The tsunami disaster is ongoing, unabated – ‘Now I know there is no god’

By Tokyo Brown Tabby; posted by arevamirpal::laprimavera
20 May 2011 And that is the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s Tohoku region very hard. As of May 13, more than 15,000 people have been killed, 9,506 are still missing, and about 115,500 are still living in 2,425 evacuation shelters, according to the National Police Agency. After more than 2 months since the quake and tsunami, the disaster-hit areas look almost the same as on March 11 after the tsunami. There are many areas still without power and water, and at some shelters the lack of food and water is chronic. At a shelter in Minami Soma City (large part of the city is now designated as “planned evacuation zone”), a meal used to consist of one riceball, banana and milk until very recently. PM Kan and his administration can plan all they want for their grand vision for Tohoku (those “eco-towns” made by shaving off the mountains, for example), but the reality on the ground is that no one in power is paying much actual attention. Here’s a ground-level report by one volunteer who went to Tohoku to help people get on their feet. The original is in Japanese, edited and translated by Tokyo Brown Tabby who is a friend of this volunteer. (I edited the English for length and style.)

My 5 days as a volunteer in Tohoku I joined “The 7th Tokyo Volunteer Work Tour” and arrived in Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture on May 11 with 79 others to help residents in various cities and towns in Tohoku. We went in as a team of 5. … Day 4: at a private home, Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture Rikuzen-Takata City was in a total ruin. Nothing but rubble, as far as I could see, 360 degrees. I could almost see the horizon. I was dumbstruck. There was a group of about 100 people in an strange uniform of navy blue and orange. It said “Keishi-cho [Metropolitan Police Department]” on the back. Actually witnessing a search party in action was a different kind of shock to me. … One team was sorting out rubble at a private home and found a torn amulet of Amaterasu-Omikami, the Goddess of the Sun [one of the figures in ancient Japanese mythology worshipped in Shinto]. They asked the husband what to do with it. He said, “Throw it away, now that I know there is no god.” My heart sank, hearing that. … The girl who told me the story said that important thing was not just doing the work but telling people around us about the reality of Tohoku. We saw it, heard it, firsthand. “Now it’s time for us to go back to Tokyo and share it with others,” she said. I couldn’t agree with her more. …

Guest Post: The Other Disaster That Is On-Going, Unabated (by Tokyo Brown Tabby)