THE TSUNAMI AND THE RECOVERYWhen I registered for the 2013 Grassroots Summit in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, I also
registered for the post-summit trip to Sendai. This city is in Miyagi Prefecture, where I had
visited in 2009, and I was eager to revisit old friends and to see the damage done by the tsunamithat struck the area on March 11, 2011. After the disaster I tried to contact my 2009 host family,
Kou and Kazue Sato, in Matsuyama. It took 3 weeks before I learned they were okay. They
were fortunate, as they lived inland from the disaster area and just lost electric power, as did
approximately 4.4 million households in Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake that caused thetsunami occurred 43 miles east of Tohoku, Japan, and 19 miles under the water. It caused
tsunami waves that were as tall as 130 feet in some sea areas and the wave surge had travelled up
to 6 miles inland in the Sendai area. The power of the earthquake was so great that it actually
moved Honshu, the main island in Japan, eight feet to the east.
Mr. Sato knew of my arrival from previous emails I had had with him and it was great tosee him when I arrived in Sendai. He had attended a funeral that day, but found time in hisschedule to briefly visit with me and even brought a nice present, which is a common courtesy inJapan. After a short visit with him, I met my new homestay host family, Masataka and Akiko
Tatsuda. This nice couple, about my age, was very friendly and made my stay in the Sendai area
very enjoyable and provided some delectable meals.

Akiko and Masa Tatsuda in Sendai on my arrival

An enjoyable dinner of raw seafood (sashimi)

In the morning our tour group visited the coastline area of Sendai where the tsunami hadgone 5 miles inland from the coast. Several thousand persons had been killed in this area andmany were the elderly and the very young. We were told that most of the older children were inschool and their parents were working in the city, so only the youngest children and thegrandparents were home and bore the brunt of the tragedy. Many seniors that had survived thewave destruction died subsequently from hypothermia due to the absence of electric heat to keepthem warm in the cold March weather. Other survivors, who made it to shelters, subsequently
died due to the loss of their medicines when the wave tore their homes away. In one area wevisited, only the elementary school was standing amidst the concrete foundations of hundreds ofhomes that were destroyed. Survivors, who had received warnings and had made it to therooftop of the elementary school, could only watch as homes were destroyed.

Numerous volunteers have come to the area to help in the cleanup and reclaim the land.
Many of the house lots have not been claimed by relatives as in many cases whole families
perished in the disaster. Much of the coastline will revert to agricultural areas, but a problem isthat at present the water in the ground has high salt content. It might take years before fresh
water in the water table is restored to normal for drinking and agriculture.

Elementary school that survived the tsunami

Foundations of homes devastated by tsunami

A high berm is being built along the coast that might reduce future waves and discussions
are ongoing on how to mitigate future damage to property and human life. Because this area had
been devastated in the past there was a berm about 2 miles inland with stairs for an escape route,which did lessen some of the damage and loss of life.
A Buddhist monument has been constructed along the coastal dune area that was funded
by a private individual. A Shinto torii also was constructed near the monument. We were told it
is common in Japan to have recognition and remembrances of a tragedy by both religions in thesame area.

Only a few homes were standing after the tsunami.
Trees in distant horizon are on the coastal dune.

Shinto torii with statue of Goddess of Mercy in rear.
The dark stone wall has names of victims.

Coastal area near Sendai before tsunami

Coastal area near Sendai after tsunami

Several weeks after I returned to the USA from my Japanese trip, I received an email
from Ms. Masae Coomber, who had been my translator for my Yokohama lecture. I had told her
about my trip to Sendai and the tsunami damage that we had seen and she informed me thatduring the rescue and recovery operation that the USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) had been oneof the ships that had assisted the Japanese. The “T” in the ship’s designation indicates it ismanned by civilians as part of the Military Sealift Command. I had knowledge about the Navy’s
role in the response, but did not know that the ship named for my ancestor was one of the ships.
The USNS Matthew Perry is a supply ship that was built in San Diego and was launchedand christened on August 16, 2009. The ship was sponsored by Hester Evans, a great-great-great
granddaughter of Commodore Perry. The ship participated in disaster relief after the 2011
Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami. During the 21 days of operations, the USNS
Matthew Perry completed 17 separate replenishment events. The ship transported relief supplies
and delivered more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel to needy areas of Japan. The relief effort wasappropriately called Operation Tomodachi, which means friendship.

USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) with helicopter
departing with supplies to Japan
During tsunami relief efforts
USNS Matthew Perry in Hawaii