After 3.11, playgrounds at local schools in disaster area have been re-purposed as sites for temporary housing, displacing the school kids from access to sports. In Ohya, more than 180 temporary housing units have overtaken the school’s playgrounds. Ryuichi Onodera, a local rice and asparagus farmer, is a founder of Junior Sports Club in the community, and he started to dream about building a sports ground for kids using his farmland. Our design fellow came across him on the street, heard about his dream---thus was born the Ohya Green Sports Park project.

Located in a hilly farm area overseeing beautiful beach, it is intended to incorporate natural and recycled materials as much as possible. We also tried to give new lives for wood and stones including ones from damaged houses by the disaster. Poles for netting are wooden utility poles. Netting work is executed by former fishermen with metal clips used for fishing, while natural turf for the pitch is placed by the help of FC Ohya members and other local kids and people.

Audience seating and Signage are built with the recycled materials, massive and wildly curved beams of Japanese traditional house hit by the 3.11 tsunami. Beams tied together and placed in the center, the unusually looking seating symbolizes the reunion of the community as well as a ship for new start.

On November 5, 2011 we broke ground, and the ground has officially been opened on April 28th, 2012. Eisuke Nakanishi-san, a former soccer player (national Japan team), generously participated in the opening event and played with FC Ohya kids for a day.

Tomoro Aida, founder and principal of Aida Atelier, Tokyo based architectural design office, is an architect of record for the project. He started as our design fellow in Tokyo in June 2011, and later appointed as architect of record. The audience seating is designed in collaboration with Hirohisa Higashi, founder of Haizai Live in Sendai.

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