As news and rumors about the situation in Japan after the earthquake, tsunami and continued potential for nuclear crisis there have been mixed reactions and responses from Japan’s neighbors in the region. The following reports from the Rev. Franklin Ishida show the breadth of these two.
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Prayers in Hong Kong

During my visit to Hong Kong, I encountered two instances of public display of prayers for Japan.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong has a newly established school, Lutheran Academy. A special assembly was called on March 17, where students and teachers stood for a moment of prayer. One of this schools expressed values is a global perspective. The students I talked to, without prompting, spoke with eagerness that they had engaged in this prayer for those who lost lives and for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami.

Meanwhile, at a shopping mall in Shatin, a place to hang “ema” (see photo – prayers or wishes written on a small wooden plaque, often seen in Japanese shrines and temples) was located in a prominent place. Children and adults were adding their prayers for the Japanese people, expressed in this Japanese form of prayer.

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Radiation, Salt and Formula

In many parts of China, there has been panic buying of salt. This is with the rumored [and mistaken] understanding that iodized salt can help ward off radiation poisoning. This is in reaction to the radioactive plume coming from the tsunami-damaged nuclear reactor in Japan. Store shelves of salt supplies have been emptied in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.

In southern China, this buying fenzy has spilled over into Hong Kong, causing hysteria and even violent struggles over supplies. In Hong Kong, at least, wild purchasing has stabilized. But newspaper reports point to a lack of trust in the government by Chinese people and a succumbing to a “herd mentality” in such crises.

In a similar way, infant formula, which was widely tainted in China in 2008, is still feared in that country. Even after the problem was resolved, people have tended to purchase Japanese-made formula. Now, with fears of radiation, people are scrambling to secure formula that was produced before the tsunami. Again, many southern Chinese are flooding into Hong Kong to buy up these pre-disaster Japanese formula stock. Stores are keeping formula behind the counter so as to avoid fights over remaining items.

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The following are stories related by the Rev. Franklin Ishida, ELCA Global Mission Director for Asia – Pacific Continental Desk, from individuals affected by and responding to the disaster in Japan, as well as a update from the Rev. Hiroaki Fujii, pastor of Sendai and Tsurugaya Lutheran Churches.

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Stories relayed by Rev. Ishida
The Japanese networks are almost nonstop showing images of the disaster area, whether that be earthquake and tsunami related or about the damaged nuclear power plant. Some of this is news, others are story or commentary. In most instances, no voice over announcements are necessary; the stories and images speak for themselves.

A woman who is searching frantically for her husband. She looks over names at refuge points and hospitals. She tries to get to where her home was, but still can’t get close due to the debris. She walks aimlessly, her name pasted on one side of her coat and that of her husband on the other, so people can know what she’s trying to do … one more person seeking the whereabouts of a loved one.

An elderly man seeking his daughter. He looks at the descriptions of each person at the morgues. In so many cases, identifying items were washed away from the bodies, and all there is to go on are the person’s height and particular clothing. He finds one description of a embroidered design on a jacket worn by a deceased woman. He goes in to the morgue, but emerges distraught … it wasn’t her.

A man searches the web for photos taken of name lists posted at refuge points and hospitals. He looks at each one carefully and transcribes the names he finds there to a database, which he posts on the internet. A friend of a friend of a man, who had been separated from his family, sees this list and sends a text message that this man that his wife and two children are alive. Before this, he had no idea whether they were alive or not, as cell phones and other means of communication were not working properly. This was great news.

A university researcher in the area of disaster preparedness had helped plan mitigation efforts in many communities along the coast. One town built a multi-million dollar disaster/evacuation center. A school had a specific plan for evacuating children to higher ground in case of a tsunami. These plans were based on computer models for a large tsunami. The only problem was this tsunami was much greater than anything anticipated: in some places the wave was three or four times higher. People had taken refuge in the evacuation center as they had practiced, to a special room on the second floor. The tsunami overwhelmed the whole building, and even those in the “upper room” were washed away or floated up to the ceiling. One woman survived by grasping a curtain rod up by the ceiling, floating with only her face above the water. Meanwhile the children at the school had taken refuge; but they saw the waters coming up, and they all ran to even higher ground. They were safe. In all this, this researcher both grieves over the failures to prepare for a tsunami that overwhelmed all expectations; and celebrates the human will to persevere and overcome all danger.

In this disaster, there are human stories told over and over again. The words coming from the survivors, the rescuers, the caregivers, and others. These are enough to make this all so real.

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Update from Rev. Fujii from Sun, March 20
Today, eleven people attended worship.

Several members had already told me they could not attend because of there being no gas.

We are thankful for everyone around the country for their special prayers for victims of the disaster. We prayed this during worship. We also announced that a group will be coming on the 23rd from the disaster task force.

(Oh, we just had another aftershock.)

In response to the news that task force people are coming, there are differing opinions on this. Some of positive, while others are less so … even though they are victims of a major disaster, they don’t want all the attention.

Some members want as many propane tanks [used for table top cooking stoves] as possible. If you can bring these, it would be very helpful. We also need toilet paper.

While our lives are slowly getting back to normal, there are still many inconveniences.

Just yesterday, I stood in line for over an hour just to get two packages of instant noodles and soup.

At today’s worship, some members brought rice and packaged food. We are grateful.

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Another update from Shinji (Thomas) Nagashima about the situation in Sendai, Japan.

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Dear Friends

I am one of the members of Japan Evangelical Lutheran Sendai Church. When this terrible earthquke occured, I was in front of my computer [in] my office. I am an associate proffessor of Tohoku Gakuin University. Tohoku Gakuin University has three campuses. My office is in the Tagajyo campus. Tagajyo is one of the coast areas stricken by [the] tsunami.

[The] Tsunami came near Tagajyo railway station. [The] college chapel [is] filled with people [who got] away from tsunami. One of my co-worker told me that his house was swept away. But his family [is] safe. It’s [a] miracle. Another co-worker told me that he can’t contact his parents. I’m worring about the people who live in the coast area. My many students and co-worker must [have been hit by] the tsunami. I’m trying to contact students. One of them, Abe who lives in Minami Sanriku, which had the largest damage sent me an e-mail. “I am alive! My house was swept away.” I tried to reply [to] him. “If possible, come to my house.” But [my] e-mail couldn’t reach his address.

[The] urban area of Sendai and [the] local area around our house is ok. But as you know, the coast area [has] had terrible damage. The electric power began working in my house, there are few places which electric power is available in Sendai yet. We have to get [in] line to get water and food. I got [in] line yesterday to get food for two hours and I couldn’t stand [the] cold. I called my daughter Maiko by mobile phone to exchange getting [in] line for me. We are managing to survive. There are 6 members in my family. We have parents who need care. They live near my house.

But I would like to go and see my churh, now [that] we have [a] little rice and [a] little gasoline. Newspaper delivery was stopped because of the lack of gasoline. Pastor Fujii let us know that [the] church building is ok. He has the responsibility of two churches (Sendai church and Tsurugaya church) and three nursery schools. He is in need [of] food and gasoline.

We are worrying about the accident of nuclear energy plant too. But our house is far from [the] nuclear energy plant, about 100km(62 miles). Now there is no need to worry about the bad influence on us.

Despite this, we are fine. We eat something everyday. We are laughing everyday. We are praying to God everyday.

Please pray for us. Hope God blesses you all.

Thank you.

Shinji Nagashima

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Below is an update from Shinji (Thomas) Nagashima in Sendai of what life has been like in the days following the earthquake and tsunami.

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Dear Friends

Today I went to shopping to the neighborhood mall. But it was badly damaged by the earthquake. I went to another shop. Just after me and my wife got in line, one van arrived with vegetable and rice. Fortunately, we got them.

And then I found a few people in front of the next another shop. One clerk said “Sorry, we are busy [cleaning up] the shop. Now we have a few items for sale.” I got some wheat flour! As you can see the photos below, people were getting in line to acquire their necessity.

Almost all gas stations are closed. I found one open gas station. But it is permit only. TV [said] that tank trucks are heading for Tohoku area now.

We exchange information with others during getting in line. We can get useful information from some websites.

The tap water began to run but low pressure.

We are fine. Many people in the coast area are fighting an uphill battle.

Pray for them!

Shinji Nagashima from Sendai

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The Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is an international training ground for grassroots leadership located in Northern Japan and not far from the epicenter of the earthquake that struck late last week. The ELCA has an ongoing relationship with ARI, providing scholarships for agricultural education to many Lutheran companions throughout Asia and Africa.

Below is an update sent out by ARI Graduate Coordinator, Steven Cutting, on how the quake, tsunami and nuclear threat have and are affecting their community. Please keep Steven, his family and all at ARI in your prayers as they continue to learn how these disasters will affect their lives and their work.

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your emails and for your concern, worry, and prayers for us. We are all fine. My family is fine and everyone at ARI is fine.

ARI sustained quite a bit of damage from the quake, but nothing like you are seeing on the news. The worst hit areas are on the coast, which were slammed by the tsunami. Some of our buildings have structural damage, but we do not yet now the extent. EVERYTHING is a mess and smashed, since everything on every shelf, desk, or cabinet was thrown violently to the floor. We started cleaning up on the day after the quake, but we stopped to regroup in the face of the even scarier stuff happening at the nuclear power plant. The plant is about 100-130 km from here (hard to get a straight line fix on the distance). The latest news of the last few hours is even more serious than the previous days since it started leaking higher levels of radiation. They are evacuating to a 20 km radius and outside that they say to stay indoors. The radiation in this area is higher than normal but not to danger levels apparently, but the wind started blowing radiation directly in our direction. Before today the wind was blowing it away from us.

I took Miki and the kids to Gunma prefecture and stayed there with them for 2 days. They continued on south and west to Kyushu which is quite far away from all the danger to stay with Miki’s mother. Since the conditions seemed to be stable last night I returned to ARI to help clean up, but unfortunately conditions became much worse. Still we are sticking it out here for now, staying indoors, as running would also have its problems and would not necessarily be safer. Somehow most people living in this town are just going on with life as normal.

They will turn off the power in a little while for about 4 hours, so I will try to get this sent now.

Thanks again for your concern and prayers. We have enough food and water and we are working together.

Steven

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In a news release from the ELCA, the president of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC), Rev. Sumiyuki Watanabe, shared thanks for the ELCA, Lutherans worldwide, their prayers and support in this time of need in Japan. Speaking from the Lutheran World Federation-sponsored meeting he was attending in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, he stated, “Those in attendance at this meeting have remembered us in their prayers, and I feel great joy for the Lutheran family. Please continue to remember and pray for us.”

As reports have come in over the weekend it has been learned through the Rev. Hiroaki Fujii, pastor of Sendai Lutheran Church, that his family and all of the children of the congregation’s preschool program are safe, though some of the teachers have not been heard from. Sendai, a city of more than 1 million people was near the epicenter of the earthquake and was one of the hardest hit regions by the tsunami. Contact in the region has been spotty as cell phones continue not to work and gasoline has been scare. The greatest need expressed was for food and water.

To learn more read the full ELCA News Release.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.