March 14, 2011
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun's March 14 issue.
* * *
When a person speaks of being "far away," about how far is that imagined distance, I wonder?
Hototogisu Jiyu Jizai ni Kiku Sato wa
Sakaya e San-ri Tofuya e Ni-ri
(If you want always to hear the call of a little cuckoo, you had better live in a remote village, two or three ri away from the nearest store.)
As the man of refined taste living in an inconvenient rural area in this satirical poem says, anyone would regard ni-ri (two ri, with one ri being about four kilometers) or san-ri (three ri) as fairly distant.
In the recent massive quake that hit the Tohoku and Kanto regions, tsunami uprooted houses and trees and went on demolishing areas as far as 10 kilometers inland--a "far away" two or three ri.
As for myself, I cannot deny having the fixed idea that anglers fishing on jetties or people living in coastal areas should be alert for tsunami.
Tsunami reportedly ravaged areas on land as soon as 30 minutes after the quake. Earthquakes accompanied by tsunami can occur at any place and time.
How would I act within such a limited time frame, which could even be "this very day?" A horrible vision--blurring the lines between sea and land--forces the question upon me.
As I listen to the latest news, the number of deaths and missing people is rising by scores at a time.
Properly speaking, now would be the time for me to close my eyes and pray for the souls of the departed and the safety of the missing, leaving other lessons until later. But the cold reality of being in a major quake-prone country does not allow me to do so.
(Mar. 17, 2011)
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The following is a translation of the Henshu Techo column from The Yomiuri Shimbun's March 14 issue.
* * *
When a person speaks of being "far away," about how far is that imagined distance, I wonder?
Hototogisu Jiyu Jizai ni Kiku Sato wa
Sakaya e San-ri Tofuya e Ni-ri
(If you want always to hear the call of a little cuckoo, you had better live in a remote village, two or three ri away from the nearest store.)
As the man of refined taste living in an inconvenient rural area in this satirical poem says, anyone would regard ni-ri (two ri, with one ri being about four kilometers) or san-ri (three ri) as fairly distant.
In the recent massive quake that hit the Tohoku and Kanto regions, tsunami uprooted houses and trees and went on demolishing areas as far as 10 kilometers inland--a "far away" two or three ri.
As for myself, I cannot deny having the fixed idea that anglers fishing on jetties or people living in coastal areas should be alert for tsunami.
Tsunami reportedly ravaged areas on land as soon as 30 minutes after the quake. Earthquakes accompanied by tsunami can occur at any place and time.
How would I act within such a limited time frame, which could even be "this very day?" A horrible vision--blurring the lines between sea and land--forces the question upon me.
As I listen to the latest news, the number of deaths and missing people is rising by scores at a time.
Properly speaking, now would be the time for me to close my eyes and pray for the souls of the departed and the safety of the missing, leaving other lessons until later. But the cold reality of being in a major quake-prone country does not allow me to do so.
(Mar. 17, 2011)
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