2011/04/12 Japan earthquake: Returning home to …

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Japan's well-built society 
Federal appeals court upholds
What was most impressive on coming home to Sendai, Japan, after the quake and tsunami injunction blocking Arizona
was how few homes had been destroyed, and how rapidly life here is returning to normal. immigration law
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with GOP over deficit
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Chicago school bans some

lunches brought from home 

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Su r v iv or s ch a t ea ch ot h er n ea r a n a r ea dev a st a t ed by t h e Ma r ch 1 1 ea r t h qu a k e a n d t su n a m i in
On a g a w a , Miy a g i pr efect u r e in n or t h ea st er n Ja pa n . (Lee Jin -m a n / A P Ph ot o / A pr il 1 0 , 2 0 1 1 ) Teachers Under Fire »

RELATED By Brav en Smillie

April 12, 2011
What California can
learn from the
Chile, New Zealand I recently returned to my home here in suburban Sendai,
and Japan quakes
Japan, having fled with my family soon after the earthquake
Op-Ed: Why is there so much contempt for
When the shaking and tsunami. Everything changed for this region on that teachers?
starts, the water afternoon of March 11. People lost their lives and their
rushes in, or the
fallou t loom s, what are y ou going to
homes, and that should not be minimized. But what impressed
do? Three writers' tips for coping me most on coming back alone to pick up the pieces was how
with disaster in the m odern world few homes were destroyed, and how rapidly life here is
Editorial Cartoons »
Will Angelenos returning to normal.
learn from the
Japan quake? Three weeks ago, kilometer-long lines of desperate motorists
had blocked roads near gas stations, nearly preventing us
from driving out. Now the lines are just a dozen cars deep, and
moving. Also gone are the lines of people that once snaked for
hundreds of yards from the entrances of blacked-out grocery
stores. Gone are the harried store clerks fumbling with
megaphones as they explained rationing rules. Simple
inconvenience has replaced a sense of impending panic.

I pulled into our driveway, scanning the walls for cracks, then Click t o see t h e fu ll ca r t oon a n d m or e »
visited neighbors to give them customary gifts and to chat.
The ongoing return to orderly life outside our home

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2011/04/12
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Japan earthquake: Returning home to …
contrasted with the remnants of chaos we'd left inside. Wall
hangings were strewn everywhere, and a chair from one room OPINION: MOST VIEWED
had inexplicably migrated to another. They were reminders of
1. Roth IRAs: A real 'fiscal
just how severely this place had been shaken, and what a Frankenstein'
wonder it was that so many homes here were left standing.

Having lived in Japan since 1989, I've spent decades 2. Why nuclear power is still a
good choice
nonchalantly riding out minor quakes. Now I jump at each of
the frequent aftershocks that bring back the experiences of
March 11. On that quiet Friday afternoon, a routine window- 3. Tim Rutten: Paul Ryan's
rattling rumble grew into a rolling, jerking ride as the walls budget blueprint would push
the aged into poverty
seemed to dart out and snatch at us. Try to recall your worst
falling dream and you'll have a sense of what it is like to lose 4. Why is there so much
all sense of confidence in your walls, floor and ceiling, and contempt for teachers?
then even the ability to stand.

5. Doyle McManus: The fight

When the shaking finally stopped that day, I jogged out into a on Capitol Hill wasn't about
light snow to collect my daughters Tina and Elena from their money; it was about political
nearby elementary school. As I arrived on the playground, I power
was frustrated at how difficult it was to find my children, or to
distinguish any of the faces of the children I knew. There was 6. Photo gallery: Aftermath of
a nuclear meltdown at
something common in their appearance. Every kid had the Chernobyl
same mask-like facial expression — a thousand-yard stare that is astonishing to see on a child.
7. Should there be a 'fat tax'?
My 10-year-old, Christina, later gave a glimpse into the experiences that produced those shocked
expressions: "It shook from the floor, and almost everybody was crying.... And our teacher said,
'Duck down under your desk and save your head!' It was like we were on a big boat and we were 8. Social experiment: Know
holding on to the feet of our desks and it was going back and forth and back and forth, like rowing a thy neighbor
boat." The shock and terror were real. But not one child or teacher at the school was seriously hurt.

9. It's time to let the

As the assembled children waited for their parents, we looked across the playground, watching long, Chowchilla kidnappers go free
low, quick swells pass across the surface. Sometimes the ground seemed to rotate around us in
impossible ways. We heard a series of distant explosions, and a few much closer. How, I thought, had
the school building remained intact? Shouldn't there be rubble? 10: Patt Morrison Asks: Jane
Harman, the 'best Republican
in the Democratic Party'
The March 11 quake produced some of the most intense ground shaking and tsunami surges ever to
hit a populated area. I have seen the areas where entire towns — and the families who lived in them —
were literally washed away. It is hard even to grasp destruction on that level. It is harder still to grasp
how much more of the earthquake zone remains totally intact. And I don't just mean physical The Latest | NEWS AS IT HAPPENS
structures; our societal structures have held fast as well.
Bill Dwyre: Angels, season are still warming up -
On my return, I am not having to sift through rubble; I'm only having to get the gas reconnected. This L.A. Times - Sports 04/11/2011, 11:35 p.m.
life-and-death difference was made by things that we usually regard as mundane: building codes,
Dodgers have two special Ks and one bad break in
evacuation drills, honest contractors. 6-1 win over Giants - L.A. Times - Sports 04/11/2011,
11:30 p.m.
On the day of the quake, after our initial relief at having survived, we had to improvise sources of
heat, light, sustenance. Almost as bad as the lack of electricity, gas and water was the lack of knowing. Looking at what Lakers need to do to secure No. 2
seed in the West and home-court implications
This gnawing uncertainty grew over the next few days, especially after cellphone service was restored
against Miami and Boston - Lakers Blog 04/11/2011,
and we began to learn of the overheating nuclear reactors in Fukushima, about 50 miles south. News
11:24 p.m.
reports showed a bull's-eye of concentric circles on a map of our region, with red in the middle, where
the reactors were burning, and shading to orange and yellow farther out. We were outside the yellow Angels rookie Tyler Chatwood gets rude reception
part, but not far enough. In the end, it was that expanding bull's-eye map that clinched our decision to in a 4-0 loss to Cleveland - L.A. Times - Sports
04/11/2011, 11:05 p.m.
leave.
Giants upstage Frank McCourt again in attack on
Hours of searching yielded four seats on a flight out of the local airport in Akita, but to get there fan - L.A. Times - Sports 04/11/2011, 10:55 p.m.
meant a drive of more than six hours on mountain roads. We had about 23 liters left in the tank. But
was it enough? In deep snow on uncertain roads, there would be no margin for error.

We set out, driving first through town and then on rural roads that gradually climbed into low
mountains. Around dark, I watched the odometer and fuel gauge pass the point at which we could Save. Share. Connect.
turn back. More miles and hours passed, eating up precious fuel on the climb. I became so focused on
mileage that I even slowed the windshield wipers down, hoping it would save fuel during the trip.
RSS » T w it t er » Fa cebook » Mobile » A ler t s »

We made it. But after a period of relief, I began to feel a little guilty. Had I left others behind to
manage when we should be pitching in too? After 17 days away, it was time to go home.
Get the Opinion L.A. Newsletter
I returned to Sendai in advance of my family. It seems that many families with young children also
The best in Southern California opinion
left after the earthquake. Now they are trickling back in, still a bit nervous as they monitor news of
the nuclear plant cleanup and ride out frequent aftershocks, sometimes rivaling the original quake in journalism.
intensity. School administrators are scrambling to figure out how many students they will have for See a sample | Sign up
the new academic year, which started April 11.

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2011/04/12 Japan earthquake: Returning home to …
People talk about where gas lines are the shortest and where fresh eggs are on sale again. Friends pull
up in front of my house asking me to grab a shovel and join them in a day of volunteer work clearing
MOST VIEWED MOST COMMENTED
debris in the nearby tsunami zone. There are no stories of looting or violence, because those things
would be unthinkable. The Japanese people and their culture have a tenacity and resilience that come With tension in the air, Giants and Dodgers
out in times like these. And barring some massive failure to contain the nuclear mess in Fukushima, again take the field
we may very well look back on the aftermath of this disaster, despite the tragedy and loss of life, as a
LAPD officers who complained about ticket
societal success story.
quotas are awarded $2 million

Braven Smillie, who was born and raised in San Diego, is a freelance translator in Sendai. Nicolas Cage's national treasure recovered
Copy r ig h t © 2 0 1 1 , Los A n g eles T im es Tyler Chatwood's debut brings back memories
for other Angels pitchers
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林真理子さん書き下ろしエッセイ 簡単メールアドレス登録 ! change as movement's numbers drop.
w w w .clu bst a r s.jp
Court upholds judge's ban on Arizona
immigration law
Obama to draw sharp contrast with GOP over
deficit
Lakers, your NBA champs, say worrying is for
chumps

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