Fumiko Endo / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
When Anabelle Kuwashima, 36, felt the incredible shaking begin in her orchard in Fukushima on March 11, she thought, "This might be the end of the world." Indeed, after the earthquake, tsunami and accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Kuwashima felt like she had hit bottom.
Her Japanese husband suggested she go some place safer, such as back to her native Philippines. Following his advice, she evacuated with her three children to a Catholic church in Tokyo on March 17. Despite fears of radiation and strong urging by her relatives to return to her home country, she is already thinking about restarting life in Fukushima, her adopted home.
"When the earthquake hit, my kids weren't with me. I want to say "thank you" to the teachers who looked after them," Kuwashima said as she wiped tears away, recalling the nightmarish day. After the quake, she ran frantically to the primary school her three children, aged 8-11, attended, praying they were safe.
Kuwashima speaks Japanese fluently and is accustomed to life in the calm rural area, where she serves on a neighborhood association in charge of events for children.
When she first came to Japan, however, Kuwashima did not speak the language or have any idea about how to run an orchard. She met her husband through a relative who had a Japanese husband, and they were married in 1997. After she arrived, she took Japanese lessons at local community center and started growing the cherries, grapes and peaches Fukushima is famous for.
According to the Justice Ministry, 2,366 Filipinos were living in Fukushima Prefecture as of December 2009. Many of them are thought to be Filipina women who have married Japanese men, and they are now a regular part of life in the prefecture.
Kuwashima's house is more than 60 kilometers away from the troubled nuclear plant. But she started to panic when she got a call from one of her Chinese friends, whose children go to same school as hers. "I'm in Niigata now. I'm going back to China for a while," she said. Kuwashima started wondering if she should go back to her home country right away.
After the disaster, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo sent several buses to the Tohoku region, where about 4,500 Filipinos live, to bring them to Tokyo. Kuwashima's husband urged her to go. "That's probably the last bus. I have to stay here for my job but you should go," he said. So she went.
Kuwashima and her children arrived at the Franciscan Chapel Center in the Roppongi district of Tokyo on the evening of March 17. The center and three other facilities, including a Protestant church, have accepted a total of up to 500 evacuees so far. The Catholic Tokyo International Center, an organization that aids foreigners in Japan, has set up a center to support non-Japanese disaster victims by cooperating with the embassy and other groups.
"I'll probably return to Fukushima," Kuwashima said. Although she admits having some fear of radiation damage, she said she wants to stay in Japan with her family.
Other families are opting to leave the area due to concerns about radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Sarah Akatsu and her family from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, who were staying at the same church as Kuwashima, decided to take a short break in her hometown of Cebu in the Philippines until the situation stabilizes.
"I'm afraid of radiation because we can't see it," said Akatsu, 47. "We might take it into our body just by breathing."
Her husband, Shinichi, manages a sign shop in Iwaki. Recently, the Akatsus and their two children got some good news: Shinichi had received a call from a client about a job.
"I'll have work in Iwaki, but until my daughter's entrance ceremony for middle school in April, we'll stay in Cebu," he said with a smile.
(Mar. 31, 2011)
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