Horror Movie - Onagawa - Thursday 4/21.

Woke around 5:30 (getting approx. 30 min later each day), and had some coffee and tried to do email, etc.  Shere and Rich fixed a big scrambled eggs and toast breakfast - yummy!!  We left about 8 AM to meet the CRASH folks out in Ishinomaki.  (The JDRC web site has a photo of Ishinomaki on the home page.)  Should have taken about an hour, but didn't get there until 10 AM due to jammed traffic on the expressway and some slow going on local roads.  Steve Kotlarczyk and some folks with him had come up from Okutama Bible Camp the night before, so we met up with them at the Ishinomaki Christ Church just on the north side of the main station.  

Pastor Ito there asked us to change plans from helping with a soup kitchen to going with him out to a town called Onagawa to help clean out houses of a church member and their friends.  We tossed brooms and shovels, etc into the vans (Steve's, ours, and another Japanese group) and followed the pastor further east. Followed a river, then a bay seeing some relatively slight damage, then arrived at the town where the main road was blocked by the Japanese army, so we drove up a little further on a side road and parked off the road to walk down a steep narrow road to the neighborhood.  Turns out the building just across from the parking spot was a crematorium.  The pastor explained that so many people had died in Onagawa that the bodies are being temporarily buried, then exhumed for cremation and memorial services.  Saw a funeral procession of hearse and cars leaving that site as we started walking to the church member's house.  

The rest of this visit could have been a horror movie, where the story line just gets worse and worse.  We had no idea of what had happened in Onagawa but the full extent of the devastation incrementally presented itself to us as we worked and then later drove into and around the town.  We split into 3 groups, and Jeff and Shere and I were helping some other volunteers haul one woman's no longer needed stuff 30 yards down the hill to an intersection with the main road where the army had a big backhoe loading the neighborhood debris into a dump truck.  She was working in her mono-oki shed deciding what to keep or not.  Big plastic bags of very nice looking clothing, blankets, shawls, were coming out, and I wondered if she really knew all this was not going into storage somewhere else, but being thrown away. After several trips I was able to get closer to the shed and watched her work.  She had zero expression on her face, zero light in her eyes.  

We were told this house had been flooded, and were shown a water line about chest high.  That was when the first "thud" of inclination of what happened hit.  If the tsunami came this high, what about all the houses down the hill to the intersection?  They would have been all underwater.  On my next trip down to the garbage collection site, I took a moment to look around, and Thud!  again.  The main road to the left went up the hill where we were blocked from coming into town, but to the right it sloped further downhill through a narrow, winding valley of utter devastation. No houses or buildings standing and debris everywhere.  Couldn't see the end because the road curved a bit, but you knew the main part of the town was further down the hill that way.  Easy imagination told you the water at this intersection would have been 2 or 3 stories high.  If the disaster was this bad here, how much worse did it get?  Thud. Thud. 

With Grandma Sumiko and the Kouno family

Back at the lady's house we worked until noon.  Jeff had gone to take photos, so Shere and I were invited to the house of the church member for a bite of lunch.  It was just a couple doors up the side street, and the young mom gave us some version of cup-ramen, explaining they had been given a lot of extra food by relief teams, couldn't eat it all, so please enjoy.  The mom's name was Kyoko Kouno, and with her was a 3 yr. old son, Yoshikatsu, and a 18 mo old daughter, Sachiko.  The dad was at work, so we didn't get to meet him, but later did meet the grandma, Sumiko Asakura.  After chatting a while about routine stuff, we began to learn their stories.  Kyoko said the water came up to their property, but she and the kids had run further up the hill.  She heard a terrible noises as the water rushed in.  She was able to return that day because no damage to their house, but didn't know what happened to grandma who lived down in the town, or her sister in law who lived on the main street just up above that intersection.  Turned out that the wave had come up that main road from town and had even gone over the top of the hill at the point we had been blocked from entering and washed down the other side.  That was a distance of about a kilometer from the Onagawa harbor and main downtown area at the bottom of the main road.  

After lunch, and after we finished working about 3 PM, Kyoko and Sumiko offered to show us around downtown, so we jumped into the vans, cleared the army blockade, and drove into the remains of sheer horror.

The scope of it is almost too much.  4 story buildings with cars on the roof.  A 3 story building pushed over on its side.  Rubble everywhere.  In some ways, it looked worse than a war-zone.  We asked where Grandma Sumiko's house was, and they said it wasn't in this valley but in the next one over.  It hits you again - THUD.  Another valley?  Just like this one?

Train car up the hill

We got into the vans and drove around the corner and looked into the remains of hell.  It was even worse here, because the angle of the wave was much more in a direct line up this valley.  The Onagawa station had been in this valley, and for the first time I saw train cars scattered around. 2 cars in different places on their sides, and one car had been lifted 50+ feet up to the top of a hill and dumped on it's side in a graveyard.  I still can't believe I saw that.  Half a kilometer further up the valley was a 100' fishing boat dumped in the woods.  The army was working here to clear debris, and let us drive around a little, though prohibited us from one area where we figured they were still finding bodies.  It was time to head back, so we said goodbye to Kyoko and her family, and to the Steve and the pastor and picked up the shattered pieces of our souls and drove back to Takayama.  

We debriefed a bit as we drove, and everyone seems to be handling this pretty well.  We talk about what we've seen, about what strategies to put into place for future teams, for church planting, for what's next for these people, and how long it will be before these towns are back to "normal" again.  And the inevitable discussion of why it happened in the first place, especially if God is who he is.  We talk about a strange thing: downtown Sendai and actually many areas even out close to the shore where the tsunami hit look completely fine from the outside, but inside are cracks and broken connections, but in some buildings, it's just a shell.  Why are they seemingly fine and just a few steps away a gigantic weed-whacker has leveled everything?  One thing has surfaced, and it was mentioned by Mako Fujimura (did I mention I met him in Tokyo?) who said the exterior of the people seems resilient and strong, but the interior is where a very long-term disaster will need attention.  The desperate need for hope is crucial.  

Whew.  That's long, but really only a summary.  So many details I had to leave out. Hope we can get photos posted sometime today.  Stay tuned on that.

"Incomprehensible" - Shichigahama & Tona - Wed 4/20

Woke around 5 AM, and got the day rolling. Started by driving around Shichigahama and being overwhelmed. Jeff's word was 'incomprehensible" and that might be an understatement.  He will be posting photos when he can, but hasn't had time yet.  

It's hard to put into words the sense of how you feel standing in such utter devastation. Imagine taking everything in the house, putting it all into a gigantic garbage disposal, then add the roof, walls, doors and windows, cars, and dirt and landscaping from the front and back yards.  After whirling it around for a few minutes blow it all over the whole neighborhood, and dump rain on it for a couple days.  Then do the same for the all the houses in town.  That's how it seems for what we saw yesterday.  

Then we met some people and began to get the human & heart side of the terror and emotional devastation.  How can people here not live in constant tears?  We stopped to ask directions from a older lady, and after chatting a bit, I asked her a few more questions and she invited me into what was left of her house which was incredibly still standing.  She showed me the back of the house, where the tsunami had wiped out a fist-full of houses and then dug a large hole in their back yard.  Somehow the wave poured through their house and back out again without tearing it apart.  It did however, churn their furnishings and cleaned out their fishing gear store.  She said her husband was at work so he was safe, but she was at home, and had to run up a hill some 100 yards away to high ground.  When I pointed out a dozen fishing rods still left in the corner of the store, she chuckled ironically as she explained that the wave took all their good equipment, and left these last few lousy poles they didn't really want.

We headed for the CRASH base camp in Rifu (half way between Sendai and Ishinomaki) and stopped for a bowl of ramen for lunch.  It was quite good - better than usual - and the team enjoyed it. Got to the camp, picked up a couple CRASH staff, and drove to a town called Tona, near Higashi Matsushima.  Coming into town, we crossed the railway tracks, and had to do a double take: the rails had been forced up onto their side into what could have been a quarter barrel roll. Someone said it looked like tracks from a Disney roller coaster.  

We went to a neighborhood near the shore where the houses were still standing, but the tsunami had come in up to head-high. CRASH had connected with some locals here, and we were asked to help do clean up.  The people several of us worked for had a very nice, 1 story house, but everything inside was completely damaged, to the point they were planning to vacate the place so they were having all their ruined furniture hauled away and the front hedge cut down.  The city had sent a couple small trucks to help haul junk (maybe it was the owner's turn to have the trucks?) so we helped out all afternoon.  Some others on the team were working at nearby houses cleaning muck out of the floors and clearing the yards of debris.  Apparently the muck is a bacterial hazard if it's left there. It's dirt and silt and garbage and waste left from the tsunami.  I talked to the owner who explained that the wave came in up the road past their house then receded back on a 45 degree angle towards another beach.  All the water inside their house had come in the now broken front windows and sliding glass doors, and was forcing itself through their back yard.  The effect was a churn cycle on a gigantic washing machine spinning all their furniture breaking holes in the side walls and the ceiling, and letting the water gush out the back.  The man was at work so he and his van were safe, but the wife was at home.  She told how she ran a couple blocks to the highest house in town and got up on the 2nd floor. Others weren't so fast or fortunate.  How sad.  Her face was kind of blank, and her eyes had very little life.  I asked about a sign on their door, and she said the fire department taped it there indicating they had come to check the house several times on certain days after the disaster and indicating they had either shouted for anyone needing help or actually going inside to look.

With Jordan and Marina at Mika & Hidemasa's apartment

We had to leave by 4:30 because the tide was coming in and new low spots in the road would block our way.  So we returned to the CRASH base camp, then about 5:30 headed into Sendai, stopping at Seiyu (now owned by Wal-Mart - go figure that one)  to get some salad fixings for supper and breakfast food for the Takayama Guest house.  We made it to Mika's apartment about 7:30.  It was wonderful to see her again.  She and Hidemasa live in a very nice 15 story condo just blocks from the main Sendai station.  The newer half of the building had earthquake technology built into it so was fine, but the original section where they live had cracks in the main joints of floor and walls.  They seem to be doing fine, and it was delightful therapy to enjoy a simple supper with her and H.  Jordan Nogaki and his wife Marina joined us.  They live further north and he had to work until 7, so the timing worked pretty well.  We left around 9, and Jordan invited Nate to stay overnight with him, and that was cool.  Made it back to Tak around 10.  BTW, the rental van has a GPS in it, so that really helps!  It's all in Japanese so it takes some head-scratching to plug in the correct destinations and routing, but sure it helpful! 

Tokyo to Sendai - Tuesday 4/19

Chatting with Jonathan Wilson, Exec Dir of CRASH Japan

Long day: bkfst at Jonathan's (yummy restaurant), quick visit with Tokyo friends, chatted with Jonathan Wilson, met Mako Fujimura (famous painter - cool!), then got rolling with CRASH biz and orientation.  Tentative plans had changed so no vehicle or driver after all.  We ended up renting a van - cargo version with minimal bench seating but passable.  I went with a Japanese guy from CRASH to get it at the Toyota rent-a-car in Higashi Kurume near where we used to live - wow, what memories walking over there.  Turned out the original vehicle they suggested wasn't suitable for size or budget, and neither was a smaller version at a smaller budget, so we spotted this van for a reasonable price. Problem was that they already had a reservation on it, but one was available in Oizumi Gakuen, 3 train stations away, so headed over there.  

On the train, met Mako F again and had a good chat.  He was on his way to downtown museums/curators for a display of art about the disaster.  Got the van, and yours truly drove it back to HK - Wow, that was fun and stressful all at once.  But it was only minutes until it all came back to me, and was flowing smoothly down the road.  It has a GPS built in so that saved a lot of guesswork on which roads to take.  

Got the van loaded and headed out about 1 PM.  Pretty good drive, and fortunately was feeling fine from jet lag the whole day.  Stayed left and no major problems, although it started raining hard, and it eventually turned to snow off and on - crazy!  Finally got our way across Sendai to drop off a CRASH person who had ridden up with us, ate supper at McDonalds (it was the first day they were open for biz after the quake!), then headed over to the Evangelical Free Church guest house in Takayama.  

It was about 8:30 PM and dark so couldn't see too much but gradually we could see more and more devastation along the roads until we got to Shichigahama area and it was like a war zone.  We finally arrived and got settled in.  About 20 others staying here so some of us are on the floor and others on couches.  Some folks are leaving tomorrow so we won't be quite a tight the rest of the time.  We should be here the duration of our Sendai time so it'll be nice to sort of unpack.  Long, long day.  

Oyasumi nasai!  (Good night!)  

Hello, Tokyo!

Arrived in Tokyo in good shape. Odd things we noticed: airplane was only half full, airport was nearly empty, bus ride across the city was quicker thaen expected due to less traffic, and all the big neon signs have been turned off. All due to disaster adjustments.

We are in Higashi Kurume overnight and will meet the CRASH Japan folks this morning to finalize details of going up to the disaster area today. Could be another day of long travel...

See you later, Seattle

We're at SeaTac Airport, all checked in and ready to board the Delta flight to Tokyo.  Our team is eager to start this adventure.

The last few days have been a blur of final preparations: getting a sleeping bag at Costco, getting emergency dehydrated food at REI, making sure we have enough cash to exchange to yen, finalizing arrival plans in Tokyo, re-arranging home/family responsibilities (dog, garbage, lawn, etc.), and packing.

We all gathered at church this morning (with a Starbucks stop en-route) for a blessing prayer, then loaded a van to leave for the airport.

Really pleased with how this trip has come together, and with the truly amazing team members.  Each one has global experience, is stable and mature, and great attitudes all around.  Go team!

Next post from Tokyo!