good morning @ 4:30am as i’m pretty much jet lagged. been here for 2 days and feel like it’s night in the day and day in the night. what a weird feeling as the rest of japan sleeps. flying back tomorrow so going to make the most of my last day. heading to kobochihama and i hope to see some improvements and some happy faces.
before i left hawaii, Lara Yamada from KITV news interviewed me and one of the questions she asked was “how is japan now?” well, my answer was “some places have rebuilt, and some places are still the same.” this is ishinomaki and there use to be thousands of houses down there, including Izumi-san’s surf shop. now almost 2 years after, there is still nothing left. our team has been here 7 times and it hurts every time we go up there and see the damage.
then we drive an hour up the coast to kitakami. there use to be many houses down here too. the only thing that was built since 3/11 is the We Are One Market! see it down on the left? that’s a symbol of “HOPE.”
and driving along in the city, you can still see the damage. some people decided to just leave and never come back.
going back to Oogawa Elementary School always hurts. the wave came over the school and 89 students and teachers died here. i’m not sure what they plan to do with the school but every time we pass here, i get depressed.
somebody put a christmas tree in the building for the kids. and there are solar lights everywhere for the kids too see at night. i haven’t felt so much spirits at one place in my life.
we get out of the car, we split up, and we are all thinking the same thing “why.” Matsu was with me the first time we stopped by here and it seems like it gets harder and harder to take in what’s happened.
this wall that survived the tsunami says it all. “We Are One.”
from Hawaii with love.
then we visit Minami-kun’s elementary school that sits alone on the coast. everything around completely demolished and gone. some kids from this school didn’t make it too. and to think the wave went up to the roof is just hard to grasp. yes, it’s almost 2 years later and the people are reminded what happened that tragic day every time they pass by here. it’s not good for me to think what would happen if that tsunami hit Hawaii but it goes through my mind millions of times. i just can’t help it.
well, we’re driving up the coast to oshika hanto and i already know what to expect. empty villages with still a lot of unanswered questions. if the people around the world think it’s normal up here, think again. the people are moving forward but some places will never be rebuilt and that’s sad. i always have mixed feelings when i go back to hawaii and it will probably be that way for a long time. sometimes i wish i was a magician and could snap my finger and make everything go back to normal. sorry for being so down today but that’s just the way i feel right now.
