Minamisanriku Diary (from the Asahi newspaper)

Photo: A truck loaded with household belongings on its carrier  ‘Sorry for doing well’
Translated by: Masaharu Yamauchi

山内　雅晴

Edited by: Rebecca Silva

In the devastated area, as a reporter, there are two questions I have to ask sufferers: ‘how about your house?’ and ‘how about your family?’ I sometimes feel heart broken when I ask these questions that evoke the depth of their hollow sorrow.

I got a similar feeling when I asked Ms. Hiromi (35) these questions. She bowed her head saying, “I’m sorry. Both my family and house are ok.”

Her house, that was built on a highland, was spared the damage from the tsunami. But, the next day after I met her, her family moved to the next city. “We can’t live in Minamisanriku where there is no water supply and most of the shops have been flooded by the tsunami. Above all, when I walk in the town, I feel like being told, ‘You have good luck, because both your family and car are ok.’ and bursting.”

The other day, when her son tried to bring a baseball uniform to join a baseball practice, she told him, “Your teammates won’t have them. You have to think more.” After she said this, she was about to break into tears and put her arm around him. “Sorry. You have done nothing wrong.”

She told me that she would come back someday…. She looked over her shoulder many times from a truck that was loaded with her household belongings while driving away from the devastated town.   

(Hideyuki  Miura)

Piece of Cake

A Cry of Hope

-An initial cry echoed in a town that was filled with rubble and debris…..

Translated by: Masaharu Yamauchi, from Focus magazine, Japan                      

山内　雅晴

Edited by: Rebecca Silva

Words sometimes show their cruel fangs.

“Hang in there.” “I support you.” Encouragement given to the sufferers.

But, they had already hung in there. How could they hang in there anymore?

There is nothing like a hope that is formed from ‘warmth’, not empty words.

“She was born on an unforgettable Spring day. People treated us very kindly, and that’s why we had to express much thanks to them. My husband and I talked about that. We named her ‘Sumire’ (it is composed of three Chinese characters that represent congratulations, beauty, and thankful.) to convey our feelings for her.”

“In an evacuation center, I was blessed with a lot of kindness. Some people brought portable heat packs and put a stove on for me even though it was forbidden because of the oil shortage.”

Parents’ smiles and Sumire’s sleeping face are a shining ray of recovery.

Existence beyond helpless words.

A tiny life brings big hope to the devastated area. 

Silent Aftermath - Yamauchi Masaharu

“The scene where human figures had evaporated within a 20km radius of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant－and one can hear only the voice of the wind”

All sounds were gone from the town where the nuclear power plant is, and three weeks had passed since the big earthquake happened. Only the sound of the wind blowing strongly could be heard in a dead calm main street. There was a Siberian Husky lying down on the center line of a two lane road. And then a mongrel dog came along on the sidewalk, and another one from out of nowhere. All of them were still wearing collars. They were looking at me as if they were asking something, standing in front of an arch saying ‘Bright Future Nuclear Energy.’
Not only were dogs stranded. I found a cowshed within a ten kilometer radius from the nuclear power plant. I approached and said, ‘Hello’, but no response. When I stepped into the cowshed, it smelled pretty bad. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I recognized that there were some cows standing motionless or crouching on the floor. Looking closely, I realized the cow lying down in front of me didn’t have eyeballs. Birds or something must have picked at them. Six cows that appeared to be just lying down were dead.