Japan Earthquake/Tsunami: Day 7

AUNTIE EIKO AND HER HUSBAND, TOMIO, ARE ALIVE! ! ! Uncle Mako called and said Eiko and her family are OK. We don't know much more other than her house also survived. It's high on a hill looking down on the town. She had no phone access so she talked to someone, who called Uncle Mako, who called us.

My family is so blessed. All seem to have survived, although we are not sure of more distant relatives.

My heart aches for those who have experienced loss and pain.

JAPAN'S STOIC RESILIENCE AND STRONG COMMUNITY SPIRIT ARE EVERYWHERE.


MATSUSHIMA. Businesses with fresh water share it with others.

Shopkeepers sell or give away supplies on sidewalk tables.

A man hooks up a small diesel generator and hangs a sign:  Charge your phone here.

A man in a van announces drinking water over the loudspeaker to those in need.


NOBIRU (where Cousin Yoshio lived). In the  past, a few visitors enjoyed the Nobiru beach, but it is now littered with crumpled houses. Four men from the Japanese Self Defence Forces comb the reeds on each side of the river, poking the mud with long poles, looking for bodies.

Nobiru is mostly gone, but a few people are still there.

Twenty six year old Shimizu Yasuhiro holds his son (born six days before the tsunami). ''My baby is 10 days old and we called him Lucky,'' he said. ''And he is lucky, to be alive.''

SENDAI. Sendai port is surrounded by industry, most of which is wiped out. Nearby, cans and kegs of Kirin beers are scattered everywhere, a source of moisture for people who have been without water for days.

May blessings surround you,


Catherine