Earthquake Diary 50

 This is a flag that the kids can carry when they cross the street. In large characters it says "Traffic Safety". I thought it was kind of ironic that this torn and battered old flag was being displayed in front of a house in an area with a lot of damage from the quake. However, what you can see of the large characters says ansen, or safety, and that is the way that we are beginning to feel.

 This is another ironic, inscrutable (?), scene. The top green paper says that the building has been inspected and that it is safe. The bottom yellow paper says, "Danger! Watch your feet".

 I finally reached Asahigaoka, where I go to the Sendai Book Club meetings, and found a damaged wall beside the center that we use.

 The center was closed but the next door bus center was operating, even though there were workmen all over the place.

 The building on the left is the bus center and the building almost out of sight on the left is the center where I go to the book club. This empty lot is a good example of the political and economic problems in Sendai. The city started to build a sports center here and did some of the preliminary work on it. Then they stopped because of a lack of money. It has been this way for at least three years now. The sign on it says that work is temporarily suspended.

 I walked up into an area between Asahigaoka and Dainohara that I had never before been in. There was a lot of damage here, as well.

 There is one of the red do-not-enter-because-of-the-danger inspection papers attached to some sort of pipe. It was wrapped around so that I could not read whether it was the pipe or the wall that was dangerous. In any case I left quickly in case of an aftershock.

These two house were complete demolished. The one on the right was half gone and the one on the left was leaning precariously.

April 4
Yesterday we stayed home and rested. My wife made bread from breakfast and Indian nan for supper. I tried to do the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle. When I checked it at the end, I had about six letters wrong. Much better than I had done closer to the quake. Being tired does not help the brain.

In the afternoon, I worked on setting up my netbook to received email. It took a long time but I did it. Next I can start to set up a new tabletop. It is of the same age as the one I am using at the moment but it does not have the problems this one does.

A few more observations:

There are very few advertisements since the quake. The newspaper usually has a lot of inserts that a place within the paper by the delivery company. However, there has only been a handful since the quake. Also there are almost no commercial ads on TV, the time slots being filled by public service ads. There are two basic types. The first are aimed at getting people to be polite and thoughtful toward each other. The second are famous people saying things like "Gambare Nihon". Gambare means to try your up most. It is often used in regard to sports and school, but also in many other situations. Nihon is the Japanese word for Japan. These people are mostly sports figures, actors and pop stars. There is one other ad that does not quite fit into either of these categories. It is one in which famous actors give instructions on things that individuals can do in their own homes to help. For example, turn of electric equipment, do buy things that you do not immediately need, don't let the water run needlessly, and that sort of thing.

The gas company was working in the street outside again and in the next block, but according to the newspaper we are still not due for a return to service.

I would like to go over to the coast and personally see the damage from the tsunami. However, I would just be in the way and I am too old to be of much physical help. So instead I am going to go to Miyagi Gakuen Women's University tomorrow. I will have five classes a week there in the coming year, so it is appropriate for me to help reorganize the teachers' preparation room. Also it will be my first chance to talk to one of my friends. It will be a six kilometer walk each way but I will be able to see more of the city.

My daughter and granddaughter are returning to Kawasaki at the end of the week, either her husband or our other daughter will drive to Sendai and take them home. Their ten day stay has turned into a month. After they leave, my wife and I are thinking about finding some way to volunteer. So far we have been taking care of our own, but once they leave and it is just the two of us, we will have time and energy to help out somehow.