It’s hard to believe that it is a year ago that the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami changed the lives of so many people. You can still see the effects of that disaster today in Japan. 

People flocked from the region and only a few have returned. Parents want to keep their children close and universities in Tohoku are struggling to fill their classes. 

The people most effected by the whole thing seem to be the elderly. Having lost the familiarity of their homes and sentimental items as well as having to adjust to a new way of life and getting to clinics to get their treatments etc. are just some of the challenges they are still facing.

A lot of work has been done to clear the area of rubble and restore the place, but it is a mammoth task. When we visited seven months after the event the towns we saw in Miyagi and Sendai prefectures were a mishmash of wrecked buildings and bleak patches of earth where homes and other structures had been cleared away. I’d like to point out that in this overpopulated country open land is rare, so coming from the usual built up areas of the less affected towns and seeing the flattened area really put the extent of the devastation into perspective. It was quite harrowing to by the crumpled shells of houses and glimpse the remnants of life once lived there now exposed to the elements: a children’s toy, bathroom mats and other personal possessions. I can scarcely imagine the terror those people endured when that mountain of water bore down on them.

Despite the harshness of the landscape it was so encouraging to see the community working together. It’s also quite moving to see how many people volunteer to help, either with donations or actually going out there to remove rubble and so on. They showed a fair bit on TV today and there were some very special moments like a hairdresser receiving a set of clippers and giving a lady a haircut.

Yesterday we went to “I can Japan” a charity event to raise funds for those still in need. Many people had donated an assortment of things to be auctioned. Then today at Ueno, Tokyo there were people collecting money. So many people around the world are thinking about those who have suffered, and it’s great to see how much people care. These tragedies help us turn our gaze outward, and it is good to be reminded of the concerns of others.

Hi. Rodney here, if you enjoyed the post and are into dice based role-playing games, then check out my post about Role Playing a Year After The Big One.