Kuji

I've found pictures north and pictures south, but finally a friend found an actual picture of Kuji, the town closest to where I lived when I taught English. This is where I did all of my grocery shopping, where I went to the gym, and where I hit up one of the local bistros for an honest-to-goodness burrito once a week.

The damage is unreal.  It may well have been bulldozed:

Still no word from people who actually live/work there, just reports from people who live further inland who seem to think that while the city is almost completely gone, there are very few casualties in this area.

Please let that be true.

I'm now just hoping that all of the survivors have a warm place to stay, food, water, and for Hosa, a karaoke machine.

I watched Dateline last night and cried.  Any one of those little towns along the coast could be Kuji.  I watched as the homeless, hungry Japanese people waited patiently in line for hours for their portion of federal aide.

There was no pushing, no fighting, no looting, no gun shots.

Had it been America, it would have been a completely different story.

Even though this is a tragedy, may we watch and learn a little of this civility.