The Yomiuri ShimbunPrimary and middle school children in tsunami-ravaged Kesennu ma, Miyagi Prefecture, have been learning

Nihon Buyo dance from Suzugiku Hanayag i, 68, a Tokyo-based master of the art. Kesennuma is Hanayagi s hometown, and she is trying to contribute to the community s recovery while dealing with the sorrow of losing one of her favorite disciples in the disaster triggered by the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake. At her training room in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, on Sunday, 17 primary and middle sch ool students from Kesennuma wearing colorful yukata summer kimono danced to the music with comfortable poise. Kirara Maeshima, 9, whose elegant moves spread to her fingertips, smiled and sai d, I m glad I was able to do difficult moves well. The students had been scheduled to perform that day in a ward festival called th e Meguro Kumin Matsuri, but the event was called off due to the approach of Typh oon No. 18. The venue for their performance was hurriedly switched to the traini ng room. Hanayagi said: The children lost so much in the disaster. They are energetic as t hey acquire something new from the very beginning, and I myself have been encour aged. Hanayagi is based in Tokyo, but she also held training sessions in Sendai and Ke sennuma. At the time of the disaster, she was in Sendai. Soon afterward, she hea ded for Kesennuma, carrying food and emergency supplies. Her parents Yoshida, 74, the tsunami r houses and home and its dance training room were not badly damaged. But Katsuko who had been Hanayagi s favorite disciple for 30 years, was killed by that followed the quake. Many other disciples of Hanayagi lost thei kimono.

Yoshida had once told Hanayagi, I like your dignified style of dancing. She not on ly came to see Hanayagi s public performances in the prefecture but also arranged accommodation and transportation during her stays there. Hanayagi once thought of giving up Nihon Buyo, but came to think more positively as she reflected on her memories of Yoshida. Slide 1 of 1 The Yomiuri Shimbun Hanayagi, center, poses for a photo with children from Kesennuma, Miyagi Pre fecture, who performed with her Sunday in Meguro Ward, Tokyo. Through dance, I want to make children in the disaster-hit areas experience joyfu l and delightful things, she said. In June 2011, three months after the disaster, Hanayagi held a training session in Kesennuma free of charge. Nearly 20 people came to learn Nihon Buyo dance. Dancing associations across the nation donated kimono and other necessary items to her training sessions. Since then, Hanayagi visited Kesennuma to hold a sessi on every month. Hanayagi said, With prayers in my heart for the large number of people who died i n the disaster, I want to continue dancing.