“Now, what shall I make?” Such a thought always inspires people.

“Wow, it’s done! It’s complete!” And at that point, people feel joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Such moments bring a bit of confidence to everyone, and working and chatting together with other people bring a secure feeling.

“Happy Doll Project” links hospitals throughout Japan by art.

In its fifth year, the project went abroad, and people who silently fight with their disease and the Dolls that they made were displayed in the window of Ginza Wako. They warmed up the Ginza and the people who passed by them.

 

And this year, the sixth year of the project, Happy Doll Project was finally taken out of the hospitals. They were to visit the devastated area after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

There is a difference between hospitals and quake-hit places, but in the sense that people face life and harsh reality, they are same.

At hospitals, we met old people who gave up on living due to their age and disease; a girl who was too weak to even move her fingers, but yet tried so hard to make a doll; and a mother who was very eager to complete a doll in her remaining days to give it to her daughter.

In a devastated area, we met a lady who was making dolls while remembering two cats who were swept away together with the house; a lady who was making a frog (“to return” in Japanese), wishing her sister would come back; a girl who wished all her remaining family would be happy; and a boy who wore a very heavy jacket in the middle of summer, not being able to forget the cold night after the quake.

 

Let’s face the reality which we cannot change, laugh at hardship, pain and tears, and get over them!

We, “Happy Doll Project,” visited various places, including six hospitals throughout Japan and 45 facilities for the quake victims, and completed the year’s activities with tears and laughter.

This book shows this travel and the Dolls.

Tonight when the moon totally eclipsed, lovers, policemen, sushi shop owners, etc., were all looking up at the sky. It was a truly beautiful scene.

I said to myself, we, who are looking up at the sky, shall continue to live together happily.

 

Be happy, everyone!