2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake by The quakebook community & Our Man in Abiko

Author:The quakebook community & Our Man in Abiko
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Digital Dales Ltd
Published: 2011-04-11T16:00:00+00:00

Leaving

A Twitter exchange I saw a few days after the earthquake:

"Anything a returning gaijin can bring back that would be helpful?"

"People who run away don't need to bother bringing back anything—including themselves."

Rice and milk may be in short supply, but there has been no lack of accusations and vitriol in the foreign community following the quake. Those who stay are brave loyalists; those who leave are turncoat cowards. There are as many reasons to stay or go as there are suitcases. Tokyo is my home now, and I wanted to be there to do what I could. I'm not scared of radiation or inconvenience. I walked toward the burning World Trade Center on 9/11. Running away isn't normally what I do. I have a close friend who works at Tepco Systems in Tokyo—she didn't leave. Abandoning friends isn't normally what I do either.

Yet here I am, on a borrowed couch in L.A. I didn't have an answer compelling enough to stand up to frightened family who demanded my "solid reasons" to stay. It's hard to stand up to 1 a.m. phone calls asking, "Leaving is easy, so WHY are you making us all worry like this?" Circumstances did make it easy for us to leave. Since I can work from anywhere, it came down to balancing a remote but tangible threat against abstract ideals.

So I left a key behind hoping that someone who truly needs our apartment will use it. I comfort myself knowing that we are one less household drawing power and two fewer stomachs taking food and water that is desperately needed up north. I don't think my reasons for leaving are any more valid than someone who just felt nervous. Everyone has to do what's best for them. When we were talking about it the night before we decided, I considered that the worry suffered by my family would take more years off their lives than radiation could from mine. All I had to fall back on, finally, was the belief that leaving would damage my idea of who I am. Jim agreed, but asked if that was worth possibly putting my life at risk.

Part of me is glad to be where the only radiation threat is from the constant sunshine. My family is certainly relieved I left Japan. And if that's not worth it, what is?

Sandra Barron

Los Angeles

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