Notes on Japan

Michiyo’s family is safe. They didn’t even feel any shakes during the earthquake, and they do not live near a coast, so there was no danger from the tsunami. The threat of radiation will most likely not directly affect them. While the absolute devastation affects so many people, we are extremely fortunate to not have any bad news to report. In fact, Kumamoto is about 950 miles from the reactors, which is roughly the same distance between Jacksonville, Florida, and New York City, i.e. a long way.

Her family lives in Kumamoto, which is about two hours south of Tokyo by plane, and three hours from Nagasaki by car. Her parents grew up in Nagasaki, but Michiyo was raised in Kumamoto, where her parents and sister still live. My brother Mark and I taught in Kumamoto for three years each, and Michiyo and I met there.

The earthquake happened off the coast of Sendai, which is north of Tokyo, and the tsunami affected about 400 miles of coastline, all north of Tokyo. The malfunctioning nuclear reactors are in Fukushima, about 200 miles north of Tokyo.

Here is a map to illustrate the locations of Kumamoto, Tokyo, and Fukushima:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201795426423469426753.00049e98adab5b3f175f6&ll=32.175612%2C142.77832&spn=18.105694%2C28.256836&z=5

Some perspective:

On a map, Japan stretches from northeast to southwest, but for the sake of easy explaining, let’s just say North to South. The total land mass of Japan, if squished together, would roughly equal California, but as the islands are arranged, the total length of Japan, from the islands of Okinnawa to the Mountains in Hokkaido, is equivalent to America’s east coast, from Florida to Maine.

Other additions

So far, we do not have a direct family or friend that who lost their house or life. One family that used to live in St. Louis is 60 kilometers from the reactors, and they are fine so far. My good friend Ed lives in the Tokyo area, and they were without power for a bit, but his family is safe. As stories develop of English teachers affected, including one woman, Taylor Anderson, whose body was found, most of these foreigners are JETs, doing what Mark and I did, and I can only assume, having a great time. We never know what life has in store.

Thank you all for your concern, and please continue to keep the people and country of Japan in your hearts.

Our one-sentence family update is that Michiyo will be giving birth in the next 2-3 weeks; her Mom Chieko will arrive on Tuesday to enjoy and assist with the first few months of her granddaughters’s life.