Oh, Lord, live inside me, lead me on my way. Lead me home. - Jamie N Commons "Lead Me Home"

I am deeply saddened to have learned that my friend Emi Ishikawa died earlier today. She was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer a couple years ago and fought it as hard as she could for as long as she could. She was only 24.

Emi was one of the first friends I made in Japan and was one of the last people I saw before leaving the country. She was a devout Christian, had a heart for service to others, and was one of the kindest, friendliest people I have ever met.

During the week I spent in Tokyo, just before leaving Japan, the most important thing I did, by far, was spending an evening at Emi's house. Sweet and wonderful Cindy Holloway arranged for a pastor friend of her's and Emi's to come to Emi's house.  A small group of us had a short service and then all took communion with Emi and her family. It was a profoundly moving experience and a memory that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Emi never lost hope that she would get better. She had plans for her future that were just as bright as the smile that was always on her face. Rest in peace, Emi. The world is a little darker without you.

"Oh, Lord, live inside me / Lead me on my way / Oh, Lord, live inside me / Lead me on my way / Lead me home / Lead me home / Oh, Lord, in the darkness / Lead me on my way / Oh, Lord, in the darkness / Lead me on my way / Lead me home / Lead me home / Oh, Lord, heaven's waiting / Open up your door / Oh, Lord, heaven's waiting / Open up your door / Lead me home / Lead me hom.

- Jamie N Commons "Lead Me Home" 

As the world awakes to the rising sun in each brand new day, in our own rebirth, in this healing time on our mother earth. -John Denver “Healing Time”

Today marks 1.5 years since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred. During my summer vacation, I had the opportunity to travel to some of the effected areas. While a tremendous amount of progress has been made in cleaning up, the road to recovery will be very long. Many former neighborhoods lie in abandoned ruins because people are either too afraid to move back to the area or having nothing left to move back with, for or to. For others, memories of former homes and lives are too painful to try to rebuild.

A memorial marker for the family that lived in the house which used to fill this lot.

A Wider shot of the lot with the memorial marker.

Many foundations remain, but show that entire houses were ripped from the ground and washed away.

 

Remnants of dishes, trays and pottery that used to be in someone's kitchen.

Some houses survived the tsunami, but were flooded and consequently molded to the point of being uninhabitable.  

After the tsunami hit the shoreline and the water receded, entire neighborhoods sank. The extent to which this happened wasn't all that apparent until you came across a manhole cover in the middle of the street or a sidewalk that was significantly higher than everything else around it.

 A collection of debris from several neighborhoods in the area.

Trees less than 100 meters from the beach.

“Tsunami Evacuation Area”

 

Former park area near the ocean.

 Close-up of the right side of the above picture.

Abandoned warehouse.

Up to this point, the pictures I've posted were taken in Shichigahama, which is just a little bit north of Sendai.  My friend Azusa was in Ishinomaki (still in the Sendai area, but slightly northeast of where I was) a few weeks before me.  She took some wonderful pictures and was kind enough to let me post here.

 Debris along the waterfront.

More waterfront debris.

Memorial site in Ishinomaki.

Okawa Elementary School

Kadowaki Elementary School

 Children practicing baseball outside of Kadowaki Elementary School.

 Elementary school, amidst sunflowers.

 A vacant house that has since been decorated.

 As I said, it has been eighteen months since the earthquake and tsunami. To date, the confirmed death toll is 15,870. However, another 2,846 people are still listed as missing. Families of the missing people have had to face the challenges of trying to pick up and move on with their lives without actually knowing the fate of their loved ones. By Japanese law, under normal conditions, a person has to be listed as missing for seven years before they can be declared dead and the family can collect life insurance. During times of natural disaster, the legal “waiting period” is twelve months. Because of the severity of the March 11^th earthquake/tsunami, the government shortened that period to three months from the time paperwork is filed to declare a person missing. Filling out said paperwork involves answering the question “Do you or anyone in your immediate family have any reason to believe ______________ is still alive?” For some families, saying “No.” is still too difficult, so in spite of the time that has passed there are still close to 3,000 people listed as missing.  

Japan still needs positive thoughts and prayers.  A lot has been done, but there is still a long, long way to go.

The stander on the mountain, looking for the fountain, to drink some to think some about the old days. -Bruce Hornsby "Stander on the Mountain"

Before moving to Japan, I did some research to find out what Kumamoto was famous for. I remember being slightly perplexed that the two things the city was most widely known for were its many varieties of basashi (horse meat) and the active volcano in the mountains just outside the city. However, after moving to Kumamoto, I quickly discovered that the people of Kumamoto (Kumamotoans? Kumamotites?) are VERY proud of both their basashi and their volcano/mountains, and that I would need to develop an appreciation of both.

I spent a few days in the Mt. Aso area (where the volcano is located) last summer during English summer camp, but I didn't get to see very much of the area since I was working the whole time. But two weeks ago, a woman from my congregation (Soga san) drove me out to the mountains after church and showed me all of her favorite places. Soga san is very sweet and is probably the healthiest, most energetic 70 something year old I've ever met. She loves the outdoors and had climbed most of the mountains in the Kyushu area.

 

Our first stop was to see the Asahi wind farm. The wind turbines, while obviously not natural, are a feat in and of themselves. It was really windy while we were there, so they were going crazy!

Our second stop was to a stream that comes straight out of the mountain and is clean enough to drink from! There were many people sitting by the stream and filling up giants jugs to take back to their houses. (Kumamoto is also known for having delicious water, most of which comes from the same spring.)

 Soga san filling a bottle of water for me!

Our next stop was the volcano. There is a normally a fairly steady outpouring of sulfur dioxide and depending on the direction and strength of the wind, the tourist area is sometimes closed, but while we were there, the winds were in our favor. 

 Driving away.  A view from the road of the area we just visited.

The final stop of the day was to one of Soga san's favorite hiking areas. One of her more frequented trails led straight up into the clouds. We hiked up a short trail and came to a landing or plateau of sorts and found an old man playing the harmonica while birds chirped happily around him. It was quite picturesque! I felt like I was in a movie. :-)

 

Being in the mountains with Soga san got me thinking a lot about how much I take my surroundings for granted. After moving to a new place, how long does it take before you stop seeing the beauty around you on a daily basis? When I first moved to Kumamoto, and for many months after, I was very much in awe of the natural beauty that surrounds the city. I'm not sure when I lost touch with that beauty but I am very thankful to Soga san for reawakening me to it!

The boundaries of language are quietly cursed, all the different names for the same thing. -Death Cab for Cutie "Different Names for the Same Thing"

As many of you know, I really enjoy watching movies.  Since arriving in Japan, I've noticed several movies that have different titles in Japanese than they do in English.  Sometimes the titles have been changed due to an inability to properly translate slang or for cultural reasons.  However, some titles are changed for reasons I can't understand or explain and occasionally lose a little something in translation.  I thought it might be interesting/informative/funny look at some movies that have titles different from the American ones we know and love.

 

Year One → What If 1AD Was Like This?!

(We would all be doomed.)

What Women Want → Heart of Women

 

 Diary of a Wimpy Kid → Greg's Bad Diary

 The Stepmom → Good Night Moon 

(Interesting choice.)

Where the Heart Is → For You

 

Street Kings → Fake City

Buried → Limit 

(Probably a better choice.)

  Horse Whisperer → Held By the Wind in Montana 

(Hmmmmmm...)

 

Dead Poet’s Society → Live for the Moment 

(Awwww!)

 

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen → League of Legend

 

  Shattered Glass → News Genius 

Meet The Spartans → Almost 300 

(I thought this one was pretty clever.)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon → Green Destiny

 

  Monster's Ball → Chocolate

  Sister Act → Sing a Love Song for Angels

The Bucket List → How to Find the Best Life

 

As Good As It Gets → The Romance Writer

 

 

In Bruges → Hitman's Requiem

 

Up → Grandpa Carl's Flying House

 

Suckerpunch → Angel Wars

Ratatouille → Remy's Delicious Restaurant

 

Napoleon Dynamite → Bus Boy 

Body of Lies → World of Lies

  Resident Evil → Biohazard 

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Scott Pilgrim vs. The League of Evil Exs

Jersey Girl → I Love My Dad The Best In The World  (My personal favorite!)

AND THE WINNER OF THE "MOST LOST IN TRANSLATION" AWARD GOES TO...

 

Army of Darkness → Captain Supermarket 

So there you have it.  Many different ways to say (kind of) the same thing.  If I find more interesting translations in the future, I'll be to do a Part 2 to this blog.  Thanks for reading!!!