Early this morning, around one a.m., I first heard the news of the horrific earthquake in Japan. It was clear then that most of the damage was in northeastern Japan, my favorite part of the country. I lived off and on in the mountains of Iwate prefecture for many years, after first living in Kyoto, then Tokyo. Much later this morning I found out that much of the destruction was in Iwate. When I saw Kamaishi being engulfed by tsunami, I couldn't help but cry. I lived on the Kamaishi line, the only railroad in the world with station names in Esperanto. (Of course, Japanese, too.) When I looked out the window here this morning, I saw that yesterday's hard rain and high winds had taken the prayer flags down. Up in the apple tree, a solitary crow sat crying.
My friends in Iwate all live in the mountains and are, I trust, safe. But I know that most of them have family and friends up and down the Pacific coast of Japan. What a tragedy.
