In my daily dose of news from North America and the BBC I also check out Japan Today and The Asahi Shimbun. Both are pretty good media sources, and good places to learn more about what is going on in Japan.
Two pieces came up recently that I want to share with you. The first is good news about travellers coming back to Japan after the terrible natural disasters that have damaged this country so much.
I remember clearly after the Tohoku earthquake that destroyed so much in north-east Japan. It was truly terrifying for those whose homes and loved ones were hurt, or lost, or taken so brutally from them. After the chaos, the wreckage was unbelievable, and even today there is much rebuilding work to be done. I was also not so impressed when some resident expats were interviewed at the airport as they left. Some comments about how they were “never coming back” and that “it’s too dangerous to stay in Japan” were not so well received.
Don’t let the door hit you, I guess.
But life, somehow and someway, will come back. Lost loved ones do not, but life is seemingly tirelessly finding ways to continue on. And so must we.
One comment in the article needs to be highlighted:
That is a GREAT idea! How about coming to a place off the beaten path… Kagawa might be nice….
This second article is about a couple visiting Japan, and they even spent time on the Ohenro Pilgrimage trail in Shikoku (yay!). The gentleman had an epileptic seizure in Shinjuku Station in Tokyo and was hurt as a result. The couple returned to Canada and wrote a very nice thank you to the strangers in the subway who stopped what they were doing and helped them get the medical attention they needed. A touching story, and good to share.
So often the news is full of terrible things, and heartbreaking reports of human suffering that could have been stopped or avoided. The talking heads on the news are now shouting heads, and the noise to pure sound ratio is at a wretched imbalance.
While there may be some “sugar-coating” at times about how great life can be in Japan, sometimes life here really can be sweet. Come and see us! Come and visit us in the jewel of the Seto Inland Sea in Shikoku.
