Dear Friends 8 January 2012
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.
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New year 2012 started.
I introduce you some topics.
As you know Japanese people return to each hometown in the New Year holidays.
My student who lost his house in Kesennuma told me that he visited to his relative in Tokyo.
His grandmother stayed with her relative in Tokyo too.
But she kept being inside the house of her relative in Tokyo during these holidays.
I understand her a little.
If that terrible disaster had not occured, she was supposed to enjoy the happy season at her own house beside the beautiful sea.
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2011年12月31日New Year's Eve
https://picasaweb.google.com/118043873387557594061/20111231NewYearSEve?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Mr. Suzuki visited my home on the last day of the year.
He is one of the graduates of my labo.
He is an owner of an auto garage.
I saw him for the first time in a year.
We talked about each experieces at the disaster.
The next day of the disaster, he visited to Yuriage district by bicycle.
He saw plenty of the dead bodies, more precisely plenty of the parts of the dead bodies.
Because he has an auto garage, he has some experiences of encountering the dead bodies.
But he has never seen such a lot of the dead bodies.
He hoped these bodies would be found by their family.
He delivered some oil heaters personally to one of the temporary villages last mid-November.
This village was made in an obscure area of Ishinomaki and has only ten temporary houses.
Even it was already mid-November, the residents had no heater.
Now all evacuation centeres were closed.
But there are many people remained who need daily help.
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2012年1月1日New Year dishes
https://picasaweb.google.com/118043873387557594061/201211NewYearDishes?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Next photos are the New Year dishes of my home.
"Osechi" we call the New Year dishes in Japanese.
It usually includes many foods, i.e. chestnuts , herring eggs, black beans, dried kelp, burdock roots and so on.
And we have rice cake soup.
I felt a little sorry for enjoying these Osechi.
It must be difficult for many people to enjoy Osechi.
Well, these many people include you.
Sorry!
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2012年1月5日Historical site
https://picasaweb.google.com/118043873387557594061/201215HistoricalSite?authuser=0&feat=directlink
I visited to historical sites of Tagajo.
I wrote about Tagajo in the article of From Sendai 15 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/316285/church/fromsendai15.html
I saw rubbles remained.
And I saw snow covered rubbles equally.
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2012年1月7日Sendai harbor
https://picasaweb.google.com/118043873387557594061/201217SendaiHarbor?authuser=0&feat=directlink
I visited to Sendai harbor yesterday.
I saw a ferry boat at anchor.
And I saw the sea so calm.
But you can find a building which roof was deformed by tsunami.
We will not encounter such a terrible building from now.
Volunteers take a New Year holidays by tomorrow.
They start their activities from the day after tomorrow.
Pray for them.Amen
fromsendai
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/316285/church/fromsendai.html
God bless you!
Shinji Nagashima
