This time, as one of the activities of the FC Tokyo players' association, we visited Tomioka Elementary School and Junior High School in Tomioka-cho, Futaba-gun, Fukushima Prefecture on November 9, 2022 (Wed).

The visit to Tomioka Elementary and Junior High School was the second time since 2019 (with only online exchanges and encouragement letters in 2020 and 2021), and we had a chance to play soccer and interact with about 60 children.

On the same day in the afternoon, the visiting players had the opportunity to inspect the areas that were actually affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, and see the current state of recovery on site, which allowed them to once again realize the extent of the damage.
As FC Tokyo players, we want to continue these activities in order to not let it fade away and to help with the recovery efforts, and of course, to let everyone know about it.


□Participating Players
Masato MORISHIGE, Hirotaka MITA, Keigo HIGASHI, Go HATANO, Manato SHINADA, Keita YAMASHITA, Akihiro HAYASHI, Koki TSUKAGAWA, Yuki KAJIURA, Kuryu MATSUKI, Kojiro YASUDA, Kashif BANGNAGANDE
Total of 12 players


□Player Comments(excerpt)
・Manato SHINADA(Player Representative)
"First of all, we are grateful to everyone involved for giving us this opportunity. Thank you very much. This is the first time we have come to a school in a disaster-affected area for recovery support, and we were able to see the children's lively faces, which gave us energy and courage, and we had a very fulfilling time. We would like to increase these opportunities in the future."

・Keigo HIGASHI(2nd visit following 2019)
"The number of children has increased since I last came three years ago, and I hope they will continue to come back gradually. I felt that they were going through a difficult time again. It was good to see them energetic through activities such as soccer. After that, I visited many towns and realized that there are still parts that have not fully recovered, but I was also told that some places are gradually returning. If I have the opportunity, I would love to come again."

・Go HATANO player (2nd visit following 2019)
"I was able to participate again this time and see the energetic appearance of the children. I was able to work with the consciousness of making them enjoy even a little. I hope that we can continue these activities and contribute to the recovery as much as possible."

・Akihiro HAYASHI player (2nd visit following 2019)
"It was a recovery support activity after 3 years, but I hoped to bring smiles to the children even if it was just a little. I think the children are greatly affected even if they haven't directly experienced the disaster, so I am happy if we were able to create memorable moments for them. I believe we should not let the disaster fade away, so I will keep in mind the various stories and current situation of the disaster that I was able to visit this time, and continue to spread the message in the future."

・Masato MORISHIGE
"The children played soccer energetically and became aware of FC Tokyo and ourselves. I heard that the number of children is increasing year by year, so I hope it will continue to increase little by little in the future. When I visited the disaster-affected areas such as the difficult-to-return zone, I realized once again that it takes time for Fukushima to recover. I hope to continue these activities and make more and more people aware of them."

・Hirotaka MITA
"At elementary and middle school, both the children and the teachers were full of energy and enjoyed playing soccer, so it was great to be able to play together. I was told that there are places where recovery is progressing and places where it will still take time depending on the region, but I was happy to feel that some parts of normal life have returned."

・Keita YAMASHITA
"This was the first time I participated in such a reconstruction support activity, and there were things I felt by going to the site myself that I couldn't experience just by watching on TV or in the news. The local children were happy to interact with us, and since we haven't had many opportunities like this, we had a great time. It has been several years since the earthquake, but not everything has returned to normal yet, and I got the impression that it will still take some time. I would like to come again next year, and I think it was a successful activity."

・Koki TSUKAGAWA
"Through this activity, I have come to understand that we are making progress step by step towards recovery, and I hope that I can continue to contribute to the efforts for Fukushima. The children also seemed to have a lot of fun playing, and I believe that their smiles will further support the recovery."

・Yuki KAJIURA Player
"I am glad to be able to see the smiles and energetic figures of children through the reconstruction support activities this time. I hope that we can continue such activities in the future and make better contributions as FC Tokyo."

・Kuryu MATSUKI
"This was my first support activity in Fukushima Prefecture. When I actually went to various places that were affected by the disaster by bus, there were still many places where recovery had not progressed. Among them, I thought it was a really good thing that children were able to live with smiles, and I also want to continue supporting them in some way."

・Kojiro YASUDA
"By participating in this activity, I felt that it is important to go to various places and engage in activities because the children of Tomioka Elementary and Junior High School are energetic and cheerful, and the players also received energy. The residents of the disaster-stricken area have been gradually increasing since our last visit, so I think we were able to receive energy from the children and give them energy as well."

・Kashif BANGNAGANDE
"This was my first time coming to Fukushima Prefecture, and I was able to visit the disaster-stricken areas that I hadn't been aware of before. It made me realize how grateful I should be for being able to live a normal life every day, and it was a great opportunity. I want to express my gratitude to everyone involved in this activity, as it is made possible by the cooperation of many people. The children interacted with me with amazing smiles, and I received power from them. It was a great experience for me, and I think I was able to make the children enjoy themselves a little bit too."







Thank you very much to everyone who supported this activity, everyone from DREAM Fukushima, and everyone from J-VILLAGE.