Tsushima, which was supposed to be covered in autumn leaves, is now experiencing something strange. The mountain range shining with fresh greenery stands out against the autumn sky.
Two large typhoons struck in early September, causing leaves to fall and large branches to break, leaving the entire island with the appearance of winter. A week later, the cherry blossoms started blooming again. Cherries and spider lilies also bloomed, creating a beautiful collaboration with the autumn red spider lilies.
And now, new buds have appeared and the leaves are in full bloom, shining in the autumn sunlight. When viewed from a distance, the island is sandwiched between the blue sky and sea, and the entire island is covered in fresh greenery that shines brightly, like a three-dimensional image that pops out.
Against this backdrop, on October 16th and 17th, a 12-member inspection team from the Aichi Prefecture Peace Ambassadors Council visited the Japan-Korea tunnel sites in Karatsu and Tsushima. This was my first inspection, right after the travel ban was lifted despite the coronavirus pandemic.
``I had seen it in photos, but the Karatsu Diagonal Shaft was more impressive than I had imagined.'' ``I feel that it is very meaningful to connect Japan and Korea with this tunnel in the area where Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched troops to Korea 400 years ago.'' ``Tsushima At the Aren site, you can make international calls on your cell phone, and you really feel how close you are to South Korea.It's a sense of distance that you really feel when you come here.'' ``I thought Tsushima was just an island between Japan and South Korea, but... It has such a deep history," he said, commenting that he would like to make more time to visit next time.
In addition, the damage caused by the typhoon was so great that Tsushima City also set aside a special recovery budget of 800 million yen, and our foundation's buildings and land were also severely damaged. Almost two months have passed and the restoration of the building and site is almost complete. From now on, we plan to start repairing the cherry blossoms that we transplanted over the winter.
[Photo ①] Inspection team from Aichi in front of the mouth of the Aren mine The explanation board in the photo was also destroyed by the typhoon's strong winds, but it was quickly repaired.
[Photo ②] Paving work on the approach road to the Neo site. The road that had been carved out by landslides and flood waters was paved with concrete.
