2011年3月25日
Getting Back to Normal
I read a very interesting article in a British newspaper the other day. There has been some absolute rubbish published in the Western media recently, but this journalist seemed to know what he was talking about. (I saw one picture of people in Tokyo wearing surgical masks, and the caption was "Residents of Tokyo try to protect themselves against the effects of radiation." This should probably have read "try to protect themselves against the effects of hay fever"!) Anyway, the writer of this article had been to Japan to visit the areas destroyed by the tsunami, and he said that "the tiny minority of Japanese people who have lost everything are coping much better than the vast majority of Japanese people who have lost absolutely nothing." I felt a bit ashamed of my own reaction to the tragedy when I read this. After all, my life has not been affected by the earthquake/tsunami at all, so I don't really have any right feel sorry for myself.
I know that people in Kanto are having some problems with things like power cuts and shortages of food/gasoline etc., but these are really just inconveniences. No one has died, and no one has had their home or business destroyed, and yet there is panic buying of food and water.
As I said in the last entry, the whole world has been amazed at the reaction of Japanese people to this tragedy. In any other country, there would have been rioting and looting in the worst-affected areas, but there has been none of this here. That made me really proud to be a part of Japanese society. People in other countries cannot believe their eyes when they see Japanese people in emergency shelters queuing in an orderly way for food, water, and fuel. I do not think I am exaggerating when I say Japan's worldwide image has changed forever (for the better) in just a couple of weeks.
Anyway, I have decided that the best way I can help the people from Tohoku is by getting back to a normal way of living as soon as possible, so I am going to do a new entry as usual on Monday as usual.
Have a great weekend.
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Hi Akko,
The comment about the surgical masks was in a different newspaper. I just mentioned it as an example of bad reporting. I'm afraid I can't remember which newspaper I read the other article in.
- David
- 2011年3月25日 16:39
Hi David, akko and everyone,
I also agree with your thought. Lily also wrote as follows on Mar. 16 in the last entry.
> I can’t help feeling a little guilty too. But you guys are the ones to keep the economy going in Japan and maintain some normality in the society. And that helps everyone. Keep it up!
(Lily 2011年03月16日 13:50)
I strongly believe that helps everyone, too. Look forward to your next journal entry as usual.
- tsuneko
- 2011年3月26日 00:29
Hi David and everyone,
I went to my sister's house to pick up my son today. After the earthquake, the trains around here had been stopped for a week. One of my sisters lives in the same city where my son's school is located, so my son had been staying there to go to school.(His school was closed from 14th to 16th, but it started again on 17th, and they had their graduation ceremony on 18th.) The JR train my son and my husband use started working last weekend, but it won't work while the planned power cut is in operation in any of the areas. Today, the train was stopped from 5:20 p.m. to 10:40 p.m., but this was better than Monday because it didn't work from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.! I drive my husband to and from the station in another city every day at the moment.
I was driving when the power was out this evening. I first thought it was a good idea to go to pick up my son and my husband during the power cut because it's warm and we can listen to music in the car, but it was not a good idea. I had forgotten that the traffic lights would also be off! There were a lot of people driving home, so it was very scary. I really appreciated the officers who were working at a big intersection instead of the lights.
The problem with shortages of food and gasoline is getting better where I live. I don't have a baby, so I don't need to buy bottled water. We still have some other problems, but as David said, these are just inconveniences that will end sometime in the future.
By the way, has anyone heard of the words Chiharu Matsuyama(who is a singer-songwriter) said on the radio? I read them somewhere on the Net last week, and I thought he was absolutely right, so let me share it with you.
知恵がある奴は知恵を出そう。
力がある奴は力を出そう。
金がある奴は金を出そう。
「自分は何にも出せない」っていう奴は元気出せよ。
言葉はちょっと乱暴だけど、心に響いた言葉です。
We've been trying to save electricity. When I see a donation box at a store or somewhere, I put some money in it. My husband's company collected donations from all the employees in their branches and sent the money to the Red Cross. These may be small things, but I believe it will be a big help for the people suffering from this tragedy if we all do what we can, and I also think keeping the economy going in Japan is one of those things.
Have a great weekend,
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2011年3月26日 02:39
Hi everyone,
I also agree with David's thought. It's so amazing how Japanese people are handling this tragedy and difficulties and helping each other. I might not have any right to say this because the life where we live is almost normal as before, permitting normal life ( no power cuts, no food shortages) doesn' mean we can use energy as much as we can. Since after the earthquake, we try to save energy except when it's really necessary. As a mother, it's a good chance to tell my children to save energy: 生まれた時から便利な社会に慣れてしまっているから、節約したり、欲しい物がお金を出せば手に入ることが当たり前と思ってしまっている。この機会に節約すること、物に感謝することを子供たちに学んで欲しいと思います。
Hi Tomo,
I know the people in Kanto area are having inconvenient life by the news, but I realized the life is much harder than I imagined by reading your comments. It must be better for people who have driver's licences than people who don't at the moment. Please drive carefully when traffic lights are off.
Everyone, have a wonderful weekend.
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年3月26日 06:54
Hi David and everyone,
These last couple of weeks disasters have been really devastating. There have been different points of views when you read articles in Western media as David mentioned.
We need to have practical wisdom,however, as David mentioned,we need to get back to a normal way of living. I really agree with Lily's comment.
Hi Tomo,
Your everyday lives seem to have been really unusual.
Have a safe drive and take care!
The quake and the tsunami reminds me of what happened to my sister in Nagoya about ten years ago. The area where my sister lives was flooded due to concentrated rains and her house was flooded almost to the ceiling. It was strange that my house was just about ten minutes drive from her place and nothing happened to it. Anyway, when I drove to her house the next day to help her family, I was shocked because all the areas around there were muddy. Even now I remember the touch(the feel?) when I wiped the floor,the wall ,everywhere. It was a limited area compared to the ones that were affected by the quake and the tsunami this time,though. At least her house wasn't swept away.
David, looking forward to the new entry.
Have a great weekend,everyone
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年3月26日 13:55
it's me again,
Tomo, I also read his words on the Net.
- Anne
- 2011年3月26日 13:59
Hi David and everyone,
After a big earthquake on 11th of March, I keep working as usual, so I don’t feel a big difference before and after that. Even so, we have a serious matter of electric power at the moment. Trains can’t work properly, so we are having trouble to commute every day. Anyway I shouldn’t complain about that because there are a lot of people having a hard time out there. I should thank that I still alive and can work :-)
Have a lovely weekend,
amo
- amo
- 2011年3月26日 18:35
【訂正】
but this was better than Monday because... → but this was better than Tuesday because
Last Monday was a national holiday, and there were no power cuts.
Hi Fumie and Anne,
Thanks for your messages:) The power cut will start at 9:20 a.m. around here today, so I don't have to worry about the traffic lights this evening.
Have a nice day, everyone!
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2011年3月28日 08:45
Absolutely. I have the same thought as yours, and really agree what the journalist said on that article (except the line about "surgical musks" in Tokyo). Though this is such a frustrating "I've done nothing here yet? even though I lost nothing" still, Yes, back to normal, and do anthing I can, there must be, a lot.
Keep calm and carry on.
All for Japan.
Could anyone tell what newspaper on what day David refered to?