Sleeping Mountains

(A mannequin within the debris in Yamada, Iwate. To really see it well, click on the image. Photo from the NY Times.)

I don’t mean to torture you and in no way do I want to make light of the disaster, but I wanted to show this picture, because it caused a strong reaction in me when I saw it. Initially, I laughed out loud. And then, I felt a stomach wrenching sadness.

A friend (the same friend who first showed me this picture) recently told me that humor is a very good way to come face to face with very basic emotions one forces below the surface in order to cope with the world. (He might not have said it like that, but that’s how I understand it.)

Of course a mannequin among the debris in itself doesn’t show the problems of the situation, but in my case at least, it did prompt a strong emotional response. Call it grotesque, but I think this response has value, too.

The dot locating Minamisoma on the map is right next to the dot for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. With all the attention the plant is getting, it’s easy to think that the government (federal as well as local) must be helping the citizens there. That doesn’t seem to be the case. According to the NY Times, it really does help to ask the internet community directly for support.

The video, posted on YouTube a day after it was recorded late on the night of March 24, became an instant sensation, and has since drawn more than 200,000 viewers. Almost two weeks later, the city hall is still getting phone calls, most from non-Japanese calling from abroad with offers to help. The city has also received hundreds of boxes of food and other supplies from individuals, and truckloads of relief goods from nonprofit organizations. (NY Times)

This is an evacuee in Rikuzentakata of Iwate Prefecture in a picture from Zeit Online. Her face shows more devastation than the images of the wasted landscape. Since most of Japan’s rural residents are elderly, a large number of survivors are faced with issues of survival late in their life. Seeing this face, I can only imagine how fears for the future (fears about being able to provide for herself and about feeling safe and cared for again) prevent many from grieving. What can we do for these people? How can we comfort their fears?

Update (4/19): TBS has removed this news story from their site along with the image.

(The Japan Coast Guard reports the ocean floor moved 24 meters towards east by southeast, according to a TBS report. 3 meters of the continent fell into the ocean, and according to the Geospacial Information Authority of Japan, a part of Ibaraki prefecture moved 5.3 meters!)