Yasuko-san

Last Sunday I went on a wee roadtrip with a co-worker to the city of Hiroshima. For over 60 years now, the name of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been synonymous with the world's first and hopefully only atomic bombs. Although I have lived in Hikari for almost six months, and Hiroshima is less than two hours away by train, this was the first time I had been. We took the highway and arrived in just over an hour. We headed first to the Peace Park where we were greeted by the A-bomb dome as soon as we got off the streetcar. Standing in the middle of such a vibrant, bustling city, this hollowed out building is a stark reminder of the tragedy that took place. The building was once Industrial Promotion Hall until the bomb was dropped nearly directly above it, the reason why the majority of the building has remained standing. In 1996, after much controversy as to whether it should remain standing or be torn down, it was declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site. We walked further along into the Peace Park, where there is something called the Flame of Peace, which will be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon earth is destroyed. We also took in the Atomic Bomb Museum. Every year on August 6 (August 9 in Nagasaki), demonstrations and memorials are held in the Peace Parks in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In May, I had the opportunity to also visit the Peace Park and museums in Nagasaki. The Peace Park is much more beautiful in Nagasaki, especially because the rotodendrons were in full bloom when I was there (even though at the time of the bombing it was predicted there would be no vegetation for at least 75 years). It had rained the day before and because Nagasaki is very hilly the Peace Park can see over the whole city, to where the mountains were covered in thick fog, giving the whole scene the sort of stereotypical feel we get from movies set in Japan. To me, Nagasaki has a different feel to it than Hiroshima. All over the city in random places are huge posters all listing the statistics of the outcome of what happened on that fateful day. While I think they should definietly not forget what happened, if I lived there and especially if I was a survivor, I would not want to look at these everyday. What stands out the most for me from visiting Nagasaki is watching an interview with the man who dropped Fat Boy on Nagasaki. Years later when he was asked if he regretted what he had done, his answer was a surprising no. I understand that if you are fighting for your country in a war, you do what you're told. But years later, to feel no guilt or regret over killing and injuring so many thousands of people is unimaginable. I think it's important for visitors of Japan to visit at least one of these two cities.

But what stands out more in my mind and will stand out in my mind for the rest of my life is a class I had a few weeks ago with my oldest student. Yasuko-san is 78 years old and has been my student for the past five months. The first time I met her she told me she had grown up in Hiroshima and I was interested in asking her if she had been there during the war, but obviously that is not a subject to bring up. She has been learning English at Eiko School since it opened 19 years ago but she's a very quiet, reserved woman. In a way, she remind me of a Japanese version of my grandmother, in the way she carries herself and speaks. Over the past few months as I've gotten to know her, I've learned bits of her life, such as how she has never driven a car and she's married to a man that she had only met twice before their wedding day. She's very active, and often goes to visit her remaining siblings in Hiroshima and goes to traditional Japanese dance classes and spa days with her friends in nearby Tokuyama. She is also a huge fan of Exile (a J-pop group very popular with teenagers) and dyes her hair a funky dark purple-auburn colour. She is, in every definition of the term, young at heart, and I can't help but wonder if it's because she feels she was spared and given a second chance at life on that day in August 66 years ago.

We were having our regular class and started it off with doing two pages in our Oxford Picture Dictionary. As I was rushed in preparation time, I hadn't had time to look the pages over, and if I had, I probably would have changed the lesson plan. The topic of the day was a timeline of American history. We read through it and were soon at the end of World War II. As we usually do, I would read it and she would repeat after me. There was no going back, I had to read it, I couldn't skip over it. "August 6, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb is dropped on the city of Hiroshima." The classroom was quiet for a moment and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes, "I know, I was there, I saw the mushroom cloud." I didn't know what to say...what do you reply to that? We talked about it for a few minutes and she told me she was 12 years old at the time and when I asked her if they knew what was happening, she replied with a simple, "Yes, we knew." Thankfully, she had stayed home from school on the day it happened to help tear down houses in order to clear the streets for people to run as they were expecting a fire bomb to be dropped. When it was dropped, there was a large gust of wind that knocked her down. She lost several classmates and a younger sister who were in the downtown area when it happened. The days following the bomb were surreal. The city centre was destroyed, apocalyptic, as though nothing had ever existed. What is now known as the A-bomb dome stood alone amidst a terrain of devastation. There were people lying everywhere, some unrecognizable from the burns. The victims who were alive did not last long, from far she saw someone running towards her in rags and when the woman came closer, she realized she was naked and her skin was hanging off her in strips. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of medical personnel in the city had also been in the downtown area and had not survived the blast. I did not ask her any questions as I did not want to pry, I just let her say what she wanted to say. She only talked a minute or two at the most but by the end I was in tears. She finished by telling me this is the reason she wanted to learn English.

That two minute conversation will be with me for the rest of my life. Nobody deserves to have to witness such atrocities. But I do know this: Yasuko-san is truly one of the most inspirational people I have ever met.

Tōhoku Earthquake

Well, it's been awhile since my last post and almost three weeks now since the biggest earthquake in the recorded history of Japan. The dust has definetely not settled and the results of this horrific natural disaster will be evident for years to come, as many towns and villages must start over, and families try to rebuild their homes and lives, with many of their family missing.

Fortunately, as you all know by now, my new home here in the land of the rising sun is nowhere near Sendai, but the impact of what has happened still hit just as hard mentally and emotionally. Upon hearing the news, it was only an explanation as to why my mobile phone suddenly stopped working that Friday afternoon. I heard about it about two hours after, and went on to finish my day and teach the remaining three classes I had. It wasn't until the drive home at about 8:30pm, that we were able to see the footage on the TV in the car when we were stopped at red lights. The feeling of knowing this is happening so close to me is indescribable. We've all seen footage of earthquakes and hurricanes around the world, and everybody says the same thing 'Oh that's so terrible'. Growing up in the Canadian prairies, the worst I've ever had to endure is a bad snowstorm and -60C weather. When something like this happens, it sometimes takes awhile to sink in. It wasn't until I was home in my apartment, checking my facebook and e-mail that the reality of it set in. As my friends and family around the world awoke to a bright new day and heard of the news of what happened here while they were sound asleep safe in their beds, I began receiving more and more messages asking if I was OK. Upon turning on the TV, every single channel was covering the earthquake, resulting tsunami, and other issues caused by it, such as the nuclear power plant issues in Fukushima. In the corner of every screen was a map of Japan, with nearly all of the coastline flashing different colours, to show who had tsunami warnings and of what severity. My coast is an inland sea in Southwestern Japan and until Saturday evening, we even had warnings of small tsunamis. I didn't understand 98% of what was on the TV, which made it even worse.

The 9.0 quake happened March 11, 2011 at roughly 2:46 p.m. Lasting around 6 minutes, it was an incredibly long, and strong earthquake. So strong in fact, it was felt as far away as Beijing, China, and has permanently moved all of Honshu island roughly eight feet towards North America. The quake itself happened about 72 km from the coast, which triggered a tsunami as high as 77 feet, which reached up to 10km inland, sweeping away homes, buildings, schools, animals, vehicles, and people. It is impossible to imagine seeing it coming towards you and knowing there is nothing that can be done to escape it. Today, over two weeks later, the death toll is over 10,000, with over 16,000 still missing and nearly 3,000 injured. The number of people it has affected is over five times the population of my hometown. There are whole towns missing, wiped out forever. Japan is a country which has grown used to earthquakes, and they have been expecting 'the big one' for years. The infrastructure across the country is designed to survive earthquakes, but no amount of technology can ever be prepared for a disaster such as this. The people of Japan got a one minute warning, which may seem like nothing, but in fact managed to save many thousands, if not millions, of lives. The aftershocks are said to last a few months, and in the days following the quake, some aftershocks were rated 6-7; as strong as the quake in Christchurch less than one month prior that brought that city to its knees.

The weekend after the quake was filled mainly with watching my TV which sometimes reported in English, and trying to find out information online. Waking Saturday morning, I almost thought it had been a bad dream until I turned on the TV again. As my computer was sometimes not charging properly ( I don't know if this is due to the quake or not, it's been working fine since), there was an 8 hour span when I had no idea what was happening, and could not speak to anybody outside of Japan. At times I would burst into tears because I didn't know what to do, whether I should leave Japan right when I had got settled, or not. The paranoia in me made me fill my tub with water so that if there was a complete nuclear meltdown I would have an uncontaminated supply of water. I also went and bought another 5kg bag of rice and face masks. Thanks to my brother, I also researched KI pills and geiger counters when my computer was working, along with registering with the Canadian government to get regular updates, and researching flights. I have friends who were teaching up north and left for the south, but have returned in the past few days. The fact is the Japanese government is extremely conscience and aware of the Japanese people's safety, and this is their number one priority. This is not going to be another Chernobyl (even if it was rated as a 6), because this is not the Soviet Union. And if anything does happen, the winds of Japan are westerly prevailing, meaning the majority of radiation will be carried out to sea, far far away from me. At least, this is what the gaijins who remain keep telling themselves. 15% of energy in Canada is from nuclear power. We are fortunate that we can use other methods due to our natural resources. The fact is Japan has virtually no natural resources and a huge population in a small area, therefore nuclear power will continue to be used.

I appreciate everybody's concern and support in the weeks following the quake. At this point, it's all I'm bombarded with 24-7, everywhere I go, and it's the last thing I want to talk about. But let's remember what the real problem is and leave the nuclear power plant in the hands of the capable experts. The real issue is rebuilding these communities, rescuing injured animals, finding the bodies of missing people, and insuring the survivors have food, water, shelter, and medical attention. Remember, these aren't just faces on a TV screen on the other side of the world. These are people's parents, spouses, children, siblings, best friends, and grandparents. And they're now my neighbours. Any little bit you can spare will help. Communities all around the world are holding fundraisers. I know we all are busy with our modern lives, but if you can spare a few dollars, please do. If Kim Jong-il can find it in his heart, surely you can too. :)

On a lighter note: I think I bought incontinence pads rather than feminine pads.