14.3.11

Leaving Japan

Due to current uncertainty looming over the entire country, I will be leaving Japan tomorrow.
Filosofia and company evacuated from Tokyo on Saturday and are now staying in Osaka, about a 7 hour drive from Tokyo.

This is the view from my window





















In spite of scrambling out of Tokyo with just a shirt or two and the shoes on my feet and leaving the rest behind, I do realize how lucky I am, and that in terms of being a refugee, I am a very privileged one. And though I am grateful, this has been an exhausting, frustrating, and sad time full of misinformation and countless worry. The decisions to leave Tokyo and now Japan entirely have not been easy ones, and in a lot of ways feel somewhat preemptive, though considering the threats of impending radiation leakages, perhaps preemptive is good.

And yet, in spite of the fear and the uncertainty, Osaka thus far seems very unaffected. Girls are still wearing their crippling high heels and the malls are still packed. Such mix-messages have only added to the overall sense of confusion and surrealism of what has been happening.

Fleeing an invisible threat, a threat that in some ways was always expected, has raced me across the country, leaving me with a cacophony of glimpses of what I'll be missing flashing past the car window.

 
But in the midst of the chaos, there are sweet moments...
and displaced dogs in need of company.

So for now, I say goodbye to Tokyo...
Sincerely hoping it won't be too long until we see each other again.

2 comments:

  1. Wow high heels and crowded malls, it's so crazy how life tends to just go on. I'm glad you're ok, where to next?

    Susan

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  2. yeah, it just adds to the disbelief about the situation. our hotel is being prepared to become a shelter now. if all goes as planned, we have flights back to frankfurt. should arrive wednesday night. fingers crossed!

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