Tokyo-Seattle; 6/21

David, Izo, Sylvia, and Masumi at Kawagoe Station

This is the day that happens twice.  When you fly across the Pacific from Tokyo to Seattle, you cross the dateline.  So get this: we left the Suzuki's apartment this morning at 9:30 AM, travelled 3 hours to Narita Airport, had 3.5 hours for check-in, lunch, money exchange, etc., then flew 8.5 hours and arrived in Seattle at 8:40 AM the same day, 50 minutes before we left the apartment.  Anyone singing "The Twilight Zone" theme song?

Izo and Masumi Suzuki were wonderful hosts, and staying with them has restored our energy and spirits as we return home.  We're grateful for their hospitality!  

The flight back to Seattle was uneventful - nice! - and it was great to arrive in a sunny Seattle with blue skies and Mt Rainier greeting us.  We'll have several days of jet-lag to deal with, finalizing the trip budget accounting, and following up on contacts and connections we made in Tohoku.  Also have to remember to drive in the right-side lane…

The three phases of disaster response are Rescue (measured in days & weeks), Relief (measured in months), and Recovery (measured in years).  On this trip, we often found ourselves at the pivot point from Relief to Recovery.  Some places, especially in the Watanoha section of Ishinomaki, still look like the tsunami happened last week: debris and mangled cars are all mushed up alongside rubble-filled houses.   Many other places, such as parts of Onagawa, have cleared the debris and the land is ready for reconstruction.  In other areas scattered around the disaster area, rebuilding has already begun.  How long it will take to completely recover is a guess - I'd say 4 or 5 years in most places, but yesterday in Ikebukuro I talked to a lady from Onagawa who thought her town would need up to 10 years to recover.

Yet as we talked about measuring the success of our trip, we realized that much of the meaning of this trip has less to do with the tangibles of buildings and food, though we did plenty of that kind of work, and more to do with the intangibles of providing hope, lifting spirits, and establishing friendships.

A local train and rice fields in Tohoku

Throughout the this trip, I kept noticing rice fields in various stages: some just being planted, some with just little seedlings, some with a month's growth.  It encouraged me to realize that the seasons of life are happening in Japan, and also are occurring in Tohoku. It will take time and much, much work, but I'm optimistic that the seeds are being planted for recovery, not only in buildings and civic infrastructure, but also in people's hearts and lives.  We're praying that hope will grow fast, and that true Hope will find root and bring life to many.