Ishinomaki City March 30, 2011
This time I would like to talk about this couple.
On the day I was with Mr. Takahashi, the donkey guy, we had a little time to spare before we go to next shelter so he decide to drive around the town to take me to places I have not been yet.
We found a destroyed hardware store like a Home Depot and we went inside.
The store floor was completely wiped out covered by mud and debris.
The building was a story building and there was parking lot on the roof top.
We found stairs to parking lot, went up stairs, and found a van in the parking lot.
We were going back and forth in parking lot to see if there is anything,
then suddenly the van's door slid open and a lady said "Are you looking for someone?"
We were bit surprised because we thought we were alone.
There are a gentleman too and they are husband and wife. I tried to ask some question to them then they started talk their stories.
They are owners of the inn and the husband is also a fisherman.
When the earthquake struck they heard the siren of tsunami warning so they drove the van to evacuate to this roof top, looked down on the town waiting for tsunami to come hoping not to come of cause, then they found a mother and her little daughter calling for help on second floor of a house. By the time they saw tsunami was coming.
The husband jumped out the hardware store to get them out the house and tried to take them to the hardware store.
He succeeded to rescue the mother and child but he failed to rescue himself.....
The wife actually saw the husband caught by wave and dragged away.
" You know my nickname?" the husband said "people call me Kappa( a legendary monster known for good swimmer) I'm a very good swimmer. But I've learned a lesson that people are helpless in the water flow like that."
He almost got drowned but luckily he found a car tire floating and he clung on to that for his life.
He was dragged for over a half a mile and landed on an apartment building.
He could not move his body because of hypothermia.
The wife said she was ready to admit that the husband might be gone because there were no sign from him for a day and a half.
But he was OK! He came back to the roof top parking lot then they embrace each other firmly.
The husband said, to get out of hypothermic condition he used his own urine to warm up his body.
That was a method he was told by his grandfather long time ago.
Now they are staying in a van during a day and they go to the shelter at night to get food and water.
They said " There are not only bad things about tsunami. Fish breeding was a big industry in this Ishinomaki City and the Environmental Group was pointing out that the industry is polluting the sea by fish food and feces, it became a big problem in Ishinomaki.
But the Tsunami wiped everything away now the water and seabed is very clean.
More fish will come back eventually, Ishinomaki will be better fishing ground."
They also said
"There are no rich and poor anymore, we all came down to zero. Now we have to rise together to reconstruct the town. It's a start over."
At last I asked them for a photo.
Even though they had a terrible experience and they just talked about it to me, they smiled at the camera.
Tohoku people are truly strong.
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