I've been tweeting the news from Japan in English for about 13 hours straight. It's the very least I can do.
I've been following some Japanese tweets from ordinary people too, many re-tweeted by my Twitter friend @choytan. And this one by @resaku just struck me straight in the heart.
As I was walking for 4 hours from central Tokyo, I was thinking. The sidewalks were overflowing with people, but everyone was walking stoically, in an orderly manner. The conbini (convenience stores) and other stores were all open for business as if nothing had happened. The internet infrastructure survived all the shaking, and was fully operational. All around, emergency help centers (for people trying to get home) were opened, and the commuter rail lines were soon back in operation and said to run all night. This is a great country. I don't care what our GDP rank is.
都心から4時間かけて歩いて思った。歩道は溢れんばかりの人だったが、皆整然と黙々と歩いていた。コンビニはじめ各店舗も淡々と仕事していた。ネットのインフラは揺れに耐え抜き、各地では帰宅困難者受け入れ施設が開設され、鉄道も復旧して終夜運転するという。凄い国だよ。GDP何位とか関係ない。
偉いよ、日本。皆さん頑張って下さい。
Like
Love this :) Seem so normal to Japanese (?), but where other place on earth can be doing the same like this..
Thanks for the post, 100
Thanks for the post, 100 Like. Hope we all (civilians and gov't leaders) learn something about what kind of community we want in our race for GDP growth, our indulgence in more is better.
glowing heart
That tweet made my heart sing. I have relatives in Japan that we haven't been able to get a hold of, and the image in my head from this tweet gave me hope and comfort. I honestly don't know how people would react in America if this were to happen. I admire the Japanese peoples' heart and unity in such a crisis.
This is so true about the
This is so true about the Japanese! As I've been keeping up with the news, I've noticed the lack of reports of riots or people going crazy in the streets. Everyone is orderly and patient and seem in fairly high hopes, despite the horrendous destruction.
I remember hurricane Katrina, which hit home since I lived near New Orleans and many of my relatives lost their homes, and I remember the reports of chaos in the streets, people looting, and all the murder that happened afterwards. What was reported in the news never truly depicted what happened in the city... We had so much more time to prepare to evacuate too! Its so amazing the vast difference between that disaster and this one.
I fear what would happen if something similar happened3 to the US.
Maki, thanks such a lot for
Maki, thanks such a lot for fantastic reporting! your quick and informative updates are hugely helpful. can't thank you enough for keeping it up for so long!
I hope your aunt is fine. --
I hope your aunt is fine. -- sorry, couldn't comment on Twitter.
Maki, thanks so much for
Maki, thanks so much for tweeting. You're my main source of info as a foreigner living in Japan.
japan can always survive
japan can always survive anything
Thank for tweeting and
Thank for tweeting and keeping everyone informed who doesn't speak Japanese. You're doing a wonderful job.
Thank you so much.
That is a touching tweet. I
That is a touching tweet. I can see why you wanted to post it.
Thank you so much for all your tweets today. I'm trying hard to work today but still want keep an eye on what's happening.