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.

Ishinomaki-Sendai-Tokyo; 6/18, 19, 20

These are the countdown days to wrap up our time here and prepare to return to Seattle.  

On Saturday 6/18, we spent the morning cleaning up the Guest House and doing laundry.  After we leave on Sunday, another team is arriving for a week of work in Ishinomaki with the Gilberts.  We wanted to do our part as well as prepare the place for the next group.  It's been nice to stay here and a good place to be restored each evening after working in the disaster areas.

Guest House - we've been staying on the first floor.

Shichigahama beach with shipping containers still waiting to be removed.

That afternoon, we went to Ishinomaki to have a special meeting with Aoyama Sensei about some ongoing English outreach opportunities.  The first event is next Monday 6/20, but since we won't be here, we're passing the torch to Amy Newsome.  So she was at the meeting to meet Aoyama Sensei and they hit it off well.  Lorna Gilbert was also there because she'll be the ongoing connection for these opportunities.  Aoyama Sensei also invited his sister to attend - she's an English teacher and speaks it well.  Fun to get everyone together and enjoy planning ahead.

Aoyama Sensei (blue shirt) telling a funny story.

Sunday 6/19 we said farewell to Shichigahama and drove with Andy & Lorna into Sendai for a morning church service at a well-established church (a rather rare situation for Japan).  Seems like that church will be a good resource and encouragement for the Gilberts in the coming months and years.  They drove us into downtown Sendai where we had lunch together, did a team debrief with them, and then said farewell.  They are a great couple and we think the world of them: great attitudes, well trained, 15 year veterans of Japan outreach, and strong convictions to transplant their lives from smooth-running Fukuoka to the chaos and challenges of Ishinomaki.  Looking forward to continuing connections with these wonderful people! 

In Sendai with Andy & Lorna Gilbert, Sylvia, Mark, David

Sylvia waiting to board the approaching bullet-train.

We hopped on a Bullet-train at 3:30 PM and "flew" from Sendai to Tokyo in just 2.5 hours (the van on the expressway took over 6 hours).  We took a local train and then a taxi to the apartment of close friends of Sylvia who live out in the western edge of Tokyo just beyond where we used to live.  We're staying with them for 2 nights - feels like coming home to be out here again. 

Monday 6/20 is our final full day in Tokyo.  We planned this day for decompression and debriefing, as well as a bit of sightseeing and shopping.  It turns out that we remaining 3 (David, Sylvia, and me) all felt comfortable going different directions to see and do different things.  Sylvia enjoyed hooking up with half a dozen friends throughout the day, David went with our host to nearby Kawagoe to see it's ancient buildings and museum, then spent the afternoon journaling, and I took advantage of a free pass to take the bullet-train up to Karuizawa (a mountain resort town where we often went for conferences and camps when we lived in Tokyo), and then back to Tokyo - actually the Ikebukuro area where our office used to be.  Fun to be in all these places.  

Looking north from Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro

At lunch in Karuizawa, I happened to chat with the server about our work up in Ishinomaki, and how we gave away 2 bicycles.  He offered to give a bunch of bikes for the same purpose!  Turns out his dad owns a bike rental store and has too many bikes.  So this would be an amazing opportunity, and I connected him with the Gilberts and the partnership team.

We three gathered for a final supper in Japan and talked through our trip.  We've had some incredible experiences, some big challenges, and are deeply grateful to be part of the relief and recovery process here.