Eyes are cowardly. Hands are a demon.

an oral tradition in Sanriku district

At a fish wholesale store in Kesennuma, the family's mother said this when the writer sighed at the mountain of dishes cleared away from the table after the big banquet. Even when you are afraid of cleaning up the tremendous amount of work, if you move your hands for the time being, things go well unexpectedly. After the earthquake, volunteers proved these words in the face of a mountain of rubble. From "Saikichi Fish Whalesaler News (February in 2013)." 

January 21, 2016

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun