n11 commemorations

As well as being a decade since "911", today is also the half-year anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake.  They even call it "311"! We got back from Ishinomaki yesterday. While there, and before my iPod broke, I read this blog post by Steve McCurry and, apart from the 311-911 thing, I was struck by a few other similarities and differences between the Al Quaeda attack on the USA and the tsunami attack on Ishinomaki. 

Some similarities:
About 3000 people were killed in the attacks on the US, and about the same number in Ishinomaki.
Both events produced a huge amount of wreckage.
In terms of rebuilding, both events produce dithering among bureaucrats,  and take many years to recover from.

Some differences:
According to the Japan Times, Ishinomaki lost 44,000 houses with another 34,000 damaged beyond repair, which is obviously far more than the USA.
The total number of casualties of the tsunami (~20,000) is possibly about 5 times less than those from the war on terror. Hopefully there won't be a war on tsunamis.
Steve McCurry's photos are infinitely better than mine.

Anyway, here are some 6 months later photos from Ishinomaki and nearby villages:


Ishinomaki

Nagatsura used to be some way from the coast but is now dramatically under water. It is going back to nature - there were a lot of egrets and herons around. It would have made for great photography but we only drove through.

Onosaki - near Nagatsura


Oginohama - where the shrine we deep cleaned is located.


House boat in Oginohama


Ishinomaki Warhol art? Is that whale or tuna on the tin?


The rise of the machines


Sunset over Ishinomaki