Trying times

The past few days have been very trying as I am sure you all understand, but I just wanted to post to say a sincere "thank you" to all those who have sent emails expressing their concern and best wishes.  We really appreciate it.

I lived for a good fifteen years in the region that was struck by both the quake and the tsunami.  Nine of them were spent in Sendai and in Ishinomaki, which- along with other communities situated along the coast- have been hit hard.  

Many people I know and care about are still unaccounted for, and with upwards of 450,000 people without homes in evacuation centres, it will be a while before I can find out whether they are okay or otherwise.

Ishinomaki as it is now.  I lived not far from the hill where this photo was taken.

Things are still chaotic here in Tokyo with train delays, cancellations, and power cuts, and probably will be for a few weeks yet.  But in time life will get back to some kind of normal rhythm here, and I may even find myself in a state of mind to start thinking of toy soldiers- but not quite yet.

I did come across this quote in this article online, which is why I am confident that Japan will recover, even if takes a long time and even if it is never quite the same again.

"Some workers showed up on Monday at a factory in Kuji even though it had been destroyed. Asked why he was there, a young worker smoking a cigarette outside the skeletal remains said: "Because it's a work day."

They've been down before, and they'll get up again.