Sayonara, Japan! Ganbatte, Tohoku!

On Monday, June 6, I caught the Shinkansen to Tokyo, making the trip in two hours. It was so nice to NOT be on a bus for six plus hours!

I flew out of Narita that afternoon, and thanks to the time change of 16 hours, arrived in Portland the same morning!

For those who have lived in Japan, a few things I noticed this time: 1) less public smoking. Japan passed a law in 2009 that severely curtails where smoking is allowed. There are designated smoking rooms on train platforms, so no cigarette butts on the tracks! No smoking while walking down the street, making for pleasant strolling! Private businesses, such as restaurants, can establish their own rules about smoking; unfortunately, many still allow it. 2) fewer vending machines, especially cigarette ones. Japan is trying to cut down on underage smoking, so there are practically zero tabako vending machines around. I also saw NO beer/whiskey vending machines, nor the porno ones either! 3) pachinko parlor noise. Remember the loud music and general urusai noise emanating from the many establishments, especially around train stations? No more. For one thing, it's a dying business, so there aren't many left, AND the ones left keep their sliding glass doors closed. Hurray!

Oh, there's been a proliferation of vending machines that sell iced coffee, iced tea, and other non-carbonated beverages, including my favorite, Georgia!

And what trip to Japan wouldn't be complete without a sign in Engrish?

When will I make another trip to Japan, you ask? I'm saving my dollars (since the exchange rate is currently 80 yen to one dollar, I'll need a lot!) for Summer 2013, for a reunion at Lake Nojiri with friends from my youth that I spent summer vacations with. Looking forward to it!!

I'm a tourist today- Sunday, June 5

Instead of trying to find another day of volunteer work, as a last hurrah on my final full day in Japan, I decided to go to Matsushima (Pine Islands) as a tourist. It's located about 40 minutes by train out of Sendai, and is known as one of the three most beautiful spots in Japan. (The other two are Amanohashidate and Miyajima.) I took a boat tour of the bay, where 260 islands of various sizes make for a beautiful sight. Unfortunately, the skies were gray and hazy, so my pictures didn't turn out great. (Here's a picture I stole off the internet.)

I was approached on the boat by an older woman who wanted to "speak English conversation" with me. She's been taking an internet English course, and her command of the language isn't bad. And, believe it or not, she has visited Portland!  We had a wonderful chat, and I met her husband, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and son-in-law's parents. Son-in-law is working construction in a tsunami devastated town, so they decided to all come up from Nagoya for a visit. She asked why I'd come to Japan and when I showed her my group t-shirt and told her, she said 'thank you, thank you.' It was all I could do to keep from crying and hugging her! (FYI- Japanese are not huggers.)

Matsushima's geographic configuration and the many islands helped brunt the force of the tsunami, so only about 5 feet of water entered the town, enough to ruin many first floors. Most damage has been repaired, but the inhabited islands took a beating.

                                              An overturned shipping container sits on a beach.

After the boat ride, I went to beautiful Entsuin Garden, where I got a guided tour by an English speaking woman. Ishihara-san was so nice and pleasant to share some time with.

She lives in a nearby coastal town, and she and her husband escaped the tsunami by running up a nearby hill. The first floor of her house was deluged with water and is currently uninhabitable, so they are living with relatives in Sendai. So sad, but she's glad to be alive. My next stop was Zuiganji Temple, where I also got a guided tour in English by Oura-san, a tiny Japanese man. The temple was originally built in 828 (no, I did not forget a '1' at the beginning!) and rebuilt in 1609. Fortunately the tsunami did not reach the temple grounds, but stopped just short of the main gate. Oura-san told me he was grateful to the U.S. Seventh Fleet (based in Okinawa) for helping in the aftermath of the tsunami.

As I left the temple I walked past the Garden gate and saw Ishihara-san again. She once again thanked me for coming to Japan to volunteer and to Matsushima and said I had to come back to the garden some fall, when the maple leaves are reflected beautifully in the pond. Her kindness and smile were just so sweet, and I was very touched and happy with the personal contacts I'd had during the day. I walked away overwhelmed by it all, crying as I went down the street. An essence of the Japanese character had struck me, and it made my entire trip to Japan worthwhile. At some points during the week I was disheartened by the minimal volunteer work I actually did, but realized that there was more to my going to Japan than physical labor. It was also to reconnect with the Japanese, who are undergoing a tumultuous experience, and to show that they have not been forgotten by Americans. I'm not sure if I'll get back to the area again, but certainly won't forget the week!

Last Volunteer Day- Saturday, June 4

An observation: A newspaper article this past week here in Portland referred to the "devastated city of Sendai." To me, that means a severe loss of infrastructure--roads out, no public transportation, lack of water, electricity, gas, phones. Yes, the airport was inundated, but was back up and running in 10 days. And while the coastal suburbs of Sendai were certainly destroyed or heavily damaged by the tsunami, the majority of the city is fully functioning. I saw zero tsunami or earthquake damage. I think that description is inaccurate, to say the least, and doesn't help in efforts to boost tourism and the economy in general.

At the farewell party the last night in the hotel, several people stood up to say a few words about their experiences during the week. Tamura-san is Japanese and came up from Kobe (he lives in Mikage, my old neighborhood!) to help out. He'd heard about our group trip through a sister-group relationship between the Hawaii Jr. Chamber of Commerce (they are on an email list and got word of our trip, so sent two folks) and the Kobe group. After the Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe in 1995, the Tohoku region sent a relief effort to help out, so after this year's disaster up here, he felt it was time to return the favor, so he has made several trips to volunteer. A one-way drive is 10 plus hours, and we were all very touched by his commitment. He was a great addition to our group effort!

We were also given a going away present of a 4.0 earthquake at 1:02 am! Many in our group were awakened by it, but I lucked out and slept through it; I probably wouldn't have gotten back to sleep afterwards!

The group left to return to the U.S. today, but I had made prior arrangements to stay two extra days and do some additional volunteer work. I'd contacted an NGO working in Ishinomaki and was due to work there, but my contact there didn't respond to my email earlier in the week, so I had to resort to Plan B. I was chatting at breakfast with the two women from Hawaii, who were also staying on, and they invited me to join them on their jaunt, along with Tamura-san from Kobe. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. We left Sendai at 8:15 to drive 80 miles/2 hours south to Koriyama, to deliver donated food that the Hawaii C of C had shipped over. We went to an evacuation center that had taken over a convention hall, and with the perseverance of Tamura-san and permission of the staff, were able to hand the food out to evacuees as they came through the lunch line.

Tiffani, Tamura-san, and Brenda



Volunteering Day 2, Friday June 3

IASW ALERT #4! At breakfast I was chatting with Tim Reece. He's a missionary kid who went to CAJ (Christian Academy in Japan in Tokyo) and graduated in 1975. His wife also went there. Turns out she and I were born in the same hospital in Osaka. But wait! She and my sister were born one day apart at that same hospital AND their mothers shared a room!

We had been advised not to bring stuff with us from the States to hand out, as folks living in cramped quarters might not have room for any extras; plus we had no idea of their needs. Also, showing up at an evacuation center with 25 of an item might cause a problem if there were 40 people living there. The Japanese way is one of equity. It would upset the group dynamic if some had to go without. Also, we were asked to be sensitive with our cameras. Taking pictures of devastation was one thing; taking pictures of people might be intrusive. These folks have been the subject of much media attention since the tsunami, and they might feel as if they were in a zoo, what with all these gaijin (foreigners) taking pictures right and left. We were also told not to solicit stories, but if they offered to tell us, we could listen and go from there.

One more bit of explanation, of distances, travel times, etc. The nearest devastation to Sendai is Natori, a suburb a few miles away. Another is Ishinomaki, about 30 miles away, but because of two lane roads, it takes over an hour by vehicle. Speed limits on these roads is about 25-30 mph. Other areas we helped at were several hours away! There's only one expressway in the area, the Tohoku Expressway, which runs north-south, from Aomori to Tokyo. All other roads are surface streets, narrow, with traffic lights, and usually a lot of vehicles. Therefore much of our volunteer days were spent actually getting TO and from the job site!

Besides the group I was in, others did the following: visited an evacuation center for the developmentally disabled, cleaned up around a school, cleaned up homes, helped set up shelters, and helped at a food distribution center. One other option was to go sightseeing at Matsushima, one of Japan's most scenic spots. Turns out our group was the first foreign tour since the tsunami! The locals were very happy to see us.

Friday morning the bus going to our volunteer work area left the hotel at 7:00 am! We headed north and east to Kesennuma, one of the towns hit hardest by the tsunami. That leg of the bus ride took 3 hours. Thank goodness for a rest area along the way! If you watched the video on CNN and youtube where folks were on an elevated walkway above the town looking down at the tsunami come through and the water level rising, we went right smack into that zone of devastation.

One group of 15 folks got off the bus to help a family clean up their apartment grounds. I was fortunate to be in the second group of 17 (I'll explain why later) that stayed on the bus and drove another hour north (yet only 13 miles!) to Rikuzen-Takata, a city hit worse than Kesennuma! Whereas many buildings were left standing in Kesennuma, albeit with some damage, RT was basically leveled.

We went to a Junior High School, fortunately located on a hilltop, where the first floor was an evacuation center, and the athletic field had been converted to a site for temporary shelter units. As soon as the supply truck arrived, we outfitted 78 units (which will house 232 people) with brooms, wastebaskets, futon, sheets, toiletry supplies, a mystery brown box, a small table, and dishware.

As we finished up our last unit to stock, a woman in an adjacent occupied unit called out to us and said her daughter and granddaughter were moving in THAT NIGHT to one of the units we outfitted. She was so happy she was crying and thanking us for our help!

As we headed back to pick up group 1 in Kesennuma, we had to take this detour along a seawall. The road was so narrow! Congrats to our bus driver for his diligence.

When the folks working in Kesennuma got on the bus for our return trip to Sendai, they REEKED!! They'd been moving muck, dead trees, and even dead and rotted fish. Yowza, we had to open all the windows! I'm so glad I wasn't on that job!

Volunteering Day 1

Well, as can happen on a group trip, especially one like ours where the conditions 'on the ground' can change daily, depending on the needs in the affected area, my day did not go as expected. Our initial assumption was that we'd be working at a local distribution center, but alas it was not to be. My group of 6 left the hotel at 9:30, stopped at the local office of a relief organization, met up with a delivery truck and left there at 10:30 and drove almost 3 hours to an evacuation center in Higashihama. Fortunately, this included a 30 minute lunch stop, so we had a chance to walk around and get some fresh air. According to Google Maps, it's 55 miles, but considering two lane roads, low speed limits, minor road damage from the earthquake, etc., perhaps we made good time?! At the evacuation center, we helped unload a small truckload of food and talked with the manager.

The building is actually an elementary school, but the first floor is being used as an evac center, while the kids are on the second floor for school. We were able to pass out small origami gifts from Portland area school children to the kids, and also met an 83 year old woman who is living in the evac center. She was a FUN lady and said we gave her energy to live until she's 100, AND she blew kisses to us as we left! (very un-Japanese to do this!)

The drive back to Sendai took us through a few coastal hamlets and Ishinomaki, one of the hard-hit towns/cities. Block after block, mile after mile, nothing but destruction--upside down cars, damaged/destroyed homes and businesses, mounds and mounds of debris, etc. It was heartbreaking to see. At one point I opened the window to take a better picture, but the stench was powerful enough to put a quick halt to that little adventure! Combine dead fish, garbage, debris, and lord knows what else, and WOW!

The driver of our car told us that the SDF (Self-Defense Forces) couldn't even tell where the roads were supposed to be right after the tsunami, due to stuff everywhere!! Her uncle died in the tsunami and had to be cremated in a neighboring prefecture, due to conditions here.  According to our briefing in Tokyo, it's going to take 3 years just to clear up all the debris. That doesn't include reconstruction, which could take 10 to 15 years. Very sobering.

North to Sendai

On June 1st, Wednesday morning, we left the Tokyo hotel at 8:00 for the drive north to Sendai. Getting out of a huge megalopolis (25 million people in the greater Tokyo area) took quite some time! I noticed many signs like the following, which says 'Ganbare Higashi Nihon'. Ganbare means hang in there, do your best, go for it. Higashi Nihon  means Eastern Japan.

We made two stops along the way. Here's our tour bus. At our lunch stop, the rest area restaurant folks were very busy filling our orders! A few of us Japanese speakers helped call out ticket numbers in English.

We saw this group of Tokyo Metropolitan Police. They were on their way to one of the affected towns to work. Ever since the Great Hanshin Earthquake in my hometown of Kobe in 1995, each prefecture is assigned a certain function in case of a disaster elsewhere in the country.

Upon arrival in Sendai at 2:00 pm, our first stop was at Sendai TV, the local affiliate of Fuji TV, for a welcome and thanks for coming, and a brief video of the tsunami damage. We also got an orientation from Mercy Corps, who along with Peace Winds Japan, was coordinating our volunteer efforts for the next two days.

From there we went to a small Buddhist temple for a memorial service to the disaster victims. After the priests chanted for the souls of the dead, one of the young Muslim students in our group spoke briefly about what Islam says about compassion, and then Valerie Day, a Portland singer (she was also part of Nu Shooz back in the mid-80's, with the hit song "I Can't Wait") sang "Imagine" by John Lennon. Sean Egusa, another member on the trip, ended by reading some haiku written by Japanese about the tsunami. We were certainly an ecumenical group!

As I was standing on the sidewalk waiting to get back on the bus, a Westerner walked by and asked what was going on. When I told him we were there to do some volunteer work for tsunami victims, he said "It's too late." I was left speechless by his rudeness and inhumanity, and could only manage "Well, we'll do what we can." Makes me wonder what HE had done to help out! Probably nothing.

IASW ALERT #3. At a ramen shop that night with 7 others, I was asked which part of Portland I lived in. When it got narrowed down to the street, Max and Carol Lyon said they had lived in the corner house by the school in the early 90s. Ah, now they looked familiar! Their college-age daughter was along, making this a family experience.

Tokyo Activities

After a long 11 hour flight across the Pacific, we landed in Tokyo at 4:00 pm Monday. Okay, so the airport is actually 40 miles away in Narita, which meant hopping on two kanko (touring) buses and riding 1 ½ hours to our hotel in the Shinagawa district. Along the way, I got a glimpse of my favorite Japanese countryside scene --rice paddies.

 

IASW (it’s a small world) ALERT #2! My seatmate on the bus had been an exchange student at Waseda University in the 80s. Hey, so had my brother Bill. Turns out they were in a class together!

How had our group magically increased from 70 to about 80? Three people from Hawaii arrived, as did a woman from Shanghai. There were also some locals who joined our adventure.

On Tuesday morning, our buses left for the Tokyo American Center, where we were given a heartfelt welcome by U.S. Ambassador Roos, followed by reports from a US AID chief, the director of the TAC, and a Navy Colonel, who is the Embassy Naval Attache. All 4 have been up to Sendai and environs several times and were able to share their experiences with us. Heartbreaking stories (I had tears running down my face), but also stories of support and hope for the Japanese. I think it was important for us to hear that we could expect a variety of emotions, that we'd be seeing scenes of utter devastation, but that our efforts would be greatly appreciated. A famous Japanese saying was displayed on the video screen.

After that we headed to Fuji TV headquarters. There were speeches of welcome by the head of Fuji TV, the head of JNTO (Japan National Travel Organization) and Saori Yuki, a very famous Japanese singer (the Barbara Streisand of Japan!), who has gone to the affected areas, and also flew to Portland to do a benefit concert for Japan with Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini; that concert raised over $300,000! All thanked us in glowing Japanese for coming to Japan to volunteer and to show the Japanese that we care about them. We had a BEAUTIFUL bento lunch in a room overlooking Tokyo Bay and parts of the city.

 

From there, it was more busing--this time to the Asakusa area for some sightseeing--Sensoji Temple and Nakamise shopping street.



And no trip to Tokyo would be complete unless you see the kin no unchi, also known as the Golden Turd, on top of the Asahi Brewery.

 

Being a bicyclist, I got a kick out of the double decker bike rack!

 

Trip background

Flight of Friendship was organized by Sho Dozono, owner of Azumano Travel in Portland. He was born in Okayama, but moved to the States at an early age and has lived here ever since. In the 1980's he helped bring Fuji TV to Oregon to film "Oregon kara Ai" (From Oregon with Love), which was a huge hit in Japan. CA Alumni and classmate Janet Hoaglund was the translator on this project, and the Dozonos still fondly remember her!


Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, Sho and a few others decided to put together a goodwill trip to Japan, which was multi-purpose: show the Japanese that Americans care about them, do some volunteer work, show Americans that it's safe to visit Japan, and support the impacted economy. Within 24 hours of the notice in the media, I decided to join this trip, as I'd felt the need to do something tangible to help those in need in Japan. I was born in Osaka and lived in Kobe for 15 of my first 18 years, so I feel a strong affinity and connection to Japan and the people there. My last visit was exactly ten years ago, in May 2001, when my husband Bill and I vacationed there for three weeks.


About 70 people flew out of Portland on May 29. It was a diverse group--7 Muslim high school students, retired folks, businessmen and women, government and civic officials, a news reporter, families with teenagers, college age kids, etc. We came from Portland, Vancouver WA, Maryland, Florida, California, and Pendleton OR. The majority of folks have some connection to Japan--they were an exchange student years ago, were born and lived there, have Japanese relatives, have business ties, or just wanted to help people in distress. Quite a few of us speak Japanese, even if it's rusty!

An 'it's a small world' note: At the pre-trip meeting on May 25, I sat next to a woman who asked if I spoke Japanese. When I replied 'hai, shaberimasu', she also spoke to me in Japanese. Where did she learn the language? Judy Nicholson Jubb was a missionary kid (American Baptist) in Tokyo, born there, and went to ASIJ (American School in Japan), Class of 1968. Her 5th grade teacher was Nadine Hinchman. Mrs. Hinchman later moved to Kobe and taught at CA (Canadian Academy), where I took a class with her! Judy spent summers at Lake Nojiri, a missionary summer getaway. So did I!