Mother Nature causes disasters like this. However, for as long as people have lived in the Tohoku area, we have been coping with its tough natural environment. Also, we nourished our minds within the surrounding nature, and despite enjoying few luxuries, we developed a way of life built around humanity.
Prevention/protection against tsunamis is perfect, and nuclear power is safe, or so we were told. But as we look at the reality, we see that the so-called scientifically proven foreseeable events are not stable. Clearly, it has been shown that there is a limit to scientific technologies. The damage was caused by unforeseeable events caused by a natural phenomenon, or so they say.
This is the most absurd excuse to those like us who study natural science for a living. It is precisely because nature produces unexpected phenomena that it is worth studying. To discover a novel phenomenon or uncover new knowledge it is a great pleasure. In other words, nature is a treasure trove of unforeseen phenomena.
There is a stone stele standing in Aneyoshi, a small seaside area of Miyako city. It bears the inscription, "Do not build houses lower than here". This lesson saved 30 lives of 11 families from the "unforeseen" tsunami on March 11 (ref: Iwatenippo, April 3, 2011). The local ancestors' knowledge was far more helpful than millions of dollars' worth of enormous embankments. There is a philosophy of "accepting and living with nature".
Since the M9.0 earthquake, a month has passed. The Japanese government announced that it will establish a committee with people of intelligence to plan the recovery and reconstruction after the earthquake. It seems that their sense of crisis is concerned mainly with the "nuclear power plant problem". Of course, nuclear power is an important matter for Japanese. However, when an earthquake and tsunami happen, is all fine provided nuclear plants are intact?
The reality of the disaster is that an enormous earthquake and tsunami which may happen only once in a thousand years hit the Sanriku coast and other areas. And in one small settlement, Aneyoshi, no lives were lost in this disaster. We have to recognize the roots of Aneyoshi's survival to be able to produce a reconstruction plan for the future. On the other hand, how many people understood the reality of the Sanriku coast before the March 11?
Tohoku has the Ohu mountain range crossing from south to north, and the Pacific Ocean side has the Kitakami mountains and the Abukuma mountains. The Kitakami mountains are located in close proximity to the Sanriku coast, so that the coast is divided from the inland area. This geographical feature resulted in the historical development of two different cultures, an inland culture and a coastal culture. The inland area benefit from a high-tech transportation network with the Shinkansen. The southern coastal area has developed as an industrial region which benefits from marine transportation. In these areas, the main focus is on recovery and reconstruction of companies/industries. On the other hand, in the Sanriku area (to the north of the industrial area), there are scattered fishing towns, which are closely related to small to middle-sized seafood processing factories in those towns. These factories have not been able to attract workers from the local younger. Also, these areas include towns which have a high suicide rate.
People living in Sanriku have been and will continue to lead simple lives based on the philosophy of living with abundant nature. At one evacuation centre, a "not-so-young" man was asked "What would you like, if you could have anything, right now?", and replied "A small boat and fishing tools". This was right after the devastating once-in-a-thousand-years tsunami. Not because he wants money, but because he is a fisherman. Reconstruction of the environment in which people like him, who enjoyed living with nature, could live, cannot be achieved only through the government's economic efficiency.
Here in Iwate, we have wonderful cultures which developed from symbiotic living with nature. They are cultures we can display proudly to the world, and I don't mean only the Hiraizumi of the Fujiwara clan (the family who built the so-called golden culture over its 3 generations). Taneichi High School in Hirono town is the only school that provides courses for special professional divers called "Nanbu-moguri". "Kesendaiku", who originate from Rikuzentakata city, are highly skilled in building houses without any nails. "Urushikaki" are the people who prepare "Urushi" from Japanese lacquer tree extract and distribute it throughout Japan for use as a coating on wooden dishes. All are small sized practices/companies, but also wonderful cultures that utilize nature's gifts. They also have an important meaning as examples of "reasonable scale".
We must find the way to reconstruct a society in which people can stand on their own feet with their own culture. Let us realize a society in which those 30 survivors of Aneyoshi can live with rich humanity.
First, we must listen to what the younger generation has to say, analyze the status of small areas, pinpoint the most important factors, and then aim to make an overall reconstruction plan. During this process, the lifestyles handed down from the people of Nanbu/Date era to the people of Iwate will be our guide.
In facing this disaster, we will do our best to play our part as translators who understand nature and make the best use of ancestral knowledge.
April 11, 2011