Rikuzen Takata (5) the people

When my classmates were up there in May, they had instructions not to go out of their way to interact with locals - people were deeply traumatised, and  many people were still listed as missing. Survivors had enough to deal with without fielding questions from inquisitive outsiders.  They said that in ten days there was a single encounter with a local who talked about the situation. This time was quite different. Locals seemed to be wanting to talk and were initiating conversation about the tsunami. A man whose place we were removing debris from was explaining that the reason there was so much glass was because many cars as they were swept down turned over at this point breaking their windows.

At lunch on the same day a man walked up to Lilian, one of my classmates, and I and was telling us that his mother and sister had died.  If I understood properly, his sister had been identified by DNA checks in July - something that came as a great relief to the family.  They had no hope of her being alive, I assume it means that they can inter her remains in the family cemetery. The law was changed to allow burials after the earthquake as there was no capacity to cremate.  I assume that cremations have recommenced.  Two days later the same man gave the morning introduction on our bus. He was emphatic that if a tsunami came that the onus is on us to save ourselves.  It's easy enough to say to a bus of able bodied people, but I doubt he would have left his mother behind either.     There are a lot of elderly people in rural Japan - it's common to see 90 year olds out in the vege patch - but it's not so easy for them to run from a tsunami... Another reason for high casualties...

A man we met cleaning things in a factory was telling us that the tsunami came to roof level there and explained where it reached and where it didn't.  He then said he lost 9 members of his (extended) family.  Both he and the man that we met at lunch time talked a lot, then talked about their families, and with tears in their eyes scurried away .... it is going to take a long time if ever for people to heal.

Another older man whose place we were cleaning up was asking me if I'd been to the area before.  (with the asssumption that it was my first time there.)  I told him several years ago I'd been up the Sanriku coast. I told him when I saw the tsunami on the news I wanted to go up and help, but it's taken months for me to be able to go.  He held my hands and said said "thank you for coming."  and something to the effect of  when I am here by myself I have no energy to do anything, but when people come and help I can get motivation.  He had tears in his eyes, I had tears in my eyes.  I gave him a hug.　  It's so not Japanese custom and it raised eyebrows with some of the group.....  But he appreciated it and  told me to come back again some day.