It's been three months since the 3/11 earthquake---Part 2: The terrible smell is becoming a big problem

Needles to say, the Fukushima disaster has complicated the situation. As you may know, the disaster is still going on and there is still no sign that the plant is getting back under control. In this post, I'll talk about disaster-struck areas in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures which were the most seriously damaged by the 3/11earthquake and tsunami. Some towns there were completely washed away by the massive tsunami.

According to the news, mountains of rubble are here and there. Although local governments involved have been struggling to find sites for temporary moving them out of sight, the victims are forced to live near piles of rubble. The locale governments have announced that they will do their best to remove them from sight in the next few months. On the other hand, it's been projected that it will take about three years until the rubble removal activity is done and it will take another two years until all the removed rubble is disposed of.

http://www.asahi.com/special
/10005/TKY201106040151.html

As summer is approaching, the terrible smell is becoming a big problem. The rubble is giving off various kinds of odors. Specifically, the foul smell of rotten fish is afflicting people in the disaster-struck areas. Since the ocean area around the epicenter of the 3/11 earthquake is one of the three largest fishing grounds in the world, there are many major fishing ports in Miyagi and Iwate. Sadly, almost all of them were devastated, and a large amount of fish which were stored in refrigerated warehouses were scattered all over the tsunami-struck areas. So, it's not easy to get rid of them. Many of them have been inevitably left behind. Some agencies are doing pest control for epidemic prevention.

There are still many missing people. Their families have been struggling to find a way to move on. Some of them are trying to give up finding their loved ones' body/bodies and try to accept their death because it's been three months since that day. Rescue workers collected mementos, like albums, while rummaging amid piles of rubble for bodies. After they drew off, volunteers and local people continuously collect them. For the victims whose personal belongings were totally washed away, finding things which remind them of their lost common but happy lives is an important step to move on. Piles of rubble are being removed with the greatest care.

Some victims have already moved on and want to rebuild their businesses as soon as possible. Some are still struggling to find a way to move on. This difference seems to complicate matters, as well.

We should be aware that anything could happen

These days, I feel like there's a manual for everything, and people always go by the book in Japan. For example, shop staff is first educated according to the manual. Since Japanese society always requires all the shop staff to provide a certain level of service, the manual might be necessary and useful.　However, I think that people rely on the manual so much that when unusual things happen, they often don't know what to do and how to deal with them. Needless to say, it's very important to judge a situation well and decide what to do by yourself both in daily life and at work.   I feel that now is is the perfect time to acknowledge that fact.

After the 3/11 devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the Japanese phrase 想定外/souteigai is often heard. This means beyond what we predicted or beyond our assumptions. I'm tired of hearing that the 3/11 earthquake was a lot more powerful than many specialists had predicted, and the tsunami was much higher than their assumptions. Those things are true, but I think that they shouldn't be used as reasons to explain things.

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/education
/naruhodo/CK2011041902000096.html

Great efforts made in Kamaishi/釜石, Iwate prefecture/ 岩手県 by Professor Katada from Gunma University /群馬大学 have drawn considerable attention since the 3/11 earthquake occurred. According to the news, the due to great efforts, all the children from the 14 schools there could escape from the huge Tsunami. In the past few years, Professor Katada would often visit the schools to teach the children what to do in the event of a massive earthquake. When conducting an evacuation drill, he'd insist " When you evacuate, you don't need to follow the manual which you've learned from the drill. The drill says that you should evacuate to the community center on the hill. However, tsunamis are extremely powerful. Tsunamis much bigger than expected could hit your town. Nobody knows how far you'll have to go to be safe. The drill isn't perfect. You have to judge the situation by yourself and decide where to evacuate by yourself. When you evacuate, you have to focus on protecting yourself from Tsunami".

Japanese people sometimes cannot evaluate risks properly because they are afraid of facing the true danger that might be in store. Some of them seem to think that things which they can't think of couldn't happen. That's not true. There are various kinds of people in the world. It's sometimes very hard for us to understand the things some people do. There are things that science cannot explain. So, we should be always aware that things beyond our expectations could happen. Even if we don't know what to do when these things happen, it's very important for us to be aware of the possibility. At the same time, we should establish or get more used to a habit of taking the best actions based on our own judgement and taking responsibly for our actions under any circumstances.

Impressive posters to encourage people in the tsunami-stricken areas

Coastal areas in Iwate prefecture/ 岩手県 were very seriously damaged by the 3/11earthquake and tsunami. A few days ago, some ordinary people living in Morioka city/盛岡市, which is the capital of Iwate prefecture, launched a poster project to encourage people in the Tsunami-stricken areas.

The posters are drawing considerable attention on the Internet. I think that they are impressive and touching. The posters show what the victims are thinking about and how they are struggling to rebuilt their lives and towns.

Every poster has a short sentence. It's a message from the people in the poster. Please see the link below. There are English translations.

http://fukkou-noroshi.jp/en/posters/index.shtml#iwate