"Please, do NOT pray for Japan.."
Last edited Tue Mar 12, 2013, 09:11 PM - Edit history (1)
Today of course is the anniversary of 3/11 the Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan. I was trying to think about something to write about, and so I want to relate a story about what happened shortly after 3/11.
Some of you may know that I do hang out in some chat rooms, that are open to international traffic. Because of this I have made many close friends in Asia. Places like Taiwan, Beijing, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and of course Japan.
After the Earthquake and Tsunami, one of my close friends told me he had lost some close friends there. I, of course asked him what I might do and the first thing he said, surprised me.
"Well first of all, do not tell me you want to Pray for Japan! I am sick to death of hearing this. Prayers will not provide people with blankets, food, and shelter. Japanese are mostly atheists anyway. They do follow Shinto and Buddhism but not to the point that they believe that there will be divine intervention. That some God will swoop down and save people from the on rushing waters of the ocean. What you can do is donate if you wish. Any amount will help."
He thanked me and said he was really too upset to talk any further about what had happened. He was correct, people were saying on twitter and other places on the internet that they would like to offer their prayers to Japan. To the people who lived in areas, that had ended up looking like this..
Prayers were not what they needed. In my experience, Japanese were ALL profoundly moved by all the help and good wishes they received. By and large, most Japanese have no idea that their small country is important to Americans at all. They do not feel they are important to the US in the same way they feel the US is important to them -and they were all moved by the aid they received.
I rallied many of my friends on line to dig in and donate. Over a span of four months I had donated 800 US dollars to Japan's relief effort. Many of my friends did what they could. Some only because they loved Anime, or loved to watch Japanese Drama, or loved listening to Jpop, Jrock and Visuel Kei. Many of us were concerned about our friends who seemed to go missing during that time period. Fortunately they all returned to the website and checked in with us to tell us they were okay, and had to help out locally.
It was during this time period I had started on DU a photo of the day posting, trying to keep peoples mind on how this disaster were affecting the people in Japan. There were photos of mass burials, of Buddhist priests saying their quiet prayers over the bodies of those who were gone. (I should note that, for Japanese, Buddhism comes for those who are departing this life, while Shinto and its ideas are for the living.) There were photos from the make shift shelters and mostly photos of the ruined towns taken out by the Tsunami. Of course there was also the news from Fukushima, and how children were given devices like a Geiger counter to use on their way to school to avoid hot spots.
The information was constantly coming from Japan about all that had happened and of those who preformed heroically during this bad situation. Stories of an American Teacher who died saving their students, and the horrific videos of cars being swept away as those inside were helpless to escape. The stories of brave older men, wanting to go into the plant, knowing that radiation might end their long lived lives, only to help save the area from further contamination.
DU was very supportive during that time period. I want to thank many who did donate their hard earned money to help the people of Japan. Americans have always found a way to reach out and send money to those who are in need. Our country has done this again and again in the past and for that I am grateful to all of you who did, and to have been a part in a small way for the relief effort.
some of you may recall seeing this video
**Edited to note this video makes me cry. Like all that has happened it has touched me deeply as well.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thanks Hissyspit. 
It was a nightmare.
Was so angry when I talked to him. He had seen signs every where on the internet, postings on Facebook and even twitter, saying "Please Pray for Japan". The guy was probably ten miles away from the actual devastation, had lost two or three of his best friends and all people were saying was "Please pray for Japan"
I could imagine his frustration. I also remember the story of Akane Ho and the iconic image of her sitting and crying, and how she had lost her dog, and how things turned out;
Akane Ho embraces her dog Mei at an evacuation center in Natori near Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011. Mei was returned to her today, seven days after she went missing following the earthquake triggered tsunami on March 11. 2011.
Akane Ho hugs her dog Mei at an evacuation center in Natori near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011. Mei was returned to her today, seven days after she went missing following the earthquake triggered tsunami on March 11.
It was truly an amazing story.
Thank you for your poignant post and for your fund raising efforts during Japan's time of need. 
Among the speakers were the Heisei Emperor, Prime Minister Abe, and several people whose lives had been devastated by the disasters.
The Japanese themselves gave a one-minute silent prayer ("mokutou"
for the victims at 2:46 p.m., the time of day when the earthquake struck. It was a very moving ceremony.
archives in DU2. I was looking for photos from back than, that I had posted.
Here you can see the waves reaching the Fukushima power plant. The size of the waves were immense.
Was this..
kowaii ne!!! scary!!
It was really scary to watch the reactor explosions. And, it's frightening to know that the situation there is still ongoing two years later. Many of the videos I saw right after the earthquake showed the waves coming in elsewhere. One could see the water rising against multi-story buildings, one floor after another, while smaller buildings got covered with water. What saddened me was all the cars and vans that were being carried along by the waves. I kept hoping all of that their occupants were able to get to high ground before they got swept away. I still do, two years later, even though I know better.
Another thing that I found really unsettling were the huge whirlpools. NOVA featured footage a large ship spinning toward the center of one of them.
Last edited Mon Mar 11, 2013, 05:29 PM - Edit history (1)
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund, a project on GlobalGiving.org that you gave $100.00 to on March 11, 2011, has posted an update on how they are using your donation. Here's the unedited update from the field:
Thank you for helping Japan - Two Year Anniversary
By Mari Kuraishi - President, Founder of GlobalGiving
This is a personal message from Mari Kuraishi, President and Co-Founder of GlobalGiving.
To the generous donors of GlobalGiving's Japan Relief Fund,
This coming March 11th will mark the two-year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. A year ago, Britt and I visited our partners' project sites. While we were happy to see that the projects were making remarkable progress, we were also overwhelmed by the sight of the damage that the earthquake and tsunami brought to Tohoku.
Japan still has a long way to recover, and our partners on the ground are working hard to help rebuild the communities affected by the disaster. With your donations, children in Fukushima can go to summer camps and play outside without worrying about radiation. We supported our partner who ran special career sessions for junior high school students in Tohoku, so that they will continue to be motivated about their future. We sent young entrepreneurs like Naoko to Tohoku so that they can start businesses to revitalize local economic growth. I believe that the youth that you have helped through our fund will become the next generation of leaders.
I personally would like to thank you for supporting the recovery effort. I am touched how you continuously contributed to the fund throughout these past two years. Today, I'd like to ask you to consider giving again. To honor the two-year anniversary, GlobalGiving is running a special matching campaign for projects that are working in Tohoku. We are matching your donations 100% from March 1st to the 15th, and on March 11th, we are matching the donations 200%.
I appreciate you standing with us for supporting the Japanese people. On this day, I hope that you will join me reflecting on the loss the people have gone through and the ongoing recovery efforts.
Warmly,
Mari
http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/content/search.html?vo=true&hl=true&filter=false&q=japan&x=0&y=0
Some of the videos and photos I will never forget ...
The people, the culture, the history, the land.
Two years ago, my heart broke.
The connections are real: I have friends in Japan now. I have family who have lived in Japan.
Then, when the triple-meltdown happened, Japan and the U.S. news media weren't truthful, so I did all I could to warn the people there about what was happening. This re-posting expresses, in a way, why the tragedy is so very painful:
322 years ago, Basho walked the wilderness of atomic Honshu.
Basho wrote "Journal of a Weather-Beaten Skeleton" and "Narrow Road to a Far Province."
The great man walked and saw what was then the magical Japanese frontier and today is a nightmare disaster zone.
Reasons why I love Japan, its history, culture and people, thanks to National Geographic:
On the Poet s Trail
Footsteps fall softly
Following the path
Of Japan’s haiku master.
Last edited Tue Mar 12, 2013, 01:23 AM - Edit history (1)
Buddhist Priest writes the word "Kizuna" .
"Lets Pray for Japan" almost became a slogan on Facebook and around the internet. We have seen disasters in Haiti, in China, and even here in the United States and during those events, no one ever made a huge slogan out of "Lets pray for this place." Why Japan? I have
a theory about it..
In Japan less than 1% of the population are Christians. Missionaries have been trying for years to convert the Japanese to Christianity, and yet they have not been able to do so. A lot might have to do with the History of Japan, and how the Shogun threw out many of the visitors to Japan, and had demanded that the converted Christians go with them. Those that didn't leave were slaughtered. The lords of Japan didn't want this "new" Religion there. Japan started out as Shinto ... and many years later the first Chinese Buddhist priests came to Japan, trying to spread their teachings of the Buddha.
Shintoists and Buddhist fought each other to maintain control, but eventually because of very smart Buddhist Priest, the two religions merged and became apart of each other. Buddhism for the dying... Shinto for the living. They worked hand in hand in this concept.
Now suddenly you had Portuguese Catholic priest showing up on the shores of Japan.. trying to convert the people to Christianity. You can imagine how well that went, especially after the fighting about which religion would be apart of Japan.. Buddhism or Shinto.
Japanese are very superstitious people. To become Christian was almost like inviting bad luck. Mormon Missionaries have tried to go to Japan to convert the Japanese, but have always come back disappointed. Other Christian groups have tried to go to Japan and convert them as well..only to be turned back. While Christianity has done well in South Korea and even China... Japan was a nut that could not be cracked, only because of its history.
This slogan of "Pray for Japan" was put forth probably because it made sense to Christians.. but probably made no real sense to the people of Japan.
Some of you may remember this badge:
The kanji reads: Kizuna (bonds, ties, fetters) This badge represented something that makes sense to the Japanese people. We will never give up.. We are bond together.. We have the fighting spirit to go on no matter what. What I like to call the "ganbatte" spirit... or do your best. Kids going to school are often told "ganbatte kudasai.. Ganbariyo!" do your best. This is ingrained in Japanese culture.
This makes more sense than to sit and pray for something, hoping it will happen. Get out there and endure.. we are bond together.. do your best.
Is that a useless a thing to do too? 
kick and rec.
words.
Anti-Japanese sentiments were really and truly disgusting. I remember we talked about them here on DU, but I won't further repeat what had been said. It was racism in its purest and ugliest form.
I am not going to ask anyone to donate today, however if someone really wants to post #27 has the information.
I think the videos are important, especially the one called "Surviving a Tsunami" from Nova. The West Coast sits on the ring of fire. There are faults off the Washington, Oregon and California coast line. California has seen major earthquakes in the past, including the one I remember in 1989. We were lucky it was only an Earthquake. Had there been a Tsunami.. imagine what that could have done to the Bay Area? San Francisco has 812,826 people listed as living here. Oakland and the remainder of the Bay Area more. A major series of ten meter waves (32 feet high) could wreak havoc on the city and the surrounding areas. Its not a matter of if.. but when.
I hope we will not see anything like that in my lifetime.
and Tsunami, AsahinaKimi. 
We here on Kaua'i have many Japanese friends who were personally affected by the devastation. Here is a statement from our Senator Mazie Hirono..
“While this disaster took so much, it did not take the resolve, the courage or the ‘gaman,’ or strength, of the Japanese people. We in Hawai‘i and across the United States will continue to help them rebuild — from our donations to the launch of the Tomodachi Initiative, which will use educational exchanges with students to deepen the friendship between our countries. It is this investment in the future which will help heal the wounds of March 11, 2011,” Hirono said.
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/kaua-i-marks-anniversary-of-japan-earthquake-tsunami/article_fe726f82-6c20-11e1-b7f2-0019bb2963f4.html
Japanwhere we lived in the Hanapepe Valley. I went with my landlady and her family up to a vacant house in the hills where we slept on mattresses for the night.
Thank you for the vids, Asahina. Tsunami Warnings are always scary because you don't know what will happen only that it could happen.
Here's to the strength of the People of Japan for everything that they actually have gone through. 
My house is maybe.. guessing about two miles from the Ocean. As you know, San Francisco is a city of hills, and my place sits on a slope where, if you go stand by the street, you can see the Pacific at the end of it. Now, this Tsunami traveled something like 30 miles in land, before it stopped and rolled back to the Ocean.
Imagine what a wave like that could do to San Francisco? Even sitting on the top of Mt. Davidson might not be that safe.
back atcha! 
to fund the Whale Hunts. Talk about sick politicians there
I can never watch extended coverage of tragedies without making a donation - the way I see it, if I am unable to help directly, I can do the next best thing and help with a financial contribution - yes INDEED. Lovely post AsahinaKimi.
Skittles san, doumo arigatou !
that makes me feel so honored 
