It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since the Tohoku earthquake struck. Exactly 1 year ago on that day, at 14:46, I was in a car with my parents and one of my brothers who were visiting me on holiday when the quake struck.
I had taken that day off from work, and we had rented a car with plans to go shopping for groceries. I remember us all getting in the car, I turned on the engine and we began entering the coordinates in the GPS when we noticed that the car was shaking a little more than seemed normal. It was when we saw the stationary motorcycle nearby wobbling that we figured out that it was an earthquake, but even then we didn't realize how strong it was. Earthquakes are so commonplace in Japan that we were all just thinking that it would quickly finish and we could be on our way.
In fact, after the shaking was over, we DID ease the car out of the parking lot and head to the nearby AEON/Jusco department store. It was there that we finally realized how devastating the quake had been as we began watching the live feeds of the tsunami sweeping across coastline, demolishing everything in its path.
When we saw that, we decided to wrap everything up and drive back to where my parents were staying. I never ended up going back to my apartment, instead staying with my family for the next several days.
It was a sobering period, with a triple-whammy of the earthquake, followed by the tsunami, and most frightening of all, the meltdowns at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima.
Now, one year later, things in Tokyo are pretty much back to normal. In fact, it's hard to realize that there are still many who are displaced, with no homes to go back to. People who can never go back home because of the radioactive contamination of their land.
Last year I participated in 2 volunteer trips out to the areas devastated by the tsunami, once earlier in the year, and the second time towards the end of the year. The process of cleanup and rebuilding between both periods was truly remarkable, and honestly is a testament to the drive and hard work of the Japanese people.
But there is still more to be done in regards to the cleanup and rebuilding efforts, and as the decontamination and containment of the damaged nuclear plants continues.
I had planned to stay home and rest today, but it just didn't feel right. I grabbed camera and headed out, with no real goal in mind. I went to Ginza, arriving there in time to stand with others as the clock tower bell rang out; we were strangers all, yet shared in a moment of remembrance as a nation.
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