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31st March 2011
Pray for Japan
It is a bit late for me to be making this posting, but I figured it’s better late than never.
As most people know now, there had been a 9.0 magnitude earthquake + 30' tsunami + ongoing nuclear reactor crisis in Japan. Sometimes, when we face the awesome force of nature, unfathomable as we mill about in our day-to-day, there is a sense of utter powerlessness. When such a tragic threefold disaster and its aftermath unravels unceremoniously in front our eyes, we are stunned, shocked, scared, then we slowly crawl our way back to normalcy, if only to preserve our fragile sanity from being crushed by such sorrow.
But normalcy for some have been irreversibly changed.
While I look through this posting on a Taiwanese website, I saw a song that really touched me. It’s by my beloved Yoko Kanno (1), paired on Youtube with the amazingly gorgeous and touching series of “Smile” pictures drawn by Takehiko Inoue (2). I have translated the lyrics and have also placed a link to the Google site, which links directly to the Japanese Red Cross. Albeit Red Cross is reputed to spend too much of the donated money on their administrative fees, they are also one of the few groups with enough organization and reach to actually help people in disaster areas. Too often people donate at the beginning of a disaster, and the influx of funds is improperly appropriated. But help will always be needed, especially as Japan rebuilds. Let the Japanese people know that they have not been forgotten. That the world is still with them.
Many things have been said about the admirable ways the Japanese people stolidly accepted and handled these disasters, sometimes sacrificing themselves in order to save others. One only needs to look on the internet if one is interested. There were also criticisms, from those who point their fingers at Pearl Harbor or Chinese people who hang on to the torturous memories of past, when the Japanese people had inflicted incredible pain upon them or their ancestors. Most of these people did not personally suffer the pain but were borrowing the pain of previous generations to build self-identity. Most people in the modern age benefited more from than suffered because of the Japanese people. But I digress. This is subject for another long tirade.
This post is to implore you to remember that the situation is continuing, not ended. If you have a little to spare, donating it to a worthy cause will feel much better than that next big meal.
君でいて、無事でいて [Youtube]作曲︰菅野よう子
作詞︰一倉宏心配してる、世界が君を心配してる
君の名前を探してる
一緒にいるよ、世界が君と一緒にいるよ
君の命に会いに行く
心と体壊さず君を
抱きしめて会いに行くまで
君でいて、無事でいてbe as You are, be safe [Donate]
we are worried
People of the World
are worried about You
we are searching for Your name
we are with You
People of the World are
there with You
we are coming to meet You
for Your life
until we come to embrace
You
- still unharmed, both body and spirit -
please
be as You are
please
be safe… (I did not use a period, because there is no end.)Another way I was able to help myself become stronger is to do some translations of messages on Pray for Japan (there are many other language versions too):
"Tomorrow, my father, who was expecting to retire in half a year, will be sent to the Fukujima nuclear site for support. When I heard that he volunteered, I cried. 'How we respond today will affect the future of nuclear [energy]. I have a sense of mission.’ My father, whom I always thought as unreliable at home, today, I'm so incredibly proud of you. I pray that you return home safe."
"An Israeli man spoke to me in Hebrew and I freaked out. A Palestinian friend passing by translated for me 'Is Japan ok? I'll pray deeply for you.' Then the Israeli and Palestinian shook hands and smiled. I cried."
“Someone important to me is working in the disaster area as a member of the self-defense force. [They are] resting 3 out of 24 hours. I emailed and asked ‘are you ok?’ He said ‘this is why we were trained. There are people who still believe that “[we are] not helpless,” so I feel fine too.’ Somehow, please express even stronger gratitude toward them.”
“After the disaster, the strong adults are who made me smile. A smile can spread. [I] exchanged an email with mom. At the end she wrote ‘Even if you think about it, there’s not much you can do, but you don’t want to regret anything, so live with a smile.” Yup, live with a smile. I sent her that reply, then I cried like a baby. How I really do love my mother.”
“I was checking the emergency pack at home and found a message that my father left 40 years ago. ‘Hold the sun in your heart, have a song on your lips.’ I will also write a message in the new emergency pack, so that whoever sees it will be encouraged.”
“Today, my 5 years old son said to me, ‘mommy, it’ll be ok. If an earthquake comes I will protect your head. And after the earthquake I will take you outside to grandpa’s place.’ Looking at my son, who’s trying to protect me with his tiny body, I cried. I never thought an ‘it’ll be ok’ from a child would hold so much power. Thank you, my son.”
“One of these days, I will say to my children or grandchildren ‘when grandma was young, there was a massive earthquake in eastern Japan. Then the world became one. Everyone bonded together and supported each other with all their power for a single purpose, and their spirit shone brightly.’ I shall speak until my listeners have had their fill. Because even as just one person, I want to make more people happier.”
“It’s so very dark; the stars that until now we were never able to see, are beautiful. Everyone in Sendai, look upward.”
(1) Music composer for series: Escaflowne, Macross, Cowboy Bebop, etc.
(2) Mangaka of series: Slam Dunk, Vagabond, etc.
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Sze K. Aka Chan's Posterous
歸去，也無風雨也無晴。
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