I'm here on business and had Sunday to explore the city. After visiting a local LDS church, I walked over to the Recoleta district. This area has been quite affluent for over 100 years. Wealthy families are buried in the Recoleta cemetery.
As you enter the cemetery, you quickly see that it is almost like a small European city in miniature.
There are blocks of narrow walkways with above ground mausoleums and statues.
I decided to just wander around. Angels watching over the tombs seemed to be a common theme.
Of course, there were other sculptures like this very tired lion,
this Madonna and child,
and this angel very serious looking angel.
I had to really look around to find Eva (Evita) Peron's final resting place.
Then I made my way back to the entrance
And into the Recoleta neighborhood.
You can see why people call Buenos Aires the Paris of South America.
On March 11, the Sugiura family was in the middle of a typical day. Mrs. Sugiura was taking care of her one year old son, their 7 year old daughter was at the local elementary school, and Mr. Sugiura was at work at a firestation in a neighboring town.
It snowed that morning, and Mrs. Sugiura decided that it would be good to go pick up her daughter at school. She bundled up her son in his carseat, put their dog in the car, and began the short drive up the hill from their home to the elementary school.
As she picked up her daughter and got her in the car, the earthquake hit. It was a significant quake. Having grown up in Onagawa, she had heard old people talk about the danger of Tsunamis. She knew that she needed to find high ground, but she couldn't decide which way to go. Very quickly, the roads began to fill up cars. With traffic getting worse, she decided to drive to her husband's uncle's home in nearby Ishinogaki. That town is far up the hillside and in her mind so far up that there would be no danger there from a Tsunami.
The tsunami warning sirens sounded. Since she was in her car, she just kept on going. Just one week earlier, there had been a tsunami siren test. Unfortunately, many people assumed that the sirens this time were another drill and didn't get to safety.
This video from YouTube shows the tsunami engulfing Onagawa
When she arrived at her relative's home, she heard the announcement on the radio - a large tsunami was coming. She was glad that she was in Ishinogaki and at high ground. She had just gotten her son out of his car seat when she heard a roar. It was rumbling and ominous. She turned around and saw a large wall of black water moving towards them. It was like something you'd see in a movie, she said.
Their dog was still in the car, but in that moment, she decided there was no time to save their dog. She had her kids and that was enough. She rushed into the house and up to the 2nd floor.
The tsunami hit moments later. The water swept the car away and filled the first floor of the house to the ceiling.
Mr. Sugiura is a fireman. He was at work in a nearby town and manning the 119 phones. The building was designed to withstand earthquakes and he was not injured in the quake.
There was no way he could leave to check on his family. He needed to stay at work. But he was all too aware that their home was only 1 minute away from the ocean.
Mrs. Sugiura had to wait for 3 days for the water to recede from the first floor. There were cans of coke and rice crackers on the second floor. For those days, she rationed the rice crackers between herself and the 2 children. Their one year old needed food and liquid, but the shock had taken its toll on Mrs. Sugiura, and she had no appetite. When the water finally receeded, she couldn't leave the house. Outside there was debree, mud, and human remains strewn around.
On day 4, Mr. Sugiura was given permission to leave his post in the firehouse and look for his family. He returned to Onagawa to search for them.
Onagawa sits on the edge of a bay with hills rising around.
This TV footage shows what Onagawa would have looked like when Mr. Sugiura was looking for his family.
And this is how it looked when we were there six months later.
Most of the homes near the ocean had been swept away. Today all that is left are foundations.
There were three and four story buildings turned on their sides from the force of the wave.
Mr. Sugiura searched in his neighborhood. But there was no sign of his home or family. After a day of looking for them, he finally gave up and resigned himself that they were gone. He decided to go to his uncle's home in Ishinogaki to check on his extended family.
When he arrived, his wife and 2 children were there and safe. Being Japanese, there were too reserved to describe how they felt at being reunited.
The next day, they began to explore the damage in the neighborhood. As they were going around, they heard a familiar barking. Just a few homes away in the backyard was their dog. Somehow the dog survived in the car, gotten out and was still in the neighborhood.
They said it was a real miracle that their immediate family all survived. But they were not without loss. Mrs. Sugiura's grandmother who ran an inn nearby in Onagawa was killed by the quake. Many people who picked up their kids at the Onagawa elementary school didn't get to high enough ground and were killed. Out of a town of 10,000 people, over 850 lost their lives.
The Sugiuras did say that after the tsunami there was one thing that was beautiful and that was the stars. Because all electricity was out, the sky was beautiful at night.
Six months later, they are still living in Mr. Sugiura's uncle's home. They have electricity and cell phones now, but no computer. The first floor is still uninhabitable. But they recently found out that some American carpenters are coming to volunteer and will be fixing their home.
As we finished our conversation. They bowed and told us thank you for listening. We thanked them for being willing to share their story with us.
We joined with the Mormon Helping Hands to go to Onagawa, a town that was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. The group had gone up right after the tsunami to work, and Onagawa's mayor had extended the invitation for us to come back and do a cultural exchange day. The plan was to spend the day with people who are living in shelters, doing American style games, and provide American food.
We left the apartment at 10pm on Friday to go meet the buses looking like we were escaping the city.
The buses got started at 11:30pm. And since the Japanese have rules about how often bus drivers need to stop, we got to see rest stops every 2 hours. The picture above was at our 4am stop when we had breakfast.
When the sun came up we could see some beautiful landscapes around Sendai Japan.
But as we got closer to the coast, you could see the damage from the earthquake and tsunami. This is an example of a foundation from a home. There is nothing left of the house.
This is a collection point where rubble is being stored temporarily.
The town is right on the water, and when the tsunami hit, it demolished buildings and swept away homes. The wave was 50-60 feet high.
This 4 story concrete building was ripped up and toppled over like a lego. You can see the foundation in this picture as the building sits on its side.
Up the hill from center of the town, is a school which has become temporary housing for about 300 people. They will be living there for at least the next 2 years. We got off the buses and started to set up for the day.
We got off the buses and started to set up for the day. After we got our game and cooking assignments, the kids from Onagawa began to arrive. You could tell our group by the yellow tops we were all wearing.
Of course, we started off the day with an official opening ceremony. We heard from the Mayor who explained that Onagawa is a town of 10,000 people. Over 850 people in the town were killed by the earthquake/tsunami.
This is a picture of him showing a large picture of the town after the tsunami.
We started the games with the kids. Cynthia and I were assigned to a spoon relay game with cotton balls. We had grandmas...
And grandpas...
And little kids...
We were asked to speak English as much as possible. Kaela and Tommy did a great job communicating with the kids.
This guy was in Kaela's group. He was a riot all day.
This is him directing music.
We ate lunch with a wonderful family who survived the tsunami. They opened up and shared their story with us. I'll post their story separately.
At the end of the day, we got on the buses and drove back to Tokyo. It was a wonderfully uplifting and yet heart-wrenching experience to go to Onagawa.
Our neighborhood came alive yesterday and today with a Fall Festival (Matsuri). There are several neighborhood associations who set up portable stations to get ready for the carrying of Mikoshi (a portable Shinto Shrine). The picture above is the group closest to our apartment.
This is Kaela standing next to one of the portable shrines. They are carried on long poles with the first stop the local Shinto Shrine.
At the Shrine, a Shinto Priest blessed each Mikoshi and the group carrying it. The next day, the groups carried around the Mikoshi in a large parade.
Each group seemed like they were trying to be louder than the rest.
A typhoon was supposed to hit Tokyo on Friday or Saturday. Luckily, it changed directions and mostly effected the Osaka area. For us, it meant that the day was very windy with occasional rain.
We decided to do some grocery shopping in the neighborhood and then try a different onsen. The picture above is a Tanuki, a kind a Japanese raccoon. There are statues of them in front of stores. I think this one looks a little crazed.
We found a fruit and vegetable place in the neighborhood with amazing produce. The prices are quite reasonable compared to the grocery stores.
We came across this group of statues in front of a shrine at the subway stop. The individuals represent the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese mythology. I like that one has a real bamboo pole he is holding.
Here are Tommy and Kaela checking out the statues. I tried to take a picture of Tommy with the Tanuki, but he wasn't interested in the idea.
We made our way to the Niwa no Yu Onsen which is just a two minute walk from the Toshimaen train station. We took one train all the way there.
Here is a link that shows pictures of the sauna rooms. Tommy and l liked the steam room which had a menthol scent. After you spend time in the sauna, there was a shower space with either an option to pull a rope and have a wooden bucket of cold water dumped on your head. We both had to try the bucket dousing.
http://www.niwanoyu.jp/floormap/sauna.html
Kaela on the girl's side had discovered the teacup baths (these photos are from the Onsen's website - no we didn't sneak a camera into the onsen).
They are just big enough for one person to get in. The picture below is the outdoor pool. It was really hot.
And this was the hottest pool. You couldn't stay in for very long without feeling like a lobster.
We came out refreshed and relaxed. And got into the subway just before a major downfall of rain.
We decided that we need to do things on Saturday to take advantage of the time here in Tokyo. And with the weather slightly cooler, we opted to try going to an Onsen.
Onsen, or Hot Springs, are located all over the country. There is even one in the suburbs of Tokyo. Sanga no Yu is located a short walk (we took a taxi) from Futago Tamagawa station. Here is the link to the onsen. http://www.setaonsen.co.jp/onsen/index.html
You go inside, take off your shoes, and check in. Then up the stairs to get your towel and to the men's / women's changing areas. The blue sign in the background is the men's area.
Once inside, you undress completely. There is an open room where you wash yourself before you go into the Hot Springs. And yes, you "in the buff" the whole time. You do have a small towel about the size of a big wash cloth to cover yourself.
In this Onsen, there is a also an outdoor area where you can have a swimsuit on. We met up in that area. The water was a comfortable 42 deg C. It is a natural hot springs which means that the water has a lot of minerals.
Inside (in the "birthday suit" area) there were several pools to choose from - a large pool, a cold water pool, a jaccuzi style pool, and a pool where you could recline. There was also a sauna room that was 90 deg C.
Tommy was a little freaked out at first, but he got used to it. Kaela thought it was fantastic.
We are getting used to our neighborhood here. The picture above is Azabu Juban subway station. This entrance marks the start of Azabu Juban Dori (a great shopping street). I'll be writing about the shops and restaurants soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of Tommy next to a small square. The red shop in the background is a great French bistro.
We went to a small Japanese place the other night, and Kaela found a fan with a drawing that I thought looked like her.
