An inland earthquake just shook me back into heightened awareness, if I was sleepy I’m awake now. So now I write. It’s Saturday and the weekdays past were full of meetings, catching up, presentation planning, and day to day workloads. It’s myriad of work life, stress balance, maintaining run rate business whilst seeding new opportunities.
Thus is the life as a foreigner working for an American company in Tokyo. Since being here over the years, I’ve learned that Japanese can be very risk averse. The planning and decision making process can consume nearly twice the amount of time as in other places. The lifespan of projects can involve more meetings and approval levels than frustration levels can withstand. It’s bureaucratic and nearly every aspect is done via a committee.
So when I watch the news prior to my trip up north and saw that shelters, refugees, and survivors were struggling to get aid and essentials. My natural reaction was judgmental. I was somewhat critical of how processes could negatively impact the military, national, and municipal crisis management efforts. If things worked at the pace and cycles that I’ve been used to; there will likely unnecessary burdens befallen on people in need.
I was wrong. I was wrong to assume this as I realized that the people involved in all these efforts are working as hard and as rapidly as possible. These include the local coordinators, volunteers, firemen, police, and military. It’s elevated response and elevated considerations for the people in need. They are just simply overburdened.
They have been going 24×7 since March 11. At every corner and turn in the areas up north you’ll see them out in force searching, distributing, and organizing. They too are regularly being inundated with quakes, radiation fears, smells, and disturbing scenes. The events were a hat trick, one two punch with a third blinding blow. If it were only the quake things would have bearable. But then comes a massive tsunami which is topped off by 6 out of control reactors.
It’s been long days of initially searching for survivors, containing damage, sheltering, reestablishing life line support, finding the dead, and providing comfort in any which way possible. If you see these folks you’ll witness first hand that they are indeed fighting for Northern Japan’s life. When I came across a few of them they expressed appreciation towards all the volunteer groups and people who’ve come together ease their responsibilities. With this thought in mind, I’m going to proceed with my day today and start coordinating my next trip up north. It’s time to step up again.
Linh Vien Thai is Amerasian, born in Dalat, South Vietnam, where he continued to lived during the war. He left for the U.S. and is now an American living in Tokyo. He enjoys adventure traveling and doing what’s right to make the world a better place.
