In the Worst so far, is that Hope? - Otsuchi - Sat 4/23

Today the team and our CRASH hosts, Jill, Maki, and Christina, drove from Tono through Kamaishi, a devastated port city, to Otsuchi, a large seacoast town of 16,500 people with 1500 now reported dead or missing.  On the way, we drove past an unimaginable sight: a massive sea-wall lay breached and broken, 100-ton blocks scattered in the water like Godzilla's toy Legos. 

Light rain from misty grey skies covered Otsuchi when we arrived.  Once again, we were pummeled by more terrible sights - and smells - of what happened.  As in the other disaster cities, the quake and tsunami hit hard, but because of rupture to large gas/oil tanks, much of the city was burned by fires. 


We drove slowly past terribly typical fields of rubble, skeletons of shattered buildings, and smashed, bashed, and twisted cars and trucks.  Then in what looks like the scenes covered in rust, we came to entire blocks where fire had burned everything except metal.  Here's a steel framed building battered into an avant-garde shape now naked of walls, wires, and any furniture once inside. Over there are 2 or 3 vehicles, jumbled together and upside down from the tsunami, and fire fried off all the tires, glass, even the paint.

One intersection was blocked by an army crew using a demolition backhoe to remove a car from inside what was a street-level store.  As we got closer, we were stunned to see another vehicle further inside the building.  Around the corner, we came to the remains of the fire station. The clock on the front of the building had stopped at 2: 44, the time when the tsunami wave hit here.  Then we saw what was left of a fire truck, smashed and nearly unrecognizable, thrown and rolled 30 yards across the street behind the fire station.

Midori Yochien in Otsuchi

We came to Otsuchi to help clean Midori Yochien, a community kindergarten for 70+ cute little 4 and 5 year old kids.  The rain was falling steadily by now, but we were heartened to realize that over 50 volunteers had come together to help.  Some were young teachers from other kindergartens, some were local volunteers who had time to give because their jobs were gone, some drove in from 3+ hours away.  One guy I met said he came from Shikoku, a major island 24 hours drive past Osaka. 

Jeff and Mark working in the rain at Otsuchi

The principal and the facilities manager quickly organized everyone, and soon we were all sweeping, wiping, mopping, hosing, garbage-bagging, and working like a hive of bees all over the 2-story building.  The quake had not done too much damage (hurray for Japanese building codes to absorb that kind of shaking), but the tsunami flooded the entire first floor and up to chest high on the 2nd floor. Lime had been spread on the first floor to help combat bacterial residue in the sludge left over from the receding water.  Everything still left in the school had to be washed and moved to cleaned areas: student books, band instruments, chairs, desks, and on and on.  Out in front of the school was a huge 50 foot long pile of ruined stuff stacked head-high waiting to be hauled away.  Saw a piano, boxes of books and papers, and more.  Then we heard this was the third such pile.  Oh my.

I talked to the principal who said when the quake happened, he rushed the children up a road to a nearby high-school and safety, then watched as the tsunami inundated his town and his school.  After it receded the fires spread, and he watched in a new dimension of terror as flames spread another wave of destruction.  The fires came across the road to his school and burned right up to the kindergarten porch, then stopped before destroying the school.  Sure enough, we looked and saw black scorch marks on the porch pillars, and were amazed at how close they came to complete destruction.

Midori Yochien cherry tree: drowned, burned, now blooming 

As we finished cleaning the school in the afternoon, I was impressed by an unusual cherry blossom tree in the front of the school.  The tree was burned in the fire but now, 6 weeks later, the blossoms were full of life.  Then it hit me: to be in full bloom now meant that the blossoms had just opened up just a couple weeks ago, nearly a month after the disaster.  I have been looking for signs of hope in the middle of all the despair, and here it was.  This resilient tree, drowned by a tsunami, burned by an inferno, is rejuvenating and expressing life and beauty once again.  Amazing.

We drove back through the fields of debris and shattered, burned, lopsided buildings, past the sea-wall, through several more towns just the same, turned inland at Kamaishi on our return route to Tono.  Somehow my heart wasn't quite as heavy has when we drove this road arriving this morning.  

PS: This evening, we enjoyed 2 very marvelous Japanese customs with our CRASH hosts: the onsen (natural hot spring bath), and a delicious meal of tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet on rice).  Those of you who've experienced those 2 customs back to back like that after a long, hard day of work in the rain in an emotionally wearying world will know exactly what I mean when I say, "Ahhhhhhhh……." with a big satisfied smile on my face.