One and a half years

Today will mark 1 and a half years since the great earthquake and tsunami struck Northeast Japan.

My 2nd year as a graduate student and the new semester has just kicked off- but already, I feel there are so many "to do's". While being busy may keep me going, I do wish I had more time to write and update this blog. More importantly, I wish I had more time to give and keep more up to date with the recovery process in various regions of Northeast Japan.

On the other hand, no matter how busy or fatigued I am, not a day goes by when I don't have thoughts or care about Tohoku and its people. Bits and pieces of memories stay with me. Even when I am distantly away from Japan, there are symbols here and there that make me recall...

Like in the summer, when a fly comes swarming by, I remember the large numbers that were swarming in Rikuzen-Takata city. And while people around me may be trying to shoo it away, I remember back to those hot summer days- and recall the smell from the debris, the fish, the ocean.

When I see little kids playing, I think back to the kids I played with in Aizu-Wakamatsu. And I wonder how they are. Are they safe? Protected from the radiation?  I recall a group of them reading to me the letters of encouragement and support that were sent from unaffected children all over Japan to their evacuation shelters. I remember their names, the silly games we played, and how energetic they were...And then, I recall the fatigued look of the mother, the uncertainty and fear that the adults and elderly were expressing.

And of course, there are times when vivid images come back to me from the devastated areas. It is as if I am there once again. Shichigahama's beach side...all barren and lonely, the houses devastated with only their bases remaining. Stuffed animals gathered together by some caring individual. Kesennuma harbor...ships ashore, burned, debris everywhere...

When these images strike, I try to think back to the more heartwarming things. The positive atmosphere of the volunteer centers, the morning glories that were growing resiliently after the tsunami-strucken beach. The people...

Sometimes, I feel let down by myself because I feel that I am becoming more and more distant from the devastated areas and the people. I promised to keep watching, to keep caring, and to keep up my support but sometimes, my focus on academics can prevent me from giving all that I wish to give.

But a woman I met through volunteering gave me these words which I'd like to believe. Although I can't remember the exact words or how it was phrased, she told me to just believe that it will all connect in the long run. And that what I am doing now will eventually somehow lead to the recovery process of Tohoku, its people, and Japan. Perhaps, it's wishful thinking but because she was such an inspiring individual, I do believe there is truth to what she was saying. So I would like to keep believing.

One and a half years since March 11th.
Please, pray with me.

And now, I would like to share this youtube video my mom let me know about: "Oraho no Radio Taiso" - a project that was initiated to regain a sense of community in the Tohoku region. It was filmed in one of the disaster-struck areas, Ishinomaki (Miyagi Prefecture), on September 10th and 11th, exactly 6 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. So today will mark a year since it was filmed. I hope you will go through this radio exercise with the people of Tohoku- so that you can feel close at heart with the people there. Whenever I feel distantly away, I will do this radio exercise!!!  It is done in their dialect which is very neat and energizing :)!