It’s … very painful. Seeing Japan under siege like that is especially heart-wrenching because I’d been such a close follower of her language, traditions and culture for more than 15 years. That’s half of my lifespan so far. And this sense of helplessness is shared by many, as technology has brought forth the impact of disasters on a whole different scale. We feel like we can do nothing as we see those black menacing waters destroy all kinds of breakwaters, defense lines and cement walls like play-dough. And with much morbid horror, also witnessing tides just swallowing everything up as they rushed along clean streets, neatly-rowed houses, even moving vehicles on the highway. We have actually seen and witnessed the very moment when people die, because there is no way they could have survived the rush of a tidal wave which is hurtling large debris like cars, houses, poles, cement city walls built to withstand a tsunami, ships, anything and everything at you. It brings the terror of natural calamities to a very different scale, ‘courtesy’ of affordable cut-throat technology which has essentially made us into film-makers.
I think I will never forget that video where the waters took the houses and pushed them further inland, even crushing those big buildings in its way. The tides were unstoppable and furious. That particular footage really resembled a scene from an apocalyptic movie, which in recent years, is a popular genre. But for all of our intelligence, inventions and forecasts, we still lose miserably against nature, and with drastic losses as well.
The Japanese have a deep-rooted fear and respect for the sea. It is almost a spiritual relationship. Japan is filled with folklore and superstition, and I used to spend endless hours reading them with much interest. And you cannot miss the Japanese sentiments regarding the sea. The Soran Boshi is a popular song and dance demonstrating fishermen pulling their prized catches from the sea, and they worship tens of thousands of deities. Not surprisingly, many are sea-related entities. The Japanese are well-known for their voracious appetite for all things from the sea, i.e. fishes, sea urchins, pearls, whales, etc. I won’t be surprised if some of them reckon this is tenbatsu – a divine punishment from the heavens. What you take, you must give back. The religions they believe are quite similar across several cultures. You reap what you sow, you must pay for something you have taken. The cycle of karma is strict and unforgiving. Perhaps only the most flawless human can actually live up to such doctrines without an inch of self-doubt or wavering. I find this concept similar to the Law of Moses. The Japanese may think they have angered some god or deity, thus warranting this calamity upon themselves, and before we start laughing, superstition is woven into us even without us being conscious of it. I have caught myself on several occasions. There is, of course, a differentiation between superstition and spiritual warfare, but that is for another day.
I don’t profess to know the Japanese culture well, but I know enough to understand why the Japanese behave the way they have, in the face of an unspeakable humanitarian crisis. Nationalistic and fiercely loyal to their kind, they are immensely proud to be Japanese. They want to sort this out themselves, as much as possible. Japan is probably the most eccentric country because they are so advanced in technology, science and R&D. However, they are also the most conservative, superstitious and spiritual country in the same breath. These two aspects clash and co-live in the most puzzling manner, and the longer you dwell in and understand their culture, the more it makes sense. It’s very intriguing.
As I’m typing this, Mom just called to say that my cousin has taken the first flight out from Tokyo and is heading towards Singapore. He had experienced the tremors and finally had to leave after the nuclear reports were released. He mentioned that most people, who could leave, were leaving Tokyo, mass exodus style. Not sure whether he will continue his flight onwards back home to London, but at least he’ll be having a well-deserved rest in Singapore where our family and relatives will be pleased to have him there. My initial concern was for his safety when the earthquake struck, and just when you thought you could rest easier, it then got worse when the radiation issue was reported today. I’d experienced only the slightest of earthquakes in 2009, when I thought I was feeling oozy. I don’t want to imagine what he must have gone through.
I don’t think anyone could blame the Japanese for thinking that the Apocalypse is well and truly brought forth on them, in all its might and fury. Much as I see so much death, hopelessness and disaster all around such a nation which I adore, my only faith lies in the fact that God will work through the darkness and shed some light in the days, months and years to come. Because even when I have more questions than a 100% conviction, it is much better to be praying than lamenting and doing nothing… or relegating all these lives lost as a needed phase of evolution, Darwin’s theory of natural selection even. For many of those who died were elderly villagers, who could not stand a chance of outrunning a tide rushing towards them at the speed of a jetliner.
In 2006, there was a Japanese film titled Japan Sinks, where one of the members from SMAP acted in the main role. The archipelago of Japan was beginning to sink after a massive earthquake struck, causing the eruption of volcanoes in succession, including Mt Fuji. One end of the island began to sink, causing the rest to plummet under its weight. There was mass panic, evacuation, death and losses – very much like the dark times they are experiencing now. Much talk had begun on how real life had started to mirror fiction. And in the same year, there was a Japanese dark comedy spoof of the film, titled Everything except Japan Sinks, where in the year 2011 (how freaky is that?), there was a tectonic plates disaster which caused the continents to sink, and Japan was the only floating island left after the world sank. Survivors of the world flocked to Japan. Well, I guess no one would have thought that in the predicted year of 2011, Japan would be struck with consecutive disasters caused by similar factors on an unimaginable scale.
Life is frighteningly stranger than fiction.
Tags: earthquake, Japan disaster, tsunami
