The unprecedented disaster that left nearly 28,000 dead or missing and 154,000 homeless has inspired an unprecedented relief response. The Japanese Red Cross Society raised $1.3 billion in four weeks, exceeding the total amount of donations after the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The government deployed more than 100,000 military troops and is fielding offers of help from 130 nations and 1,500 relief organizations worldwide. And throughout Japan, citizens are setting up clothing drives and distributing food at the 2,000 remaining evacuation shelters.
But Narita’s relief effort, dubbed “The Underground,” fills an unusual niche. Organized through motorcycle clubs, tattoo parlors and biker bars, it appeals to anarchists, outcasts, people who don’t trust the government’s efforts and who don’t donate to the Red Cross. In the past month, the group has sent $250,000 worth of food, supplies and gasoline to disaster-stricken areas.
The biker brotherhood
The effort’s key organizers are men who built reputations as tough street fighters, drug addicts or motorcycle gang members, then outgrew them as they got sober or became fathers. They say their first foray into philanthropy has been rewarding, a way to meet new people and to give something back.
“I am filled with gratitude” Narita said quietly, smoking a cigarette outside his shop on a Sunday afternoon in early April. So many former rivals and complete strangers rushed to his community’s aid in recent weeks, he said. “I need a lifetime to pay this back.”
The softer side of Narita, whose nickname is Needle, is close to the surface these days. He blinks back tears as he recounts his trips to the flooded region, the stench of corpses, and the now-rubble-filled beaches he remembers from childhood.
The Sendai native was once a member of the feared bosozoku — roughly translated “violently speeding tribes” — Japanese biker gangs that attract teens and young adults. Some of his friends were recruited into the Japanese mafia.
He pursued rock music, motorcycles and drugs and lived what he described as a “day-to-day existence” until the new millennium. When the world did not end as he had always believed it would, he decided to get a job.
Now 44, Narita owns Phantom Gate, has his own motorcycle club of old-timers and a rock band called “Hash Ball.” Chain-smoking and coffee have replaced the illegal drugs.
He still rides fast, but he’s stopped wearing biker leather. “These days it’s more nylon and Patagonia,” he said. “Whatever keeps me warm.”
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