As part of the FC Tokyo Players Association activities, we visited Tomioka Elementary and Junior High School in Tomioka Town, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture on Nov 9 (Wed), 2022.

This is the second visit to Tomioka Elementary and Junior High School since 2019 (in 2020 and 2021, only online exchanges and letters of encouragement were exchanged), and we kicked the ball and interacted with about 60 children.

On the afternoon of the same day, the visiting players had the opportunity to see the extent of the damage by actually inspecting the areas affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, and by witnessing the current state of recovery on-site.
As the FC Tokyo Players' Association, we want to ensure that this does not fade away by widely informing everyone, including ourselves, and we hope to cooperate in reconstruction support even a little. We will continue such activities going forward.


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


□ Participating Player Comments (Excerpt)
・Manato SHINADA (Players' Association President)
"First of all, I am grateful to everyone involved for giving us this opportunity. Thank you very much. This was my first time visiting a school in the disaster-affected area for reconstruction support, and seeing the energetic children gave me energy and courage as well. I had a very fulfilling time. I hope to increase opportunities like this."

・Keigo HIGASHI(This is the second visit following 2019)
"I noticed that the number of children has increased compared to when I came three years ago, and I hope they will gradually return in the future. I felt once again that they are going through a tough time. It was great to see their energetic faces through activities like soccer. After that, I visited many towns and learned that there are still areas where recovery is not progressing, but I was also informed that some places are gradually coming back. If I have the opportunity, I would definitely like to come again."

・Go HATANO(second visit following 2019)
"I was able to participate again this time, and I saw the energetic appearance of the children, and I was able to work with the awareness of making it enjoyable for them. I hope that by continuing such activities, I can contribute to the recovery, even if just a little."

・Akihiro HAYASHI (second visit following 2019)
"It was my first support activity in three years, and I hoped to bring at least a little smile to the children when I interacted with them. I believe that even if the children did not directly experience the earthquake, they have been greatly affected. I would be happy if we were able to create memorable moments for them. I think we must not let the earthquake fade from memory, so I want to take to heart the various stories of the disaster and the current state of recovery that I was able to hear during this visit, and continue to share them going forward."

・Masato MORISHIGE
"The children played soccer energetically, and they were able to recognize FC Tokyo and us. I heard that the number of children has been increasing year by year, so I hope it continues to grow little by little in the future. After visiting disaster areas such as difficult-to-return zones, I realized once again that Fukushima will take time to recover. I want to continue these activities and hope to raise awareness among as many people as possible."

・Hirotaka MITA
"In elementary and middle schools, both the children and the teachers were full of energy and enjoyed playing soccer together, which was great. I learned that there are areas where recovery is progressing and others where it still takes time, but I was happy to feel that there are parts of life returning to normal."

・Keita YAMASHITA
"This was my first time participating in such reconstruction support activities, and I felt a lot more by going to the site myself than just seeing it on TV or in the news. I was able to interact with the local children and bring them joy, and we also enjoyed this opportunity, which has become rare for us. Although years have passed since the earthquake, not everything has returned to normal, and I got the impression that it will still take a long time. I would like to come again next year, and I think it was a good activity."

・Koki TSUKAGAWA
"Through this activity, I realized that we are making progress step by step towards recovery, and I hope to be able to help Fukushima in the future if there is anything I can do. The children seemed to have a lot of fun playing, and I believe their smiles will further assist in the recovery."

・Yuki KAJIURA
"I was glad to see the smiles and energetic appearances of the children through the reconstruction support activities this time. I hope to continue such activities in the coming years and contribute even better as FC Tokyo."

・Kuryu MATSUKI
「This was my first time participating in support activities in Fukushima Prefecture. When I actually visited various places affected by the disaster by bus, I saw that there are still many areas where recovery has not progressed. Among them, I thought it was really good that the children are able to live with smiles, and I want us to continue supporting in some way.」

・Kojiro YASUDA
"After participating in this activity, I felt that the children at Tomioka Elementary and Junior High School are energetic and cheerful, and I believe the players gained energy from them. I was also told that the number of residents in the disaster-affected area has been gradually increasing since my last visit, so I felt that it is important to go to various places and engage in activities like this."

・Kashif BANGNAGANDE
"This is my first time visiting Fukushima Prefecture, and I was guided through areas affected by the disaster that I hadn't really thought about before. I was able to feel the gratitude of being able to live normally every day, and it became a really good opportunity for me. I believe this activity is made possible by the cooperation of many people, so I want to express my gratitude to everyone. The children interacted with such great smiles that I received a lot of energy, and it was a really good experience for me as well. I think I was able to bring some joy to the children too."







Thank you very much to everyone who cooperated in this activity, everyone at DREAM Fukushima, and everyone at J-Village.