- Checking the news to see when and where the scheduled blackouts might be
- Whether the trains were working and how bad the wait would be
- Preparing water and food for unscheduled blackouts and any other emergencies that may arise (no electricity in my apt means no water, no heat)
- Seeing that rice, bottled water, eggs and many other foods are gone from store shelves
- Checking at least once an hour how things are going at the nuclear power plant up north
- Checking the radiation levels in Tokyo to assess whether or not we should go out and buy more food
- Having some really bad nightmares since last Friday
- Deciding whether or not to leave Tokyo and if so, to where--Okinawa, where there are no nuclear plants but there's a nuclear sub; Osaka/Kyoto, where I have some friends, but which somehow doesn't seem far enough away from the radiation; or Taiwan, which is further away and where I have family
- Receiving a strongly-worded email from one of my SGI friends in Japan who has left and is now in the States, and who, among many of my friends and family, is urging me to leave Japan
And many other things that are crowding my brain and emotions right now. (I suppose I did write about all the things I "was going to" write about.) It was going to be a long, stressed-out rant.
But then I read a message from Junko Sato, one of the young women I know from the SGI. She lives in Tohoku, the region most affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. She's been sending messages via her friends and sister--I guess because there's no power there, and she's only able to make a few phone calls a day. This is the latest message she sent, posted by her sister yesterday morning. I found it incredibly moving and encouraging. It made me sit up a little straighter, and the panic that had been rising in the pit of my stomach for the past week has disappeared. (I still don't know what to do, but at least I'm not panicking anymore.)
AN E-MAIL FROM JUNKO
thank you all for your concerns. it means a lot to me and all of us here. sorry made you worry, but my fam and i are well. pls dont worry. all the trains in miyagi are damaged, so my bro waited for five hours just to get 10L of gas, and i finally got to go see my mom in Tagajo city from Sendai. we live close to the ocean, so a part of the city got wiped out cause of the huge tsunami. lost some friends and some are missing. some were rescued after soked in the dirty water for hours. my family and i were super protected. tsunami came so close but our apartment is on the hill,so it was fine. i couldnt believe what i saw last night in the streets. my bro saw some dead bodies as well. now ppl are going everywhere just to get the access to the limited resources.
but amidst all this, we are homevisiting each community member making sure they are alive and well. its pitchblack at night,but the sky is orange because of the fire from the gas plants. we are told not to go outside if it snows or rains because it's radioactive. but we are thankful we are alive, and ive never been this appreciative for life itself. im about to go make sure all my friends are safe. im lucky my friend has solar power for me to charge my cell. this way i could stay in touch with you guys. tohoku has the greatest mission to turn all the poisin into medicine for the entire japan. this happened to us because we are capable of overcoming it. we are determined to show actual proofs and prove that "myo [in our Buddhist prayer "Nam myoho renge kyo"] is to revive". thank you for your unconditional love and all the prayers. im sure all of you have some kind of struggles and its not just us who are suffering, so pls take care and treasure your family, friends, and yourself. much love, junko
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