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!