Japan: Harajuku one Sunday afternoon

There are somethings in Japan we just don't understand. These photos are from one Sunday afternoon in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, and best explain themselves.

Japan: United Japan Tsumani Relief, Tohoku

We have just spent a week in the Miyagi Prefecture in Northern Japan, in an area around Sendai City, helping with the tsunami relief effort as a part of the United Japan team from Jesus Lifehouse church. We teamed up with a group from Samaritan's Purse, who provided a lot of the resources we needed to help the local residents get on with their lives following the disaster.

On 11 March 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan, its epicentre 72km east of the Oshika Peninsula. It was the most powerful earthquake to have hit Japan, and one of the top 5 most powerful since records began in 1900. 10-30 minutes later, a tsunami wave of heights reported up to 8m hit the coast of Japan. To date, there have been 15,457 confirmed deaths.

Overlooking Ishinomaki Bay, Miyagi Prefecture, an area on the coast that was swamped by the tsunami. The peak height of the tsunami wave observed here was more than 7.6m

 The same view before the tsunami

 After

 

These flowers and paper cranes on the hill overlooking the bay mark 100 days since the tsunami struck.

Our work with United Japan focused on the village of Shindate in the Miyagi prefecture. Here, many of the homes were destroyed, and many of the residents were without insurance. We were able to hear firsthand their incredible stories of survival. 3 months since the tsunami, many of the houses that were destroyed beyond repair have been bulldozed into piles of twisted metal and rubble. What remains is an enormous clean up job - which seemed overwhelming to us as visitors, and must seem even more so to the people living there. Some are still living in refuge shelters, whilst others have chosen to return to live in their homes and help with the clean up effort.

It is difficult to grasp the level of devastation. Around every corner, there is a mangled wreck of a building, an overturned car, piles of rubbish, oil, broken glass an other debris washed up by the tsunami. The dominant colour palate is greys and browns - everything the tsunami touched, it left a coat of contaminated dirt. In some areas, the clean up effort is yet to begin. We certainly felt that we were a very small part of what is going to be a very long process.

 Luke and Matt next to a pile of bags, which we had shoveled full of contaminated soil and rubbish.

View from the Yoko's house

Jill, with Yoko the hairdresser (Right) and her daughter. Yoko and her husband had worked hard to clean up her hair salon, which is across the road from her house, so that she could get back to work as soon as she could. Unfortunately, most of her clients died in the tsunami. She cut both of our hair, and wanted to do so for free as a way of saying thank you for helping with the clean up effort (though we insisted on paying her what we would in NZ). Since the tsunami, she has been having great difficulty sleeping.

Our United Japan team: Luke (NZ + Tokyo), Hiroko (Tokyo), Andrew (Canada + Tokyo), Jeff (USA + Tokyo), Matt and Jill, along with Yoko and her husband.

We formed a bond with Yoko and her family, after she cut both of our hair. (Matt: it is scary having someone cut your hair who doesn't speak English! Thanks to iphones and google images, I showed her what I wanted, hoped for the best, and she did an amazing job!). She invited the team to her place, and was very generous feeding us a meal (which she said people in rural Japan loved to do). Hearing their story first hand was emotional and humbling. Yoko was at work, when the earthquake hit. The tsunami warning was for a 1m tsunami, which the residents didn't think was too bad, so she hurried back and forth from her salon trying to save what she could. Soon she heard people running and yelling about a 3m tsunami, and she ran for it. She saw people in cars swept away by the force of the water. She was lucky to survive the torrent, and was trapped inside a car for 3 days. Her husband, who is a carpenter, recalls how he thought she was dead during those 3 days.

Now they have, with the help of relief teams, cleaned up the salon and are in the process of repairing their own house. Her husband helps to repair the other houses in the village, whilst Yoko cuts hair when she can - most of her clients however are no longer around. Jill had the opportunity to pray for Yoko and her family, which they accepted gratefully. This is certainly an area in need of a lot of prayer, as both buildings, and lives, are fixed.

 

 

Jill, in protective gear, demonstrates the water line left by the tsunami.

We were sad to leave Shindate village, as it is obvious that there is much, much more work to do. United Japan have teams going up every week, and will continue to help as much as they can. If you are the praying kind, send a few up for these guys, as they certainly need it.

As an aside: we felt a couple of reasonable good sized earthquakes whilst we were up north, and apparently there was a warning for a tsunami after one of them. We were in the hills where we were staying during both of them, so quite safe. In fact, we felt quite safe during our entire time in Miyagi. We drove through Fukushima (perhaps a little unnerving to know there is a crippled nuclear plant nearby), but the word on the street was that if you remained outside of the red zone which is 30km or so, then you were ok, and I think we were at least 100km away from the plant itself. Luke was a little worried after he had some milk and later discovered it originated in the Fukushima region.

Another 'experience' we had was of traditional onsen (hot springs) after each days work. Separate guys and girls, naked, hot spas. An experience, actually very relaxing, but as Jeff from Philly said as he was sitting in the spa with 10 other guys, "Yeah, not sure this will ever take off in the States". Or anywhere else for that matter.

Tokyo: First Impressions

We arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, and have spent the first few days recovering from jet lag and exploring this vast city. Our hosts for the next 3 weeks are more Kiwi friends, Luke and Vanessa. They have been living in Tokyo for 5 months and have a cool apartment that we are able to stay with them in.

Ok, so first impressions of Tokyo (and Japan). Obviously, the language has been difficult, as we don't speak more than 2 or 3 words of Japanese. Luckily, a few (but definately not all) of the signs have some English, so at least we know which direction on the subway to head. Other times, especially at the shops, we find ourselves just pointing at what we want and hoping for the best. No nasty surprises yet, except a chicken ciabatta roll which which was lost in translation and became chicken soup (and sadly never became a roll again).

We have become pretty good (or so we think) at using public transport overseas, and we especially like to use the underground systems to explore the city and then head back home. London's Underground is old but works well, the interchange stations are well placed and you can get where you want to pretty easily. Paris's Metro is very nice in its layout, a little dirty in places, but again pretty straight forward. The MRT in Singapore would have to be our favourite, very simple and easy to use. Tokyo's Metro would have to be the most confusing we have encountered so far. It just doesn't make sense at times. It's also not separated from other lines, so some of the trains that come by are actually going out of the city - which doesn't happen on other underground systems. Matt had a mare on the metro this week, where a 2 line trip turned into 5-6 lines (I lost count) and over 1 hour to get to the desired destination. I'm sure if we could read the signs it would be better.

 It will not defeat me!

But not all grim. Some things bypass the language barrier. We have had some of the best coffee we have had so far in Tokyo. These flat whites would seriously compete with anything you can get in Auckland, AND check out the art on top! Mamma Dee, you'd better work on something more than the fern.

The food also is as expected, amazing. Different to Japanese at home, however, its not all about sushi and sashimi. At the restaurant above we had 'Shabu-shabu', where you are given thin slices of raw beef and pork, which you cook yourself along with vegetables in a pot of boiling broth. It is delicious, and unlike anything you have tasted before (unless, of course, you have had shabu-shabu).

Goodbye London

It is with some sadness that we say goodbye to London (and the Western Hemisphere) as we head East for the next few months. Thank you to Will and Hayley, Ash and Lucy, Jared and Nat, and cuzzies Steve and Nicky for making London such a fantastic time for us. It was great to catch up with you all, and we will miss you.

In other news, we've arrived safely in Tokyo.

Paris: The Eiffel Tower

 

  

Paris: The Art - Le Louvre vs Street Art

 

Behold - I bring thee Gatorade

 

The Famous Lady with that smile

A couple of Space Invader originals we spotted in Montmatre.

With Augustus at Le Louvre

   

Plato, Artistotle, Socrates, Matt Andrews

The Goddess of Love with Aphrodite

 

These ones are for you Del! Many sphinx

A mummy (or daddy?)

Paris, a city of culture, is full of art. The Louvre is full of treasures - as cliched as it may sound, it was very cool to see the Mona Lisa in real life. Matt most enjoyed the ancient Roman and Greek halls, where we saw the actual busts and statues of various characters he learnt about studying Latin and Classics (Dad - Augustus was the 'ruthless' one from the essays of mine you read).

Walking the streets of Paris, we came across numerous examples of street or urban art. Much different to the territorial graffiti that plagues the streets back home, this is more about artists challenging the notion of art, by placing it in a non-art context. Some of these pieces are very clever, and some would say beautiful. For the skeptics, pieces by the artist known as 'Banksy' have sold for over £100,000 at auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's. Unfortunately we didn't see any Banksy in Paris, but did come across a couple of 'Invader' originals - pieces made up from small ceramic tiles to resemble 'Space Invader' characters (see the film "Exit through the Gift Shop"). Perhaps, in 100 years time, people will flock to the Louvre to see a Banksy behind the thick glass?

France: Château de Versailles

Idyllic French countryside path 

Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, a "country escape" created for her in the palace grounds. Here they brought in peasants to create a working farm for Marie to frolic in. They dyed the sheep to match her dresses, and bathed them in perfume so they smelled sweet for her. You can imagine the rumours that went from the peasants on the hamlet back to the villages about Marie- she was truly out of touch with her people.

The Petit Trianon, a small chateau in the grounds of Versailles initially built for one of the King's mistresses, it was eventually given to Marie Antoinette by King Louis XVI as a way for her to escape the palace. She loved it.

The grand canal in the palace grounds- Matt with baguette in bag.

Thats the Palace of Versaille in the background. Its massive.

The gardens immediately in front of the palace. Apparently, the French way is to dominate nature, creating straight lines and symmetry out of rows of trees and hedges.

On of the highlights of our trip to Paris was the day excursion to Versailles, on a day bike tour. (Would recommend 'Fat Tire Bike Tours' for any heading this way). From central Paris we cycled out to a train to take us out to Versailles, about half an hour out of the city. We stopped off a village market to buy our lunch for the day - fresh baguettes, incredible goats cheese, parma ham, duck pate (mousse de canard), and fresh apple and cherry juice.

The grounds of the palace are immense, and beautiful. Our helpful (and very American) guide Andrew gave us a rundown of the history - King Louis XIV built the palace, Louis the XV lived in it and enjoyed it, and Louis XVI (along with Marie Antoinette) paid for it - with their lives. King Louis XIV (who built it) had said "I am the state", and also "after me, nothing" - basically, I know that I'm screwing the country over by spending so much money on such extravagance, but its not going to be my problem. The gold around the top of the palace and its gates was originally real, it was looted during the revolution, and now is just gold paint.

After the busyness and occasional dirtiness of the city, we loved getting out into the French countryside, riding bikes through tree-lined avenues, the sun, eating our lunch beside the immense central canal overlooking the palace. We did get inside the palace to see the king and queen's chambers, famous Hall of Mirrors and Hall of Victories, but it was packed with tourists inside. Much nicer to be out enjoying the gardens.