Heart warming

Japanese people have been very open on Twitter about their experiences following the quake. These snippets of what moved them and touched them during these very trying times are heart-warming.

Please continue to pray for the people in Japan.


Reminded of the goodness of the Japanese people
This earthquake has reminded me of that Japanese goodness that had recently become harder and harder to see. Today I see no crime or looting: I am reminded once again of the good Japanese spirit of helping one another, of propriety, and of gentleness. I had recently begun to regard my modern countrymen as cold people, but this earthquake has revived and given back to all of us the spirit of "kizuna" (bond, trust, sharing, the human connection). I am very touched. I am brought to tears.

Card board boxes
It was cold and I was getting very weary waiting forever for the train to come. Some homeless people saw me, gave me some of their own cardboard boxes and saying "you'll be warmer if you sit on these!" I have always walked by homeless people pretending I didn't see them, and yet here they were offering me warmth. Such warm people.

All of us
I spoke with an old taxi driver and some elderly staff at the train stations. All of them had been working non-stop and had not been able to go home for a long time. They were visibly very tired, but never once did they show any sign of impatience; they were gentle and very caring. They told me, " because all of us are in this together." I was touched at what the notion of "all of us" meant to these elderly people. It is a value I will treasure and carry on to my generation.

Goth youth
A goth youth with white hair and body piercings walked into my store and shoved several hundred dollars (several tens of thousands of yen) into the disaster relief fund donation box. As he walked out, I and people around me heard him saying to his buddies, "I mean, we can buy those games anytime!" At that, we all opened our wallets and put our money into the donation box. Really, you cannot judge people by their appearances.


HOPE