TOKYO — Japan fell quiet at 2:46 p.m. March 11 to mark the minute that an earthquake began 10 years ago, setting off a tsunami and nuclear crisis that devastated the country’s northeast coast in a disaster that one survivor said he fears people are beginning to forget. Carrying bouquets of flowers, many walked to […]
Ten years and still recovering
March 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Ten years have passed since the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The coastal towns are almost unrecognizable with new buildings, roads and bridges. When I visit these towns, I am in awe of how they have been rebuilt so quickly. I am again reminded of how beautiful this region and ocean are. Many […]
Many still struggling 6 years after quake, nuclear disaster
March 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO — Survivors pledged to reconstruct their hometowns March 11 on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in northeastern Japan, with many still struggling to rebuild their lives. “I never imagined I would be living in temporary housing for six years,” said Hirotoshi Masukura, a 61-year-old evacuee from an off-limits […]
THE HEART OF KANJI: Visiting Japan
December 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last October, Alice and I visited Japan. We left San Francisco on Oct. 21 via All Nippon Airways. An Australian stewardess who spoke fluent Japanese served us on the airplane. She tried to pour water into a plastic cup. I stopped her and asked if she could change from plastic to paper. I explained to […]
Japan marks 4 years since quake, tsunami
March 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO — Japan marked the fourth anniversary March 11 of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country’s northeastern region, left more than 18,000 people dead or missing and triggered the continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis. The anniversary came as reconstruction in the hard-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima has not progressed as planned, […]
Connecting in the aftermath of the tsunami
January 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING By Ruth Ozeki (New York: Penguin Books, 2013, 432 pp., $28.95, hardcover) From a French Maid Café in Akihabara, the electronic district in Tokyo, the fast-clip banter of a 16-year-old girl initiates a spirited candor and yearning as she proposes to share her last rites in her diary. She […]
Japan marks three years since quake-tsunami disasters, nuclear crisis
March 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan marked the third anniversary of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 with prayers for more than 18,000 people who died or remain missing in the catastrophe, which also triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Three years since the magnitude 9.0 quake, and […]
Great East Japan Earthquake Commemorative events
March 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
THROUGH MONDAY, MARCH 31 (with March 11 event) The Northern Japan Earthquake Recovery Fund, a project of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, is hosting “Let’s Keep the Flowers Blooming,” which provides people with the opportunity to share messages of “hope and friendship” to those in northern Japan. The project is accessible […]
Musings from a San Francisco native
January 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
JOURNEY By Peter Kenichi Yamamoto (San Francisco: self published, 2012, 71 pp., $8.95, paperback) Peter Yamamoto, a longtime member of San Francisco’s Japantown community, is often seen volunteering at the National Japanese American Historical Society. His artistic background from his parents and his roots in social activism including being a resident of the I-Hotel during […]
Reflections from Ishinomaki
Moved by the destruction from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and the devastating tsunami, in October of 2012, seven members of the Nakayoshi Young Professionals traveled to Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi Prefecture with the nonprofit Megumi Japan. Here, they share their reflections. Images of the insatiable tsunami created by the massive earthquake off the […]