From Sendai

From Sendai Shinji Nagashima
	I am one of the members of Japan Evangelical Lutheran Sendai Church. When this terrible earthquke occured, I was in front of my computer of my office.... Mobile Version
Terrible earthquake
	From Sendai1 Tsunami came near Tagajyo railway station. College chapel was filled with people gotten away from tsunami. One of my co-worker told me that his house was swept away. ................. ................. Despite this, we are fine. We eat something everyday. We are laughing everyday. We are praying to God everyday.
neighborhood mall (2011/03/18)
	From Sendi2　　 From Sendi3 Today I went to shopping to the neighborhood mall. But it was badly damaged by the earthquake. I went to the another shop. Just after me and my wife got in line, one van arrived with vegetable and rice. Fortunately , we got them.
CoastAreaSendai2011/03/19
	From Sendai4 Today my daughter Hanako walked around one of the coast areas in Sendai. "Gamo district" is far from our house about 5 miles. She got there by bicycle. From these photos, we can find the Nakano primary school. There are no houses around the school. She found an older woman in front of the primary school and school bags beside her.
harbor_Shiogama2011/03/27
	From Sendi5　　 From Sendi6 We visited Tagajyo city hall and one of the evacuation centers together with Mr. Ito who is the member of Child Fund Japan. The city hall is just the front line of the support program. Many young volunteer staffs were working. The pillar were covered with signs.
Yamamoto_district2011/03/28
	From Sendai7 My daughter Hanako conducted a field survey to Yamamoto town today. Yamamoto town is about 25 miles away from Sendai. Because of being located near the sea coast, this town was entirety swept away. From the photos, we can see a land bridge. It is the only building of the railway station which remained after tsunami.
Shichigahama_town2011/03/29
	From Sendai8 It's the end of the world. I saw it today. ................. ................. We can see the beach is filled with rubble and containers. I remember the blessed memory when we made a camp fire together with the students of Sunday school here. Tsunami pushed down the notice board which notices the tsyunami evacuation area. Tsunami rediected the arrow on it from the mountainside to seaside.
SendaiRailStation2011/03/30
	From Sendai9 We can see the people in the evacuation centers on TV. Surprisingly, all of them who replied to the interview of TV told about almost the same contents. "I'm fine. I'm ok. I'm safe. Don't worry about me. I can't contact with my family. Please let me know if you find my family". And they were worring about others. But we can easily notice that these people look pale and tired.
Volunteer2011/04/02
	Hanako worked as a volunteer at Shiogama.
Wakabayashi2011/04/04
	From Sendai10 Wakabayashi district had been the beautiful coast area countryside at low altitudes. Tsunami came at landward more than three miles from the seacoast. We tried to get the house of one of our relatives. But we couldn't because some roads were closed to traffic. I remenber the beautiful view of harvest time there. Now I can see only the desert. The rice fields were covered with the sand of sea. Many people were caught by tsunami. One of my relatives died on 11 March.
Nobiru2011/04/05
	From Sendai11 When the earthquake occured, he was next to me. The tragedy came to my mind at once. He tried to go home. But the route for Nobiru town was closed to traffic. "I hope my house would remain" he said to me. He could contact with his wife after trying many times. His wife, child and mother evacuated to the hotel next to his house. You can see this hotel among the photos linked above. His house was removed from this land.
Shichigahama_Wakabayashi2011/04/06
	From Sendai12　　 From Sendai13　　 From Sendai14　　 This is the second time I visited Shichigahama and Wakabayashi after the disaster. I felt only the tragedy the last time. But I felt beautiful view from there in this time. Indeed we can see the peaceful and beatiful sea except the containers. And we can easily imagine the peaceful fishing harbor if it didn't have the damege. Please imagine the beautiful Japan. We have to get back it someday. But I felt the sea was peaceful, I couldn't sit down there.
Tagajo2011/04/26
	From Sendai15 I said to them "Smile! Smile! Smile!". After taking this photo, I noticed their facial expressions getting dark as they were speaking about their stories. They were staying at their family homes when the earthquake occured. They lost thier houses by tsunami.
A letter2011/04/29
	From Sendai16 But it's the private affairs, I was worring about my grandchild whose office was near the Sendai airport. I couldn't contact with him . His office sank to upstairs in the water. He escaped alive with nothing. Because he didn't have any transportation, he came back to home of Soma walking more than 50km(30miles) on Marh 13th. I couldn't stop crying from happiness.
autotruckshop2011/04/30
	From Sendai17 He wrote the next message with one image took by his mobile phone. "I reopened my shop. Thanks a lot. Did you have a contact from Mr.Arihara of Miyako social welfare council? Sorry I send an email later, as a customer came."Lutheran church offered some help to Miyako social welfare council. You can see an autotruck shop on the the vacant lot of his removed shop from the attached photo. I was very pleased to see it. If possible, I would be one of his customers.
Neighborhood2011/05/03
	From Sendai18 After that I found the telephone number in my mobile phone and called Mr.Ono. He was my seminar student ten years ago. I have been afraid to contact with him. I turned my face away from confirming his safty. I knew his family home and his office were in Watari town. I heard the same voice as that ten years ago. His house was damaged and family was safe. His company feeds water into the rice feilds in Watari town and Yamamoto town. The rice planting season is about to begin around here. He told me that only twenty percent of all rice fields are possible to plant.
Visiting The Family Grave2011/05/05
	From Sendai19 We saw a big prefabricated house at the entrance of the cemetery. We have never seen it before. These must be built recently. I noticed it being the temporary morgue. We saw many grave stones gotten down.
Campus2011/05/10
	From Sendai20　　 I contacted with some former sudents. Mr. Sato lives in Shinchi town Fukushima. He is a farmer. Shinchi town had terribly affected by tsunami. His farm and house was not affected. But because being hit hard by rumors, he can't ship the crop.
The first week of the new school term 2011/05/14
	From Sendai21 One of my semianr students looks depressed. He lives in Watari town. He told me that the tsunami came just near his house. His house itself wasn't affected by tsunami. I tried to encourage him. He said "Oh I'm ok" having a smile on his face. But as soon as he replyed, the smile on his face disappeared.
Nuclear plant 2011/05/19
	From Sendai22 He asked me a few questions yesterday. It was about the nuclear plant. We discussed for one hour after the experiment. I was surprised that this student knew much of the nuclear plant. We are deeply concerned for it. We don't major in the nuclear. But the TV news makes us get the knowledge of it.
Morning and Dusk 2011/05/25
	From Sendai23 The dormitory students had some troubles with the manager. I talked with the students and with the manager individually. I understood what the students meant, but I didn't understand what the manager meant. The manager is usually a good-natured man. Recently he gets angry easily. He seems to be getting stressed out. He posted much rules on the wall of the entrance. I found the next words on the poster. "Learn these rules perfectlty" I made him remove it and talked an episode about William Smith Clark.
Worship 2011/05/29
	From Sendai24 It was about twenty years ago that I had a seminar student in wheel chair. He met the traffic accident when he was the second-year student. He managed to keep alive. But he was rendered paraplegic. He taught me what his father told him in the bed. "Great! You are alive!" Because some buildings in Tagajo campus had no elevator, we used to carried him with his wheel chair up to the fourth floor to attend the class. He needed four people to get the classrooms on the fourth floor. I felt I was a friend who lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on (Mark 2:1-12). Indeed he made us gentle. He needed suppots from us. But actually we needed him more. I never forget him and that college year. One reason is that I was happy with gentle students and the another reason is that I lost my son in this college year.
Neighborhood 2011/06/4
	From Sendai25 He told me that he had almost depression in May. Yesterday I worked with one of my seminar students. "Let's have a lunch and continue to work". I said to him. After we took a rest, he sat on a chair in front of me. He fell into talk with me. I noticed that he hoped to talk with me about something. It was surprising for me that he had almost depression in these days. Because I saw him keeping a smile on his face, I didn't worry about him. We discussed life, family, job, religion and so on. He didn't have a special theme which he wanted to discuss. He was seeking for himself and his future and God. We know the Hagar's story in the Book of Genesis. We are wandering in the Desert of Beersheba. But at the same time, we don't know our destinations. I hope my students notice the angel of God standing by them.
Shichigahama 2011/06/11
	I visited Shichigahama town again. I found some changes from the last time I visited. I saw weeds on the ground. And I found the new wharf beside the damaged one in the Yoshida-hama fishery harbour. I saw a new power pole with no cable. Tsunami reduced the Syobuta-hama beach and only the groundworks remained. One flying carp indicates that at least a boy had been living here. Today I had an evening worship of the college dormitory. Pastor Fujii who is the pastor of Sendai church preached a sermon. He read Psalm 102:1-17. It begins as "A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the LORD". In the verse 17, the next words are written. "He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;" "he will not despise their plea." This is just the same experience we have now in such a difficult time. From Sendai26
Church 2011/06/26
	It's been a while. The rainy season has come in Sendai. It's raining today. I used to draw pictures in the room on rainy days when I was a boy. My elder brother was always waiting for my mother to come back from shopping. He kept looking at the entrance door during my mother was absent. My brother was an intellectual disabled person. Sometimes I suspected that he purposely played such an intellectual disabled person. That was the germination of feeling guilty for me. My brother was a person of pure heart. The people around me looked at my brother with disapproval. I felt the sin of them and I hated them. It's really foolish that I didn't find the sin of myself. My brother died when I was young. I felt liberated from my brother. But it was the beginning of my suffering. I wasn't able to escape from hating the people around me. The next words of Jesus liberated my mind. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:3 (New International Version) Eventually I knew what I had hated. It was myself. This is just the same experience we have now in such a difficult time. From Sendai27
Family 2011/07/04
	Instead of this, I have a good news. Mr. Kawabe sent me a photo of his family. You can see it from the link below. As I reported, he began to operate in a makeshift store. They are moving to temporary housing in a few days. His father (left side) looks young. He is more than eighthy years old. I keep praying for him. I hope the recovery from grief for my students. From Sendai28
Second day
	A few days ago, I received a telephone call from one of my graduates Mrs. Watanabe. She let me know the wonderful news about the engagement of the another graduate Miss Itoh. Miss Itoh was my seminar student. Mrs. Watanabe and I exchanged the latest news about the graduates. She attached in the email some photos taken in her marriage ceremony. I saw old familiar faces in it. She told me that she sent disposable diapers to her friend. Another graduate evacuated to her relative. Many graduates had difficult experiences from this disaster. But she made me bring back to the fond memories. I pray for all of my graduates. From Sendai29
Kitten 2011/07/28
	Some freshmans come to see me every week. We talk about everything which occured in the last week and about study. One student lost his house by tsunami. His father rented an apartment house in his hometown. When he and his brother went home on the weekend, he had to stay the night in the small room together with his parents and his brother. This apartment house was hit by tsumani too. He told me that he wanted to come back to the house which was swept away. Many students go home in the summer season. They must confront the hard reality again. Hope God bless them. From Sendai30
Concert 2011/11/13
Concert in Asahigaoka Dormitory fromsendai	Volunteers of lutheran emergency relief keep their activities. Now the people in the evacuation centers moved to their each temporary houses. But many of the houses were built in the area far from towns. We are worrying about the coldness in the temporary houses. The victims need psychological support. Sirkka-Liisa Huhtinen and Sirpa Laurila form Finland together with Syuhei Ozawa visited the college dormitory the day after yesterday. They had a mini concert. It was a great time. Sirkka-Liisa and Syuhei sang hymns and Sipra had a good speech. Students sang Finlandia composed by Sibelius. I hope the recovery from grief for my students. From Sendai31
Harvest 2011/11/15
	Mr. Miura visited to my office today with muddy boots. He brought some harvests as a gift for me. Rice , onions and long green onions. They are the first harvests Mr. Miura grew for his father after the tsunami. Because he lost his farm around the coast, these harvests were grown on the inward farm. As soon as he graduated from my college, he became a farmer. I said to him "You are happy! You have a surviving farm." He said "I had a hard time this year because I lost my father whom I depend on when I met the difficulties. I have to enjoy his gift from my heart. Hope God bless them. From Sendai32
Advent Sunday 2011/11/27
	When I imagine this donkey, I remind my elder brother who has died. He was an intellectually disabled person. He had a very beautiful heart. Anytime when someone who visited to us was going to leave our house, he routinely cried aloud at the entrance. I never seen such a person who cried aloud for guests. He wasn't able to care of himself. He could do a little things. He loved singing songs, dancing, playing with balloon and so on. He was thought worthless from others. But he did a great something for me. Nobody could did such a great job than my brother. Really, he was the person who let me know of Jesus Christ. I knew Jesus Christ on 1989. He was really Jesus Christ for me. Who defines the worth of us? Our Lord is who defines the worth of us. The only thing we have to do is to listen to the voice of disciples 'You are reqested from Lord!'. From Sendai33
Campus Christmas 2011/12/16
	At the first Chritmas evening, some shepherds must have had peeked into the room through a gap in the wall. Were there only the shepherds who peeked into the room ? The God the Father must have had kept sending a soft look at the baby who was born at the Christmas evening. We feel the God looking at us in this season. From Sendai34
Christmas Eve 2011/12/24
	I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year! Even if you felt the light was so small, the light cuts through the darkness. We found a light which shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. We had the 2011th Christmas Eve worship. Pastor Etoh who is the president of Japan Lutheran Theological Seminary preached a sermon in Sendai Church. The volunteers of Lutheran Tonaribito, the relief center in Sendai church take the Christmas vacation. Two members of them keep staying in Sendai church to help the event which is held on 31th December. They have the new year in Sendai. God let us listen to the word of God throughout this year. We give thanks to God. And we give thanks to all friends who kept praying for Japan. Again let's give our mind to the small light on the first Christmas Eve. We put oueselves to the small light to see each smiley faces shining by reflecting the true light. Amen From Sendai35
Arahama district, Sendai city 2011/12/28
	Today I took a year-end holiday and visited Arahama district, Sendai city. I remember the news which told that hundreds of bodies were found in Arahama district. It was the first news about the victims we got from the radio. It was difficult to believe it for us. Arahama town is the coastal town facing the Pacific Ocean. My wife's grandmother was born and brought up in here. One of the relatives was sacrificed. From Sendai36
Happy New Yaer 2012/1/8
New Years Eve New Year dishes Historical site Sendai harbor	When the clerk was packing the sweater I bought, I talked to him. "I didn't think this store would open again!". He replied with smile on his face. "Really we thought as same as you thought. I thought I had to move to the anoter store. But our manager decided to reopen eventually." "Indeed it was apparently difficult to reopen with any repair. It was almost a start from zero." We didn't need words any more to understand each other. I know well of the damage this store recieved. And I can imagine easily how they felt at the disaster. Because I'm not the journalist, I don't ask many questions. Only a few words are enough for us to understand each another here. From Sendai37
Sendai Airport 2012/2/12
Sendai Airport	It's been a while. We have unusually cold weather in these days in Japan. We heard about the frozen water pipes of the temporary houses on the news. The staffs of Tonaribito have been organizing informal get-togethers at the temporary houses. I feel sorry for the residents of the temporary houses. Many people have exhausted the unemployment benefits. The population of Sendai city is gradually increasing from the disaster. Many people who had been employed in the fishing industry are flowing into Sendai city. From Sendai38
One year has gone by 2012/3/12
Tagajo2012_3_12	The government-sponsored memorial ceremony took place in Tokyo. I watched it on TV. Three representatives of the family of victims made speeches in it. One of them lost her father, husband, son and daughter. She made a speech softly. I was deeply touched by her tragedy. But this story is only a fraction of tragedies. Many victims endure in silence. We have to lay eyes on it. From Sendai39
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