Omachi Tsunami Relief Fund

WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW

Most of us were born in a family and, sooner or later, we are expected to create a family of our own. As the 20th disciple of Master Kimura, I became part of the Hamano Motusuke's bonsai family: my Master was his first disciple. The bond we share unites us as real family.

The second disciple of Master Kimura is Kazeo Kawabe and his first disciple is my dear friend and Japanese brother Isao Omachi. Omachi san is a very entertaining mix of tradition and modernity in a very old school enviroment like the bonsai in Japan. Over the years we have been sharing the love for the art of bonsai and the joy of our friendship.

I had been the only westerner to visit Omachi's home. Last summer I had the immense pleasure to spend 3-4 days in the company of Omachi and his family. His father borrowed a friend's small boat and we went cruising along the coast and around several little islands in search of the spots where some of the best juniper materials were collected in the last 40 years.

Omachi lived and worked with his wife, 2 lovely young daughters and his elderly parents in Yamado-cho, a little fishing village in the Iwate prefecture. Their home was less than 90 yards from the ocean. At 2:45pm March 11 2011, the tsunami took everything from them, sparing only their lives.

Try to imagine what it means to lose absolutely everything you own. Omachi lost his house, his garden, his workshops, his bonsai, customer's trees, his job, his plans for the future of his family and his career. They are left with devastation all around. Omachi senior cultivated bonsai for the last 30 years, including 4 masterpieces that were to be his pension, his retirement plan. Now they are all gone. The entire village is simply gone.

Gambatte in Japanese means "Good Luck!" as much as "Do Your Best!" OMACHI GAMBATTE is the message we want to send to Isao, that he may have lost everything but he still has hope, family and friends.

To help my Japanese family, we started a global fundraising campaign which 100% of the donations we will collect will go directly to Omachi and the people in his village. I also created a group on facebook called OMACHI GAMBATTE.

Your donation, even a small one, will make A big difference in many other people's lives. Please share our cause with everyone you Know. We need your help now.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me for any Questions you may have. Thank you for your attention.

Your Friend,

Marco invernizzi
marco@marcoinvernizzi.com