At the panel, we began by reading aloud several statements from members of the Vassar community connected to this disaster. There wasn't enough time to include them all, but we are posting them here in their entirety. We hope that you take the time now to read their words!
Kyoko Arai, student at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo
I really appreciate all of you thinking about people in Japan.
My place is in Saitama, one of the neighboring prefectures of Tokyo. When the quake occurred, I was at home. Fortunately, almost no damage was done, so I was okay. But, my parents and sister got stuck at their school or office overnight because of the heavy traffic chaos in Tokyo.
We have less milk, egg, rice for example at the supermarket, and have scheduled blackout everyday. However, the condition is far better than the most affected areas I guess.
In recent days, since my hometown started to receive evacuees from Tohoku, especially Fukushima, I am working as a volunteer to help them. Many of my friends also want to find something they can do.
Ayami Furue, Japanese language fellow at Vassar from 2008-2009
Dear Vassar students,
My name is Ayami Furue, and I worked at Vassar as a Japanese language fellow two years ago.
Thank you so much for organizing a relief effort for the earthquake in Japan.
Even in the suburbs of Tokyo, public transportation is still not operating at full capacity, and rolling blackouts have just started in our area. The damage here is nothing compared to what we've seen in the Tohoku area, but the aftermath is affecting many commuters and there is constant fear from the threats of aftershocks and radiation. With an overflow of information in the media, it's difficult to figure out which source I can trust.
I've often been asked whether Tokyo is safe. To be honest, I don't know for sure,
and neither does anyone else in Japan. However, we have reached a point where, in addition to
continuing rescue and relief efforts, we must start thinking about where to proceed from here. The radiation emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is expected to linger in the atmosphere for quite some time, and the controversy with using nuclear energy will continue long after radiation levels return to normal. I think we must accept the fact that our lives will never be the same as before the earthquake. Japan always strived for higher living standards, and took our economic wealth for granted.
The nuclear crisis was a manmade catastrophe, and I hope this serves as a chance for people over the world to think more deeply about the future of nuclear energy.
Right now, I want to help in whatever way I can so that people can come visit Japan again without feeling scared. We need as much support as we can get, and please send all your positive thoughts to Japan.
Noriko Hirahara, exchange student at Vassar from 2008-2009
First of all, I would like to say thank you for having this kind of event. We all appreciate it. Although Tokyo was not affected that much by the earthquake, there are still some problems remaining.
One thing is, as you may already know, the disruption of nuclear power reactors. Tokyo is almost 300 km away from where the plants are located, but it seems that radioactive iodine was detected in the water supply around the Tokyo area. This announcement caused a run on bottled water at stores, which has caused another problem of insufficient supply. As for me, however, I did not even try to go buy another bottle, because there is no way I can afford to buy one every single day for next few weeks. It is understandable because we don’t have much knowledge about radiation, and government’s explanation is always vague and confusing, but people in Tokyo should not be panicked but should take the coming news calmly.
Another concern is aftershocks. It is said that there were about 350 aftershocks that are over Magnitude 5 since March 11th. I feel like the ground is always shaking even when it is actually not, and sometimes suffer from what is called “quake sick,” which is like car sick. We should be prepared for expecting quakes that no one can really predict when to come. This is really stressful.
I assume this unstable life is even worse in Tohoku area. Newspapers report the number of either dead or missing people every day, which is increasing up to almost 25,000. A famous Japanese Comedian said, “It is not a disaster where 20,000 people died. We should think it as 20,000 gatherings of each one’s death.” We are trying to get our normal life back and that is necessary to get recovered, but we should not forget a lot of people are still suffering from cold, anxiety, fear and sorrow.
It takes time for both people and economy to get better, but please check out the news and see what is going on here in Japan. Also, get prepared for this kind of disaster regardless of where you are. We don’t want similar disaster happening again in any foreign countries.
Professor Yuko Matsubara, Visiting Instructor in Chinese and Japanese
I grew up in Tokyo and my parents and relatives are not in the Tohoku area where the earthquake and Tsunami hit this month. I found my parents’ were safe by email, because the power was out in their area.
One of my friends from the university in Japan was in Sendai and I could not contact him for three days after the earthquake, so I was very worried about him. He survived, but he had to evacuate from his apartment for several days because his apartment was not in a livable condition and he was afraid the apartment building would collapse from an aftershock. He is now at his friend’s house.
My friends in Tokyo could not go home easily. They walked for many hours to go back home on the day the earthquake hit. Another friend was in an elevator and stayed there for 30 minutes until the power came back.
Now it’s two weeks after the earthquake and the Tsunami and gradually people in need are starting to get some help. However, this relief effort seems to take longer than other earthquakes such as the Kobe earthquake. This is because this earthquake was followed by a huge Tsunami. The earthquake and Tsunami caused the crisis in the nuclear plant in Fukushima. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) supplied electricity to a huge metropolitan area. Because of the crisis, the Tokyo area has scheduled blackouts everyday in order not to exceed demand. Tokyo and nearby prefectures were divided into five groups and every day each group has few hours of blackout.
Without electricity and the oil refineries were damaged; as a result, the oil supply has become low which is also troubling the rescue effort.
After this disaster, I kept watching Japanese news program and I am sure that all Japanese did the same. Watching the Tsunami destroying the city and getting people’s life is absolutely horrifying and sad. I was thinking about the people who lost their lives and about their families. Everyone wants to help the people in the Tohoku area, but the damage the earthquake and Tsunami left is so huge. It is frustrating to see that some survivors of the earthquake and Tsunami died because of the lack of the medication or from exposure. According to a broadcast, in Japan, supplies cannot be dropped from the helicopter or planes because it is dangerous to people on the ground and because the goods might be damaged when they are dropped. I was so frustrated to hear this.
This disaster has also shown how the character of the Japanese people can rise up to overcome even the worst. Like many, I’ve been touched by the generosity and the kindness of so many. Thank you for thinking about Japan and the people over there. I do hope that the day Japan can smile again will come soon.
Professor Hiraku Shimoda, Assistant Professor of History, on sabbatical in Tokyo
I was in Tokyo on March 11. Tokyo has been very fortunate; some shortages and scheduled blackouts are the worst we have to endure. The same cannot be said of the Tohoku region along the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do for the 20,000-plus who are presumed dead. But there is much we can do for the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything and are now displaced indefinitely. Given how information and images now travel, I don't think I need to describe their plight in much detail. The one thing I will emphasize here is that many of the victims were already some of the more vulnerable people in society, just as many victims of Katrina were. Many of them are from rapidly aging, relatively modest rural fishing communities that have long known how random and cruel the sea could be. I understand that countless people throughout the world, including those at Vassar, have already shown great generosity in helping these people. I've always insisted that a society should be judged by how it treats its weakest members. Disasters like this one remind me that all of humanity should be judged by how we treat our weakest members.
Misaki Tomitaka, student at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo
My family and friends are mostly fine. I was not seriously affected when the earthquake happened on the 11th of March so actually there is not much to tell. Luckily, I was at home when the earthquake hit so I just saw things falling off at home. My sister was working in Tokyo (I live in Chiba) and due to the earthquake, public transportations were affected so she walked an hour to her friend's house and spent the night there. Lots of my friends were stuck, so some walked about 3 hours to get home and some spent the night at places that were offered, such as school's gym.
My sister and I went to get some food and water that weekend but all the cup noodles, rice, water, eggs, milk, bread etc were gone. Batteries and lights were sold out and gasoline stations were closed.
Since the nuclear plants in Fukushima were affected by the tsunami, we were told to have planned blackouts but never actually happened where I live. These planned blackouts are going on for a while after the earthquake but I am still not sure when my area is going to have blackouts. But I am trying my best to save electricity like every other houses and shops.
All the problems that are affecting the plants are very stressful. First it was reported that the radiation levels were 10 or 20 times higher in Tokyo than normal, then some vegetables, milk, fish were affected, and now they see higher radiation level in tap water. Foods are coming back to stores gradually and public transportations are working close enough to normal but we still have aftershocks and the nuclear plants accident so I am still worried.
Some places in Chiba were also affected by the earthquake quite badly and they are still cut off from gas, water and light. One of my friend’s house even tilted so their family decided to spent a month in Malaysia.
But changes in life here are nothing compared to the people in northern Japan.
I am very pleased about the fund raising at Vassar as well as the warm concerns from outside Japan. We really appreciate it and I am really hoping things to get settled soon.
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