Page 50 - Fiji Traveller Issue 2

cy accommodation. But for many people, it
was just very hard to find food, Sakurai said.
So on March 27th, he organised what he
thought would be a one-time market, ‘bor-
rowing’ the parking lot of a shopping mall.
About 20,000 people attended that mar-
ket, and the food sold out within an hour. As
Sakurai gave customers their change, they
said to him, 'let’s not give up'. "That’s' some-
thing I cannot forget,” he says.
The next day many people called, asking
when the next market would be held. He had
no plans to continue the event, but recalls
he was pushed by the municipal market and
others to continue, so organised a second
market for a fortnight later.
For two years, the market ran in the mall’s
parking lot. Then in 2013, with a gift of 1
million yen from the Canadian government,
the market moved back to its original site at
Yuriage.
“With two tonnes of expired bread we got
this building," he said, gesturing to the sim-
ple but warm and welcoming timber struc-
ture Canada funded. A store selling local
delicacies and several small restaurants sit
in this building, which is open every day.
But it’s on Sundays that the place really
comes alive with shoppers and diners as
that is when the adjoining market runs.
Sakurai says between 5000-7000 people
come to the market each Sunday. He con-
tinues to work to attract people to the venue,
staging events and a produce auction each
week to try and recreate some of the excite-
ment he himself feels when he goes to fish
auctions. A government grant enabled the
association to buy kayaks so visitors to the
market can rent them and “get closer to the
sea”. He would like to see more government
support for development in the area.
Sakurai plans to step down as chairman
in two to three years. Then it will be time for
younger people to decide what will happen,
he says.
“What I learned is that it is very important
to take action,” Sakurai states of his journey
since 2011. “Because I lost everything in the
earthquake, I had nothing more to lose, so I
could challenge new things without hesita-
tion, and I could ask people without hesita-
tion. So, I think my character changed after
the earthquake.”

Yuriage Port morning market
Sundays only
6am-1pm
yuriageasaichi.jp/?lang=en

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