Ishinomaki: 11 Months After the Tsunami

One of the most unsettling and surprising things in eastern Tohoku is the unevenness of the clean up work. A once damaged area may be pretty much bare by now. But even so, there might be an apartment building still standing with people living on the top floors. The rest of the structure might be broken and smashed up, but the second or third stories might have laundry hanging out on the veranda. Or a bicycle might be leaning against a wobbly pole that more or less held up the entire building.

I went to Ishinomaki last September and was shocked by the extent of the destruction in the area near the port. The hospital was in complete shambles and next to it a pharmacy tilted knee deep in water. There were frames of houses and piles of debris everywhere. And along one whole side of this expansive, tragic mess was a wall of bent and crunched vehicles. There were cranes and backhoes working constantly to gather rubbish, as trucks plied back and forth removing what had been collected.

Arahama: 11 Months After the Tsunami

Mid-February 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Recently a friend and I went north of Sendai to Kesennuma to learn firsthand how things were almost one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. This week different friends and I ventured closer to home to hear stories of people who used to have homes and work near the sea. We went to Arahama, one section of widely spread out Sendai City. We talked with four courageous souls. Each person had a story. Each tale was unique. But the underlying theme was the same: “We lost everything. The future is uncertain. We can only do what we can today.”

New Years: A Time for Reflection in Japan

Even though Christmas is not special, New Years is very important here. In fact, it is one of the most significant days of the year. People believe in starting the year with a very pure heart and mind. So they spend a lot of time cleaning their homes, as they reflect on what inner and outer cleanliness means. They go to shrines with a pure heart and in that state they pray for a year of blessings.

However, if a family member has died during the previous year, the family cannot celebrate the New Year. That is because death is considered an impurity. In that case the family will stay at home and quietly reflect on the great mysteries of life and death and their ongoing eternal cycles.

This year in particular many people in the Tohoku area will not be able to go to a shrine on New Years Day or to eat the special food of this season. In fact, I have already received many cards announcing a death in the family, which is sent in place of a New Years greeting. Most of those who died were killed in the tsunami of last March.

Recently I sent an end-of-the-year donation to Imai Sensei’s Yomawari Group, which works with homeless in this area. Imai Sensei thanked me and said that with the money he could provide a more nutritious meal at the New Year and also get more clothes and blankets to offer to the men he serves.

We all hope that 2012 will be kinder to us. They say that the danger of another earthquake lasts for a full year. So, we are still alert as we go about our daily lives. In another arena we also know that next year brings the end of government financial assistance to those devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. We also realize that jobs are very scarce here now. So, we are quietly watching, wondering, hoping for a year that allows us opportunities to work together and do all we can to make life better for everyone we in need.

To help those still in need in Japan, please consider buying Letters to the Ground from the Heart or donating to the cause. 100% of the proceeds will be distributed to survivors of The Great East Japan / Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, most notably the Sendai Yomawari Group that serves the homeless—a population which is now exploding.

Christmas In Japan

Christmas in Japan. Actually, since Japan is not a Christian country, anything connected to Christmas is strictly commercial. There may be decorations, lights, and music. And of course, there is the encouragement to give gifts. Some families eat a chicken dinner and a special cake with white icing and a strawberry on the top, making it look like the Japanese flag. But all this is done to please young people, who are more connected to Western customs.

For everyone else Christmas is just another working day. In Sendai every year at this time there is a “Festival of Lights”. But all of the lights were lost in the tsunami and the city had far too many other concerns to think about replacing them. But other prefectures wanted to help this city and wanted to encourage people to keep a positive spirit. So they donated 500,000 lights to Sendai. Now for a few weeks we have twinkling lights in the downtown area, thanks to so many who cared about us. That, of course, makes this festival hold something very deep and special for us all.

To help those still in need in Japan, please consider buying Letters to the Ground from the Heart or donating to the cause. 100% of the proceeds will be distributed to survivors of The Great East Japan / Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, most notably the Sendai Yomawari Group that serves the homeless—a population which is now exploding.

Photo Credit: asianews.it

The Current State of Affairs in Tohoku

Japan is pretty much out of the news these days. But life is still far from easy here in Tohoku. Winter has settled in with freezing temperatures and frequent snow, sometimes flurries, sometimes storms. The Red Cross and Army left several months ago, so the clean up job and rebuilding are now the responsibility of each prefecture. That work is going on continually, but slowly. Reports say it will take another two years or more before the devastated areas are ready for rebuilding.

In the meantime, people who lost their homes are living in temporary houses, whole families in small apartments, evacuation centers, a few of which are still open, and in the back of trucks or in cars. The homeless live in parks and underground walkways during the day. They walk all night so as not to freeze to death. Many people are still out of work. In fact, the jobless rate among young adults is 50% or more. Depression and suicides are on the rise.

We have come a long way and are proud of that. But we also realize there is still so much to do.

To help those still in need in Japan, please consider buying Letters to the Ground from the Heart or donating to the cause. 100% of the proceeds will be distributed to survivors of The Great East Japan / Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, most notably the Sendai Yomawari Group that serves the homeless—a population which is now exploding.

Photo credit: Peter Dyloco