March 11th, 2011. A date that I will never forget. A date that the people of Japan will never forget.
November 21st, 2016. A date that brought back all those memories from five years ago.
Many of you may have not heard about what happened on Monday, November 21st. An earthquake of a magnitude of 6.9 hit the Fukushima area of Japan at 5:59 AM, local time. As you may recall, this is the region that was devastated by the 9.0 earthquake in 2011. Japan, being located along the "Ring of Fire", which causes the frequent earthquakes in Japan that amount to more than 1000 annually. Small earthquakes are common, even in areas like Tokyo where they are less frequent.
So frequent that even I, who only spend summers in Japan, have experienced a small quake. But that small shudder that shook my hotel is incomparable to the quakes that shook the Fukushima area. It is embarrassing for me to even say that I can imagine the fear that those affected by the 2011 and 2016 earthquakes. After this 2016 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, many people were reminded of their experiences during the 2011 disaster. Many are still living in temporary housing, mourning their loved ones' deaths, and putting the pieces of their life back together.
I have witnessed the overwhelming devastation caused by these natural disasters. More importantly, however, I have witnessed the fortitude with which the people of Japan have been recovering through these five years. When I heard about the earthquake on the radio on my way to school in the car with my brother, I felt that I had to do something. I searched for organizations that were working to help with the recovery effort. At first, all I could find were organizations that looking for donations, such as Red Cross. But I wanted to do more. Finally, I found an organization called Socks for Japan. I worked with this organization and its founder, Jason Kelly, to collect socks, a necessity forgotten by many when evacuating. Many people from my community donated socks, as well as letters addressed to those in the affected areas. I translated more than one hundred of these letters and sent these over to the Socks for Japan headquarters.
But I still felt like there was more for me to do. So, after convincing my parents to let me go, I headed to Japan to spend a week volunteering with Socks for Japan. My parents were worried about me visiting such a radioactively dangerous area, just 3 months after the tsunami and earthquake had hit, but I knew I had to go.
I went to schools, temporary houses, and even a town omatsuri (festival) in the Ishinomaki area to deliver socks. I had gone to volunteer, eager to help these people who had everything taken away from them in a second. But, when I left Japan that summer, I knew that I had witnessed something greater than what I had expected. The people I met showed unbelievable strength, which surprised me. In such an arduous time, the people of Japan were resilient, brave, and generous.
At the festival, one woman wordlessly put a Japanese hair ornament in my hair. When I turned around to thank her, she just smiled and walked away. This was just one example of the people's inexplicable generosity. They were the ones who had suffered such a great loss and were continuing to hurt because of it and yet they welcomed me with open arms and gave me strength. I went to Japan, wanting to give the people of Fukushima some inspiration, but instead, they were the ones who gave me inspiration. I realized in this moment, the world has no idea what kind of strength the people of Japan have.
After a scare like Monday's tsunami and earthquake, the people of Japan are worried. They are anxious that another misfortune like the one in 2011 will occur. It is said that it will take 40 years for Japan to recover from the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. But, the people of Japan will stand together, and stand together with pride, for however long this recovery takes.
I believe that they can, and will, continue to show the world their strength.
