The following is a piece I wrote for the website GaijinPot. ~ Hacker
“IT WAS COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT THE WORLD WAS SUPPORTING JAPAN ALL ALONG, THAT IT WASN’T JUST FOR THE NEWS, THAT IT WAS REAL”
Adam, American, Shibuya, 30, Business Developer
What were you doing when the earthquake struck?
I was jogging through Yoyogi Park, just minutes after leaving Gold’s Gym in Harajuku.
I felt lightheaded, my knees weak from an exhausting workout. I stopped to catch my breath and saw the taxis on the street rocking back and forth. I looked ahead at the tiled sidewalk to see an almost rolling motion. Rolling like the scales of some reptile, something out of a movie.
A young woman spoke to me in English “That was a really big one. Maybe a six.”
I knew from experience that it was something far greater than a six. I sprinted to my Tomigaya apartment, hearing the continued rattle of old neighboring homes, watching the rocking of my new building as I reached the top floor. I turned around, using the external stairwell to descend and met a congregation of neighbors on the street. We all watched in horror as clips of the oncoming tsunami played on a stranger’s mobile phone. A while later, I propped open my front door and turned on the TV.
I began tweeting my experiences, several of them appearing on BBC and CNN. Was this all really happening? Did our entire world just change in mere seconds? I’d lived in Japan for over four years, so earthquakes were nothing new. But what was about to unfold over the next thirty days was something few are prepared for.
The struggle that continued over time was one of the mind. Being woken by jolts in the night, receiving calls from friends and family in the US, asking I come home, being misled by the government and their unwillingness to explain what was happening, all took quite the toll. Magnitude 4–5 earthquakes were now simply a part of our day. And it didn’t help that 25% of my office went on “vacation” through April.
But living safely in Tokyo was nothing compared to what my friends in the tsunami zone went through. I put forth many efforts to tell their stories, to ensure my family that I was okay, and that any relief should be sent to the North. I was impressed by Tokyoites and our ability to keep energy usage down. I slept in socks and a knit cap, keeping all heat off through the cold months. Both of my roommates left the country for some time, but I held strong, growing evermore a part of Japan.
How did it affect your life?
A year later and not a day goes by that I don’t think about the Great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, aftershocks and near meltdown. The events were so far outside of what your mind can imagine that you’re forced to examine everything. But I did learn something very important.
People really do care.
When I returned to the US in July, I was surprised at how many people knew my name, from stories being told about my experiences. At church, members I’d never met said they had been praying for me and the others in Japan.
A close family friend, Mrs. Day, hadn’t been physically able to attend church for years, but made it on March 13 because she felt her prayers would mean more there. How can I ever express what that means to me?
It was comforting to know that the world was supporting Japan all along, that it wasn’t just for the news, that it was real.
*What I wrote one year ago on 3.11 –> Sorting Out My Thoughts
TCK Hacker 