Hiro the Hero and the other Boyo Boys (and girls!)

Hiro is an amazing young man who had passed through Kesennuma 3 years earlier on a bicycle tour around Japan. Hiro’s bicycle tour was not your average cross country cycling excursion. Hiro and his friends set out on “mama-chari” bicycles (not the type of bicycles intended for cross country travel—see photo)　to protest global warming . ( see their adventure here→　http://greenz.jp/mamachari_toyako/ ). They rode all over Japan on their bicycles and on the day they passed through Kesennuma they met the lovely Mrs. Kato who let them stay for free at the Hotel Boyo. After sleeping outside throughout their tour, Hiro and his friends had found heaven at the Hotel Boyo where they slept in clean soft futons for the first time in weeks.

mama chari

After meeting Mrs. Kato, Hiro kept in touch with her by exchanging New Year’s greeting cards each year. Little did they know that their next face to face meeting would be after the worst natural disaster in Japan’s recent history.  When the earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11^th, Hiro tried to contact Mrs. Kato, but couldn’t get a connection for days. However, Hiro did not give up and finally was able to talk to Mrs. Kato on the phone. Hiro wanted to go and help, but Mrs. Kato said “No, it is too dangerous. Stay where you are safe.” But Hiro would not take no for an answer. He went to Kesennuma and started working alongside the Katos at the Hotel Boyo which had become a makeshift evacuation site for more than 50 people who had lost their homes. 

Hiro was scheduled to start a new job in Australia in April, but he contacted his employers and asked them to wait, saying “there is something I have to do.”  That “something” was to stay in Kesennuma and work to help the Hotel Boyo and many others recover from the disaster.  Today, more than 6 months later, Hiro is still working in Kesennuma and has welcomed countless friends and even strangers who have appeared at the Hotel Boyo to volunteer.  Along with Hiro, Yusuke who has also been working faithfully in Kesennuma since he arrived one week after Hiro, Pokemon who is a university student, Ike-chan a young craftsman, and Nomaguchi-kun a medical student from Kyushu have all been working for Kesennuma. And these are just the heroes that I met, there are countless others who have left their lasting mark on the hearts of the Kato family and the community.