Sayonara Tokyo, Hello Seattle - Tuesday - 4/26

After the great hospitality of Howard Plucar at the EFree HQ, we packed, hopped in two taxis to the Higashi Kurume station, took a train to Tokorozawa and boarded the 11 AM bus to Narita.  Met several missionary friends along the way, two of whom are headed back to the States today as well.  Small world.

The bus from Tokorozawa (on the west side of Tokyo) out to Narita (out past the east side of Tokyo) takes 2 and a half hours, but traffic wasn't too bad, so we arrived early and then found out the flight was delayed an hour.  So we had plenty of time to check in, get some lunch - yours truly enjoyed some sushi - do some final shopping, change yen back into dollars, get through security and out to the gate.  I do a jet-lag recovery program on these trans-Pacific flights which includes going off caffeine and eating lighter meals for a day or two before departure, then once at the airport and especially on the plane doing what is happening in destination time.  It was already midnight in Seattle, so I took a nap on the airport seats, then groggily stumbled onto the plane, found my seat with the rest of the team, and tried to sleep for the next 6 hours.  Partially successful, I "woke up" around 6 AM Seattle time and enjoyed 3 cups of coffee with "breakfast", the hour-into-the-flight meal a nice flight attendant held back for me.

These flights from Japan to Seattle cross the date-line so we arrived at Sea-Tac before we left Higashi Kurume this morning.  That's freaky.  Our luggage all arrived in good shape, customs and immigration were a breeze.  Sylvia met us and took us to Starbucks, then back to Bellevue, where the team members headed to their homes.

I'm grateful to be home again, but road-weary and heart-heavy. Life here seems so easy, comfortable, and stable.  I'm not complaining at all, but when you've made friends who still live in the aftermath of disaster, I find myself feeling strangely uneasy here.  Going to take a day or two to rest up, and then back to the JDRC office, preparing for another team to go in June, one in August, and then launching a longer-term partnership with a church or town in the disaster area.

Stay tuned for more as we go...

Back to Tokyo - Monday - 4/25

We had a mostly restful night at the EFree Guest House in Takayama.  Have I mentioned that we've had one or two noticeable aftershocks each night?  I haven't felt them all, but a couple nights ago, one woke up all of us.

Today we return to Tokyo and prep to fly home to Seattle.  Kind of strange to put all these days of disaster in our rear view mirror, because much of what we've seen and felt here will remain in our hearts and memories for the rest of our lives.

After the 6 hour drive to Tokyo, we arrived in Higashi Kurume where we started our journey.  We dropped our stuff off at the EFree Mission HQ and Guest House, returned our faithful van to Toyota Rent-a-car, and walked through the train station over to CRASH for a debrief time.  Life seems normal here - and rather nostalgic for me because our kids went to school in this town, and we lived here for the last 5 years of our time in Japan.  Much has changed of course, including a new Tullys in the station.  Would have never imagined that 10 years ago.

Shere and Jeff in Shibuya

It was our final night in Japan, and we needed some time to decompress and visit Tokyo.  My good friend and long-time Japan buddy, Tim Johnson, joined us, and we took the train/subway to Shibuya.  TJ was able to give extra insight on how people are handling the recovery from the disaster, as well as talking about his work as a missionary pastor of the church we attended for years.  

TJ and the team enjoying Shabu-Shabu

In Shibuya, we noticed that even though the people energy - mostly all the typical 1000's of college and career aged crowd - was still lively, the usual electronic  billboards and neon signs were dark.  TJ said it was because businesses and even families and individuals are conserving energy.  The rolling blackouts have stopped, but people are still helping this way.  We found a wonderful Shabu-Shabu restaurant on the 8th floor of Seibu, and splurged a bit to celebrate a successful trip and to commemorate this terrific team.

Easter: Disaster or Doorway? - Miyako - Sunday 4/24

Easter Sunday in Miyako.  Kind of a strange mix to think of resurrection, new life, hope, salvation, and all those themes in the midst of destruction and disaster all around us.  Yet we've been seeing a few glimmers of renewal and revitalization the last few days.

Coffee break at Mister Donuts in Miyako

We left the Tono base with the 3 CRASH gals and drove an hour and a half on the mountain road to Miyako on the coast.  This is the town of 60,000 many of us saw on iconic video clips with the black wave washing over a sea-wall, and a boat being "smushed" under a road overpass.  Arriving from the hills above town, you wouldn't guess over 500 people died here and only 30 of the 1000 boats of the local fishing fleet survived the tsunami.  The main train station was spared and we were happy to see Mister Donut open (and enjoyed a quick coffee break before church).  

We arrived at the Miyako Christ Church for their 10:30 service, and met Pastor Iwatsuka, a warm, friendly, humble man, capably serving his church and his town as best he can.  The church only has 20 members and meets in the first floor of a house - the second floor is the pastor's home.  This was no dry, boring meeting with a dry, boring sermon.  Christina translated as Iwatsuka Sensei talked about the power of the resurrection in clear, simple terms with easily understood stories and explanations of the Bible texts.  No bunny rabbits and chocolate eggs here, but a focused application of the truth that the seeming disaster of the death and burial of Jesus Christ, was actually a victory over the power of evil and death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ verified that fact.  In the face of the aftermath of the quake and tsunami, it brought the rather improbable idea to mind that even here - and in all the devastated towns and cities affected by the disasters -  it is possible to have hope, to find the strength to rebuild, to consider a future of revitalization and promise.  

After church, we talked with Pastor Iwatsuka about his experience leading this church, and what his thoughts were for the coming months and years.  And it was more than talk: he invited some of us to come with him to deliver a couple "Start Up" boxes to disaster victims.  These are large plastic boxes of basic supplies and small kitchen appliances such as a rice cooker, hot water pot, and similar items.  The first box had to be taken to a convenience store where the recipient would pick it up later, and the second box was delivered to a person temporarily living with a friend at an apartment.  

As we left Miyako in mid-afternoon, we drove through the disaster area, over the bridge where the boat was "smushed" and saw terrible destruction.  However, we saw some areas that had already been cleaned up and large open lots where ruined cars were being placed for future removal.  Our route took us south on the coast road, paralleling railroad tracks, or at least the twisted remains of the tracks.  The rails were ripped off ties, warped way out of line, and hard to see at times, as though they were kid's plastic instead of steel.

Once again we drove through Otsuchi, past the ruined sea-wall, and through Kamaishi on our way back to Tono.  Even in the 24 hours since we had been there, we saw significant clean up had been done.  We've been impressed at the industriousness of the people, and the steady work of the Japanese army and police force.  Another impressive aspect here is the total absence of looting.  People are orderly, cooperative, and trying to help each other, instead of the opposite.

At Tono, we packed the van, said farewell to Jill, Maki, and Christina, set the van GPS for Takayama in Sendai and hit the road.  BTW, we've found plenty of gas at highway rest areas all the stations where we stopped for fuel, though we saw many gas stations still closed and inoperable.  We made good time, in spite of the major road bumps on the expressway.  The quake caused roadway settling of some 3 - 6 inches on approaches to bridges and overpasses, and even though road crews had repaired the worse ones with asphalt ramps, it still created the effect of a massive speed bump - which taken at 120 k/hr gives all passengers in the van a roller coaster ride, and occasionally some "air time".

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.

Respite - Sendai to Tono - Friday 4/22

Today the team was finally able to catch a bit of rest.  Had a late breakfast, did some laundry, and got caught up on email.  Then we packed our stuff in the van and drove 3 and a half hours north to the city of Tono (between Morioka and the eastern coast).

We arrived at the CRASH base there and met the current base staff: Jill Davidson, the coordinator, Maki Suzuki (?), and Christina Copeland.  Jill is an MK from Japan who has lived in Seattle, was recently working as a nurse in Alaska, and virtually dropped everything there to come help with CRASH.  Maki is from Nagano, but recently was living in Tokyo, and had been in Tono a week.  Christina also had been here a week, is an MK (I knew her folks in Japan before they were married - small world), is totally fluent in Japanese and English, and after college grad last year had come back to Hiroshima to work with her folks in a coffee house outreach.

Jill (r) served us a delicious lamb supper

They treated us to a "home-cooked" meal of lamb and rice, an flavorful way to start Easter weekend.  We're using our sleeping bags on futon mattresses here, and I'm enjoying it pretty well.

PS: we've been having 1 or 2 aftershocks each night, including one 5 mag jolt that woke us all up...