Lost and Found

I was thinking about the time. About the train we needed to catch that afternoon. So it wasn't until we had walked through the forest for 40 minutes that I realized I had left my camera on a wall by the public toilets at the last mountain viewpoint. I had just reached for it to take photos of my friends picking their way from rock to rock across a stream and discovered it wasn't there.

What to do?

I certainly didn't want to walk all the way back up that mountain to the viewing sight to see if it was still there. But who to call? Oh well, I couldn't worry about it then. I'd have to wait until we stopped for lunch.

The forest was beautiful. Sunlight dappled through the leaves. Birds and cicadas were singing. The weather was perfect. After a couple hours, we reached our sheltered picnic spot. I pulled out my smartphone, found the viewpoint on google maps, and then located the shrine next door. I called the number for the shrine.

"So sorry to bother you, but I left my camera on the wall by the toilet at 10:30 this morning. Do you think you could take a look and see if it's still there? I'm really sorry to bother you."

"I'm busy now, but I can check it later. What's your phone number? I'll call you back."

Great. I ate my sandwich. Just as I had finished, my phone chirped.

"Moshi-moshi," I answered.

"Hi, it's the lady from the shrine. I checked the wall but there is no camera. Why don't you call the police? Maybe someone turned it in."

"Which police station should I call? Do you know?"

"The one in front of the station."

"Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help."

Google to the rescue again. I found the police station, gave them a call, and told them my story.

"Yes, someone turned in a camera found at that viewpoint this morning. You'll need to send us a copy of your ID and some sort of proof that that is your camera. It would be bad to send you someone else's camera, right? We get an awful lot of cameras and smart phones turned in here. Once we receive your fax, after the weekend, we will send your camera to you COD, is that OK? Is it alright for you to pay for the postage?"

"Of course! Thank you very much!"

Five days later, I had my camera. Thank you, anonymous person who turned it in to the police. Thank you, kind woman at the shrine. And thank you, helpful policeman.

Remembering the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

Stories from around the country from the days following the disaster.

A group of young punks were spotted at a convenience store buying drinks and beer. When they got to the cash register, one of them realized if he bought the beer, he wouldn't have any money left to make a donation for quake victims. He returned the beer.

A woman and her baby were caught in the tsunami. A man on a second floor balcony climbed down to help her, passed the baby up, helped the woman up, and then he himself was washed away.

A 60 year old man was rescued by the Japan Self Defense Force 15 kilometers out at sea. He had been adrift on a roof when spotted.

Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company from other areas of the country volunteered to help in the Fukushima plant. Leaving his wife and daughter, after a lifetime of experience working in nuclear plants, one gentleman was only six months away from retirement when he left for Fukushima.

Uniqlo (chain of clothing stores) employees donated 1 billion yen ($12,408,610) to help the victims. The owner matched that donation from his personal funds and promised to donate as many "heat-tech" garments as are needed.

The Fukuoka government offered free prefecture housing to earthquake and tsunami victims whose houses were washed away or irreparably damaged.

By March 31, 2011 "...about 90 percent of roads damaged by the tsunami and earthquake have been repaired or made passable, and most restrictions that limited traffic on roads to emergency vehicles have been lifted."

At least 52 countries sent aid, from cans of tuna sent from the Maldives to the US military's $90 million Operation Tomodachi.

And today, 7000 households still live in temporary prefab housing. 

Gratitude

We were sitting around the table at the seniors' home, chatting over our snacks, when I overheard this snippet of conversation.

"You know kanji, right? I can read them still with no problem, but I cannot remember them at all to write them."

The woman she was addressing was a picture. She had taken the time in the morning to put on makeup and bobby-pin her black wig like a hat atop her hoary hair. She replied, "I can't write them at all anymore either, but that can't be helped. Look at us! We're in our 90's! We're completely different from young people as far as that goes. We should just be very thankful to have lived so long, don't you think?"

At another locale, a beautiful 100 year old woman with an angelic halo of white fluffy hair told me that each day when she wakes up, she is filled with appreciation. "My ears can hear, my eyes can see, I am alive, I am healthy. I have so much to be thankful for." "Kansha, kansha," she said. "Gratitude."