Three Years Ago in Japan

You know, in editing some of these "On This Day in History" posts that I have tried to release regularly every day, you do not get much chance to read the entries on your own. That is a problem, because much of the material is very interesting and informative, and that is the reason why I wanted to do it in the first place.

But two days ago, Japan marked the anniversary of a somber occasion: the tragic earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of the coastal regions, and which caused the Fukushima disaster, which is far worse than many of the official sources are willing to reveal. To my understanding, they are allowing a lot - and I mean a hell of a lot - of toxic waste into the Pacific Ocean, unfiltered. It's the best - or the worst - kept secret that the world more or less seems to be ignoring at the moment.

Like most people, I was completely horrified by the scenes of cars being overtaken by the tides, of boats on top of buildings, and of miles of land just being taken over completely by the rushing waters.

It seems to me that Japan has never been the same since. I heard a couple days ago that over 200,000 people have not been able to return to their homes. I am guessing that includes the people living within the now closed off regions surrounding Fukushima, although I cannot say for certain.

In any case, tens of thousands of people were lost because of the tragedy, and life has not been the same in Japan ever since. When you watch a tragedy like that unfold, it really reminds you just how quickly life can change radically, how one event can come in and take your life, or the lives of loved ones, from you. Something like the earthquake of Japan in 2011, or the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, or Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico, or Hurricane Sandy in the eastern United States, can wake you up and remind you that, even though this society encourages you to believe that they have everything under control, we are not, in fact, in control.

Far be it for me to recount the events specifically - I do not remember the timeline, and that kind of stuff is readily available online anyway. But I did want to acknowledge the importance of the events that played out in Japan three years ago, while the entire world watched.

Japan is a beautiful country. I took Japanese for one semester in college, but it was very difficult, and I did not continue. But it was such a fascinating country, with ancient traditions that seemed somehow more intact that you would expect in such a modern, highly sophisticated country with a very advanced, technological economy. Somehow, despite the changes, and the undeniable tragedies that the country of Japan has endured throughout it's history (and yes, I would include the dropping of the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki as among those tragedies, as well as the firebombing of numerous other cities there, even though many of my fellow Americans would take exception to that), it has remained and kept many worthy traditions alive, which I feel is to be commended.

Let us hope, if any of the rest of us face tragedy on a level that the Japanese have suffered through, that we can show half the character that they have.