It has been 8 days since I experienced the 9.0 earthquake in Tokyo with my son, who lives and works there. After I returned home while he stayed, we’ve talked daily as life goes on in Tokyo while the disaster toll becomes more grim to the north. Horrific. Still, the nuclear hazard threat grows even more uncertain. Yet, there is a comaraderie of those in the city who have stayed and survived the worst of it. May it be so. In Tokyo, the aftershocks are not as severe, but they are felt. All 262 of them, so far. Yet yesterday, I called my son and heard his Japanese friend’s happy whistling in the background. It was just a moment of letting go, some relief from the constant anxiety. But it took my breath away.
Tokyo for me last week was a land full of kind strangers. The selflessness that has defined them is evident in every aspect of this tragedy. I have almost more examples than I can count. I will post more later of the moments that stand out. But today, I am hoping that the instinctive willingness to extend help to others which is so Japanese can be stretched to help themselves. They will need to open themselves and their country fully to receive all the help they need. They will need to share more information than than they want. That is not as much their way. Because this is also a proud culture. There was a deeply painful apology yesterday from the head of the Tokyo Electric Company that manages the Fukushima nuclear plant. At the end, he burst into tears.
This morning, I have been looking at my pictures from a happy five days spent in Tokyo and Yokahama before the earthquake. And listening to a song my son wrote in Japan ( ‘Kirby - song “Fall Back”) - it now takes on a whole new meaning. “Fall Back”. If only we could.