April 17, 2011: Some Stories

This tragedy has engendered thousands of stories. Some are known and told, some are kept hidden in the hearts of the survivors, and some are taken, literally, to the grave. At some point it would be nice to create a collection of these, but here some that stick in my mind.

A family returns to their home ravished by the tsunami. All that is left is the foundation: no walls, no rooms, no trees from their garden, no personal effects, no neighbors. The grandmother also perished in the waves. Their once lively neighborhood is now a desert. But wait, they say, there is a single suiren (daffodil) growing out of the barren earth where the garden used to be. The grandmother planted them some years ago and enjoyed them when they broke from the ground, one of the early flowers of Spring. They remove the debris from around the flower, water it then take a photo, happy to have at least one memory to take with them.

I am reminded of the famous story of the tea master Rikyû and the morning glories. The powerful warrior lord Hideyoshi came to view the famous morning glories that bloomed throughout Rikyû’s garden. Before Hideyoshi arrived, however, Rikyû cut down all the morning glories. As a disappointed (and possibly furious) Hideyoshi walked through the garden and into the tea house, he saw that Rikyû had saved just one morning glory, put it into a vase and set it in the tea room.

In the one is the all.

Soon after the earthquake struck, the Emperor appeared on the television and spoke to the people. It was said that this is only the second time in History that the Emperor made a direct appeal to the public through mass media. The first time was in 1945, when he announced Japan’s surrender. The incident had its share of intrigue, but it got the message out, although his formal speech was apparently beyond the understanding of most of the listeners.

This time the Emperor spoke a measured, concerned speech, easy to understand. He said what the people wanted to hear; calm words of reassurance. Granted, they were only words, but powerful ones that the politicians could not or would not say.

Later, after making sure that his presence would not get in the way, he and the Empress toured some of the refugee centers. I was moved to see these two people get on their knees, bow to the survivors and talk individually to as many as time allows. Of course the movements and words were highly rehearsed and scripted, and it was all theater, but if ever theater had a social purpose, this must be it.

Not all the stories are good or uplifting, however. The Japan Times reported yesterday that some of the people fleeing the area around the Fukushima Nuclear power plant are being turned away due to fears they may be contaminated with radiation and contagious. The evacuation centers are requiring that they have local government issued certificates proving they are not contaminated before they are allowed to step foot inside the centers. No matter that this has absolutely no scientific rationale. It is simply fear and discrimination.

And racism exists right below the skin of the Japanese society. After the 1923 Tokyo/Yokohama earthquake, rumors abounded that foreigners (Koreans) were committing arson and poisoning the waters. These rumors led to mass hysteria, a rounding up and lynching of Koreans, Chinese and even Japanese with regional dialects. The lynching stopped only when the army intervened, but it is said up to 6000 were killed.

I witnessed a similar phenomena myself during the AIDS scare in the mid eighties. The Japanese looked at this as a disease brought on by foreigners and subsequently every foreigner was suspect and shunned. In actuality, the disease spread here primarily through the infamous Japanese sex tourism prevalent during the time.

Thanks to access of much greater information now and the fact that so many foreign countries aided Japan during this crisis, especially the US military, the rumor mill cannot really blame foreigners this time (though I did see some postings on the MIXI electronic BB that blamed foreign students for a rise in sexual assaults in the disaster area, a claim that was quickly refuted by the police). Nonetheless, a scapegoat is always convenient, so who better than the weak and vulnerable—those that had to leave their homes under the threat of the unknown, unseeable enemy radiation.

But my favorite story is a personal one. A friend whom I’ve known for over 35 years recently came to visit. He was a butoh dancer and in the past we performed together on many occasions. He has always incorporated elements of Shintô mysticism in his dance and life, and through the years he has revealed the fascinating world of Shintô kami (deities) for me.

He still loves to talk about the Shintô kami and how they manifest themselves in the activities of the world and human society.

He suddenly appeared at my apartment and wanted to talk about a major change going on in the world of the kami. Up to now, he told me, Nakatsu no Kami (中津神), the “father” deity which manifests itself as the corporeal (physical) and the individual ego, has been in the ascendant. This has created the material world we live in and the strong attraction to physical we all feel and are held sway to. His time is finishing up, however, and the female kami, Motosu no Kami (元津神), is waiting in the wings to return. She represents the mother, the giver of life and breath and a return to spiritual values.

Nakatsu no Kami is a deity of Ise, representing the lineage of Shintôism that connects with the Emperor and the Imperial family. Mototsu no Kami is from Izu and represents a type of Shintôism that is more earthly, innately spiritual and, I would think, not polluted by its association with modern Shintô and its power and pomp.

Now is the time for the Nakatsu no Kami to give into the Mototsu no Kami, my friend stressed. This regime change in the world of the kami will lead humankind back into the forgiving world of the spirit, not beholden to the pressures and stress of materialism. To this end, he said, the world will undergo violent changes: volcanoes will erupt, earthquakes occur and the world will experience a necessary upheaval. Such upheaval will be painful but eventually result in a new world order.

The interesting thing about this encounter was that it occurred on February 21, about three weeks before the great earthquake.

As I think back on this what he told me, I recall the image of the Emperor, the representative of the Ise line of Shintôism, getting on his knees and bowing to the survivors who lost all their possessions. Indeed, the order has been reversed, and now I know why I was so moved by this sight.

June, 4, 2011: Preparation

In this morning's paper, TheJapan Timess reported a story about the Junior High School in Kamaishi, Miyagi Prefecture close to the ocean. Whne the quake struck, the teachers realized that they must evacuate the school immediately to higher grounds and began to implement their evacuation proceedures. They were supposed to gather all the students in the school grounds, do a head count, then lead them to the designated safe area. However, the immensity of the earthquake knocked out the electricity, and they couldn't make the announcements to lead the students out. Japanese students are not normally are urged to think independently, but instinctively they gathered and began running to the higher ground, the older ones encouraging the younger to keep up.

On the way they passed an elementary school, where the teachers had gathered the students on the third floor, thinking it would be safe.The teachers, however, saw the older students running by and decided they, too, should evacuate the school, so they followed. Once they reached the designated evacuation area, however, an older resident warned them that it may not be safe there either, so they continued running up the hills, the older students staying back to assist the younger ones.

Then it hit. The powerful waves full of deadly debris easily engulfed the Jr. High School and the nearbye three storied elementary school. It even came up and covered the first evacuation site, stopping only afew meters away from where the students gathered.

Although the total number of vicitms in Kamaishi numbered around 450, only five casualties were elementary or jr. high school students, thanks to the quick thinking and independent action by the students.

In contrast was the tragic incident at Ôgawa Elementary School in Makiishi City, Iwate. After the earthquake, the teachers took 40 minutes to begin the evacuation. They were simply making sure all proceedures were being followed: taking roll-call, waiting for parents to come pick up their kids, and then re-checking the roll. Since the school had been designated as an official evacuation area, they discussed with the various townspeople who gathered there if they should move to even higher ground. By the time they finally decide to head out, it was 50 minutes after the earthquake. On the way to the secondary evacuation site, only 200 meters away, the waves overtook them, and of the 108 students who set off, 68 were killed and six went missing.

In the first instance, it was the kids themselves who took off, without waiting for their teachers to lead them. The second, unfortunate situation shows how adherence to the rules in extreme situations can literally kill.