After a tsunami strikes the city of Kamaishi, Japan, a church finds their beloved piano upside down and covered in a big pile of mud and debris. Rather than throw it out, they decide to spend the enormous amounts of time and money necessary to fix it.
Inspired by a true story, “Pippy the Piano and the Very Big Wave” helps children understand the meaning of redemption.
釜石市を襲った津波で教会のピアノが壊れました。ピアノは逆さまで泥に埋まってしまいました。教会はそれを捨てるのではなく、費用や時間が掛かっても直そうと決めました。
2011年の東日本大震災でのできごとに基づいた『ピアノのピッピーと黒い波』は、神が壊れたこの世界を捨てるのではなく、犠牲を払ってでも改新するという大きな物語の象徴です。小さい子どもから大人まで楽しんでいただける物語です。
”True healing is possible exactly because the scars of Christ remain in his resurrected body. We must not forget that.”
—Pippy the Piano and the Very Big Wave
Q&A
Q: What prompted you to write Pippy the Piano?
A: I stayed in the city of Kamaishi, Japan after playing a concert at a temporary home complex and then visiting the church where this story takes place. At breakfast the next morning, I distinctly remember telling the musicians with me, “I want to write a children’s book about this!” It wasn’t until a couple of years later that Sarah Dusek came to do a summer internship with us that the book finally became a reality.
Q: What will children get out of Pippy the Piano?
A: In Japan, I am often asked what “redemption” means. It’s a big word! In English, we may “redeem” a coupon, but in Japanese the word isn’t even used that way. I wanted to tell a story that made it clear how powerful redemption can be when referred to us. Pippy helps flesh out that story in a fun way.
Q: Where did the name Pippy come from?
A: It was hard to come up with a name for the piano that worked in both Japanese and English. Eventually I settled on Pippy, taking the first syllable of piano, “pi,” and repeating it twice to become “pi-pi.” In English, it also has the connotation of bright, happy, and full of energy! Despite the weightiness of the subject matter, I wanted the story to be light and happy.
Q: Tell us more about the story behind Pippy the Piano.
A: I had been following the story of this church and piano since the tsunami struck, when a group of missionaries from our mission went to “mud out” the church. I read the church newsletters for years before I was able to finally go, as it is much further north than the area where I worked as a relief worker. The people of Kamaishi went through a very difficult time after the tsunami, and the pastor, sheltering in a gymnasium like everyone else, went into a deep depression from stress and fatigue. Many of their friends and family members died. Their loss and hardship made them cling all the harder to the hope of the gospel and images of redemption, not only rebuilding their piano, but rebuilding their church with a scar. Their pump organ has a story of redemption as well. I tell a lot more about their story in my book Aroma of Beauty.
Q: Do you plan to write other childrens books?
A: Maybe! I don’t know. I have a series of other true stories about musical instruments that were redeemed after the tsunami. One is a violin. One is a flute. One is the organ mentioned before. I would love to be able to tell these stories!
Q: ピアノのピッピーの絵本を書こうと思ったきっかけは何ですか。
A: 仮設住宅でのコンサートの後で釜石に行き、新生釜石教会を訪問しました。教会でピアノ復活について話を聞いた翌朝、一緒にいた音楽仲間に「これについて子ども向けの絵本を書きたい」と言ったのをはっきり覚えています。2、3年後に、サラ・ドゥセクが夏期インターンシップのために私たちのところに来て、ようやく絵本作りが実現しました。
Q: 子どもたちにこの本で何を伝えたいですか。
A: 日本で「贖い(redemption)」の意味についてよく尋ねられます。この言葉は英語で「”redeem” a coupon(クーポンを利用する)」といった具合に使われますが、日本語ではそのように使いません。私は、イエスの贖いがどれほど強力なものであるか、はっきりと分かる物語を作りたいと思いました。ピッピーの物語は、楽しみながら具体的に「贖い」について考える手助けをしてくれます。
Q: ピッピーの名前はどこから来ましたか。
A: 日本語と英語両方で通じる名前を思いつくのは大変でした。最終的に、「ピアノ」の最初の音節「ピ」を繰り返して「ピッピー」になりました。英語では明るく、幸せで、エネルギーに満ちている意味合いもあります。テーマは重いものですが、物語を軽く、幸せなものにしたかったのです。
Q: ピアノのピッピーの物語についてもう少し聞かせてください。
A: 新生釜石教会を津波が襲い、宣教師グループが泥のかき出しに行った時から、私は教会とピアノの物語を追っていました。教会のニュースレターを読み、何年か後でようやく新生釜石教会を訪問することができました。私が支援活動をしていた場所より北に離れていたからです。津波の後、釜石の人々はとても困難な時を過ごしました。牧師は、被災した多くの人々と同じように公民館に避難した。彼らの友人、知人、家族がたくさん亡くなりました。喪失と苦難から、彼らは傷跡を残してピアノを再建することにしがみつきました。そうすることで、福音と贖いのイメージが希望になったのです。彼らの足踏みオルガンにも贖いの物語があります。新生釜石教会のストーリーについては、私の著書『美の香り(Aroma of Beauty)』(コミュニティーアーツメディア、2021)で詳しく述べています。
Founder and director of Community Arts Tokyo, assisting church planting through the arts. Roger is also director of faith and art at Grace City Church Tokyo and coordinator for the MAKE Collective, a global network of missionary artists. He has been serving with Mission to the World in Japan since 2005. Roger received degrees from The Juilliard School and Columbia University and is currently studying at Reformed Theological Seminary. He lives in downtown Tokyo with his wife Abi and four boys.
Recently graduated from Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Studio Art. While in school, she enjoyed working with many writers and organizations through ReCraft Greenville, a creative reuse center in South Carolina. She illustrated “A Week with the Wee Beasties” by Susan Allen, and then “Pippy the Piano and the Very Big Wave” while working with Community Arts Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. She loves teaching art to children and bringing people together through art. She lives in Georgia. www.sarahdusek.com
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