Tragedy in Japan: An international student's perspective

by Maria Kanai

I am sure I speak for all Japanese international students in Hawaii that the earthquake and tsunami that hit our country on Friday caused a great deal of pain and fear for all of us with friends and family back home. As of now, death tolls have risen to 801 and are expected to exceed 10000. For the past 24 hours, I've been checking the news regularly and I feel torn between a desire to go home and a strangely guilty sort of relief that I am safe here in Hawaii. 

For me, the worst of it is over because I've managed to get in contact with loved ones and confirmed that they are safe. For others though, the lack of communication with those in Sendai and other areas in Japan must be frightening, and I can only be very thankful that my friends and family are all safe.

I found out about the earthquake during dinner with my roommate at home, whose sister called and let us know about what had happened. I remember thinking it was probably just another earthquake; it shouldn't be a big deal. We have so many earthquakes in Japan on a regular basis, and I've never known an earthquake in my lifetime big enough to cause much disaster.

My roommate and I went to our computers to check if anyone we knew were online. Then we both saw the facebook statuses and online news, and I realized the enormity of the situation. It then became crucial to get in touch with everyone we knew.  We tried calling, but the phone lines were down, so chatting and Facebook became the only means of communication.

I soon discovered that my friends and church were all fine, but I was still in the dark about what had happened to my family. For about an hour and a half, I was unable to get in contact with my father or my sister. That hour and a half was torture. It was easy to spring to horrible conclusions when you have no idea what happened, but I kept praying. During that time, I heard all about the earthquake from my friends in Japan.

"The building started shaking sideways, like as if you're on a boat," said my friend Elly Ishihara, whose school Kanto Christian International School (my school too) was evacuated under the principal's orders immediately after the shaking began. The students fled outside to an open area and watched as "cars that were parked rocked back and forth, the poles shook, and there were people outside huddled together."

Hearing the earthquake directly from a friend made the earthquake even more real. To my relief, I managed to finally get in contact with my sister and father at around 9:00 pm Hawaii time. They were both fine, but my brother-in-law was stranded in Tokyo and at the time no one could get a hold of him. He had to walk home for 6 hours, and just came home this morning. Thankfully, convenient stores were passing out free food and water for help.

I would never take communication for granted ever again. My heart goes out to those who are still unable to reach their families. My father, Hisamitsu Kanai, was very calm over the phone, and told me that "Japan has had its share of earthquakes and tsunamis. We are used to this sort of thing, we will pull through."

It's the first time a disaster of this magnitude hit my home during my lifetime, and it's painful to watch the news and recognize the places that were destroyed. 

Please everyone take care, and keep praying for Japan.