The entire South-North Rias Line is now open.”
The Sanriku Railway, which was expected to take six years to resume railroad operations, became fully operational in three years.

May 11, 2014 Quarterly Salaam No. 10, p. 8

Kuwait Vehicles

Commemorative photo with the Kuwait Commemorative Vehicle at the train yard. From left to right: The author, Mrs. Kobayashi, Mr. Yutaka Takahashi, President Yoshiaki Ishikawa

Kuwait donated 5 million barrels of crude oil in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. 5 million barrels is more than 4.4 million barrels of crude oil consumed per day in Japan at that time. Three tankers were used to transport the cargo. The crude oil import company transferred the import proceeds to the Japanese Red Cross Society as a donation from Kuwait. 5 million barrels was worth 40 billion yen, which was the amount of the donation. The JRC sent 8.4 billion yen to Iwate Prefecture, 16.2 billion yen to Miyagi Prefecture, and 15.4 billion yen to Fukushima Prefecture. The funds were set aside as a “reconstruction fund,” which was approved by the prefectural assembly and utilized in eight different areas. The Sanriku Railway received 2 billion yen for the reconstruction of regional infrastructure.
The amount allocated for the new vehicles is estimated at about 1.3 billion yen (160 million yen per vehicle). In other words, those are the newly built Kuwaiti cars. The eight newly built vehicles were allocated to the railway including three vehicles plus one commemorative vehicle to the North Rias Line and three vehicles plus one commemorative vehicle to the South Rias Line, and they are in daily operation as active trains.

～How did the Kuwaiti national emblem come to be engraved? ～

President Ishikawa answered, “It was a proposal from the Sanriku Railway to put the national flag on the train. When we asked the embassy to do so, they replied, ‘No, we did not support the project for that purpose.’ Nevertheless, Mr. Nakamura, then General Manager (and later President), persisted and asked the Ambassador to approve the proposal. The Ambassador agreed and it was decided to put the national emblem of Kuwait and a word of thanks on the train.”
Currently, 10 of the 28 Sanriku Railway vehicles are imprinted with the Kuwaiti national emblem. When asked about the color scheme of the commemorative train, which is particularly prestigious, Mr. Konno replied, “We asked the manufacturer to come up with dozens of color patterns, and finally decided on this color.”

Kuwaiti Vehicles with Kuwaiti Ties

April 5, 2014, Commemorative Train for the Opening of the Sanriku South Rias Line

Ties are made because of intriguing fate. Even with the huge amount of aid money from Kuwait, there is no telling where it will be used. The Sanriku Railway was not decided as a recipient by the will of Kuwait. It was decided by the will of Iwate Prefecture.
The Sanriku Railway had never dreamed that the donation from Kuwait would come around. It is like the meeting of the unexpected donor and the unexpected recipient.
At the opening ceremony in 2014, the grateful voices of kueh, kueh, kueh (meaning Kuwait) were heard by Director General Konno, who drove the train.

~Dream of the Sanriku Railway~

Finally, we asked President Ishikawa about the dream for the Sanriku Railway.
“The Sanriku Railway is the legs of the people in the community.
Providing convenience is the first.
We must also realize the turning the economy around. Sanriku is a land of fisheries and processing industry. However, salmon, saury, and squid are in short supply, so there are high expectations for the tourism industry. We need people from inside and outside of the prefecture, as well as from overseas, to come to Sanriku and there are people who work for the Sanriku Railway with such a dream. We must fulfill our mission.”
The dots became lines, and the lines connected to form the Sanriku Railway across the Sanriku region, a dream since the Meiji era, and through a strange fate, it was linked to Kuwait. And now, it is expanding into a dream that connects to the world.

Companion Reporting on the Sanriku Railway – Impressions

It was broadcast on NHK New Project X on Saturday, April 20, 2024 from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. under the title ‘Sanriku Railway: Spring of Promise.’ Second person from the right in the photo is Masahiko Mochizuki, the first president of Sanriku Railway, and on the far right is Junichi Konno (in charge of safety management during earthquake restoration)

I had requested to accompany a group tour on the Sanriku Railway as a reporter at the annual meeting of Salaam Association in February. The request was fulfilled with the tour from April 23 to 25. I had never visited Sanriku, and my knowledge of Sanriku and the Sanriku Railway was so limited that I could not even answer what the three lands of Sanriku referred to. Fortunately, I was able to learn about the Sanriku Railway in advance because it was featured in NHK’s New Project X broadcast on April 20, just prior to my visit. The program, which traced the devastating damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami to the Sanriku Railway, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and the challenges it faced in restoring the railroad, raised my expectations for the trip.

On the night of arrival by express bus, I had dinner with President Yoshiaki Ishikawa (far left in photo).

I boarded the Tohoku Shinkansen at Tokyo Station, got off the train at Morioka Station, transferred to an express bus, and headed for Miyako, where the headquarters of the Sanriku Railway is located. Sanriku is a mountainous area with a long rias coastline. I arrived at Miyako Station at 7:20 p.m. after passing through numerous long tunnels, and President Ishikawa picked me up at the bus stop in front of the station in the dark. We had dinner together at one of the few restaurants available. We talked about the time of the earthquake, the Kuwaiti ambassador’s visit to Miyako last year, and other hardships that were not mentioned in the New Project X. After dinner, the streets of Miyako were quiet, with no people or cars on the streets, even in front of the station. Even without riding the train, it was clear that the Sanriku Railway runs through depopulated areas.
On the second day, we visited the Operations Headquarters of the Sanriku Railway’s head office in Miyako, where we were briefed by Director Konno, General Manager of the Operations Headquarters. He is the person in charge of all safety management operations of the Sanriku Railway, who appeared in the new Project X. He is one of the central figures who have protected and nurtured the Sanriku Railway for the past 40 years since its establishment. With the operation control panel in front of him, he explained how the trains are operated with people checking and issuing each command one by one using the railroad schedule in hand,.

Junichi Konno, General Manager of the Sanriku Railway Operation Division, explains the control panel for all Sanriku Railway sections.

The explanation that it is more flexible and efficient to issue commands while checking the status of the system by human operators than by an automated system to cope with frequent changes in operations made sense for the Sanriku Railway, which operates a 163-km single-track line with many unmanned stations. I could perceive a sense of responsibility and pride in the fact that they are still operating the railroad after the earthquake by themselves, not only in the operation headquarters, but also in the station staff and employees working at all stations.
We were then taken to the maintenance shop, which was thought to be the facility headquarters. There, we saw a line of vehicles with characters from the hit NHK morning drama “Amachan”. In the light rain, I went outside the maintenance shop to look for the vehicles donated by Kuwait, which was one of my objectives of this visit. Of the 28 cars in total, 8 were purchased with donations from Kuwait.

Commemorative photo with the Kuwaiti train in the background at the rail yard. President Ishikawa himself took the picture so that the Kuwaiti national emblem, which is engraved on the front left side of the car, could be seen. From right to left: Mr. Junichi Konno, General Manager of Operations, the author, Mrs. Kobayashi, and Mr. Kobayashi, Chairman of the Board of Salaam.

The maintenance shop, at the back is the car that has just finished applying the new wrapping.

The donated vehicles had the Kuwaiti national emblem on the front of the vehicle and a logo that read, “Thank you for the support of the State of Kuwait.” on the side of the vehicle in Arabic, English, and Japanese. Although few people may have noticed the small letters, they are a historical testament to the friendship between Japan and Kuwait.

Kuwait’ s national emblem: a golden eagle with outspread wings and a shield with the design of the Kuwaiti flag on its breast, with the of ficial country name in Arabic(شعار الكويت) written above in Arabic characters. (from Wikipedia)

The words of gratitude to Kuwait written on the left side of the front of the car, in Arabic, English, and Japanese,“ Thank you for the support from the State of Kuwait.

After the tour, when we boarded the Sanriku Railway and left Miyako Station, we were seen off by President Ishikawa, General Manager Kaneno, and many station staff. They waved big fishing flags and a banner read “Thank you for your use of our service. ” It was a reminder that the Sanriku Railway is the lifeline and treasure of the people of Sanriku. It reminded me of the story told by then President Mochizuki in the new Project X that when the Sanriku Railway resumed operations after three years of restoration work, the most memorable moment for him was being greeted by local people saying, “Welcome home.”

April 28, 2024 By Takahashi