... eleven years ... (70/365, 11 Mar 2022)
Today is marked all over Japan, 11 March, on this day eleven years ago when the triple disaster struck the coast. Centred on the Tohoku region, north of Tokyo, but affecting coastal regions in the south as well, the day is seared in the memory of millions. (I remember being in Taiji in Wakayama some three years later and one of the locals was telling me that everyone thinks the disaster only affected the north, but 'we suffered it here too'.)
I have spent some time in the devastated regions, especially Ishinomaki in Miyagi and in some of the towns in Fukushima where the nuclear plant shut down (or had a meltdown). On the day eleven years ago, I was still in Australia. Together with colleagues, we set up a fundraising drive on campus, we counselled students on exchange in Japan about whether or not they should return, we comforted worried and scared Japanese students on campus. Scheduled class content was suspended as we tried to come to terms with first, one of the biggest earthquakes to hit Japan, followed by a deadly tsunami and then the horror of nuclear fallout.
My Japanese friends had just returned to Tokyo after a trip to Australia, not long after the Brisbane floods of 2011. Of course, as I write, Brisbane and Lismore and other regions are trying to recover from more flooding this month, eleven years later. We spoke of the phone every day for weeks, since Telstra had made phone calls to Japan free for a short while. I have written about the day elsewhere, here and here.
Of course, the Covid travel restrictions notwithstanding, I have hesitated to return to Ishinomaki on this particular day, to visit friends and acquaintances. I figure today is for them to have to themselves. They are grateful for our visits, they want us there, they appreciate our presence, our interest. Often they will say 'please, don't ever forget, we need our story told now, in 100 years, in 500 years'... and as travel restrictions ease, I will go back.
But today, a rare meeting-free, commitment-free day, I opted to travel to my favourite part of the 'local' coast, Chigasaki. This is the place I will live if I have to stay in Japan. It is the heart of bodyboard culture (as opposed to the Chiba coast which is more surfboard...). And on a fine day, you can see Mt Fuji.
I arrived at the beach just in time to observe the one minute's silence, requested and broadcast over the public speakers.
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| Through the tunnel |
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| Signs like these became commonplace after 2011 |
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| No viewing Mt Fuji today, a large sand castle instead |
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| The windblown sands |
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| These artificial groynes are up and down the Pacific Coast |
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| Enoshima in the distance, but a sign warning us that 'if you sense an earthquake, be aware of a tsunami' |
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| You know you are in Chigasaki when... that little rocky outcrop is visible |
It was a time to reflect once again on the power of the ocean; I am grateful I grew up near the sea; I am grateful I can read the ocean, her waves, her currents, her wind, her movements. I don't know what I would have done if I had been here, on that day, but I will return to the ocean, one day.
At 2:46pm, we paused.
Pics today on both the Canon EOS M5, 18-150mm, and the iPhone 12 mini.
