"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!

3 days to go...

Got a tetanus shot today. Bought a good-quality but inexpensive all-purpose hat (rain, sun, dust, etc.).  Answered a jillion emails. Confirmed my air miles with Delta.  Grabbed a quick lunch.  Arranged some meetings for tomorrow.  Got my hair trimmed.  Made a list of stuff to get at REI: sleeping bag, dehydrated food, etc.  Pulled out my travel bag and started collecting stuff.

Then in the midst of it, Rich emailed with news from a friend who has just returned from Japan with some good advice on a couple items, including being prepared in case of "the unlikely event of a nuclear meltdown".  Hmmm.

So I wrote him back that if a meltdown occurs, we'll take every precaution to be safe. (Imagine the stories we'll have to tell our families and friends if we have to hide in a Japanese basement for an unplanned 6 weeks!) We're fortunate in that we have partner churches up north in Sapporo and further south in Osaka area so we can also evacuate to either of those places and be approx 500 miles away from the reactors.

Gotta finish up my Starbucks coffee and get rolling.

Meet the team

Last night we had a great meeting with the group heading for Japan next Sunday.  Clockwise from the top are Nate Nogaki, Shere Hawk, Jeff Hawk, Rich Rice, and Yours Truly.

Amazingly, each of us has been in over a dozen countries (Jeff has been to over 30!), so doing a cross-cultural trip is routine for this group.

But none of us has ever really experienced the kind of trip we're starting next week.  Sure, some of have been in Japan before, some have had varying degrees of work in poverty-stricken communities, and I've even helped in the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake.  Even so, this trip will stretch all of us in some deep and heart-wrenching ways.

Countdown

Making lists, emailing contacts in Japan, setting up plans... Whoosh! Getting an international drivers license tomorrow and then our team gathers for the first time for more planning and orientation. Looking forward to this trip with this team.