英語版 Today marks 15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake.
- アイラブジーザスチャーチ
- 12 分前
- 読了時間: 3分
Remembering the disaster-stricken areas of Fukushima, which have yet to fully recover from the nuclear accident, and thinking of the evacuees from Fukushima and Ishikawa, I am reflecting once again this year on what I can do to help.
Until two years before the Great Hanshin Earthquake, I lived in Osaka as a junior high school student. After moving to Niigata, I watched the devastated areas of Osaka and Hyogo on television. As a high school student at the time, I felt a deep sense of helplessness at my inability to do anything. I lived with the thought that if a disaster ever struck again, I would want to be of help. When the Chuetsu Earthquake hit my hometown when I was 26, I resolved to take action, which began my journey in disaster relief.
Since then, I have had the privilege of participating in relief efforts in various disaster-stricken areas: Hurricane Katrina in the US, the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, the Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake, the Sumatra Earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake, Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, the Western Japan Torrential Rains, Typhoon Hagibis, and the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Through these experiences, I have witnessed the pain firsthand.
Particularly during the Great East Japan Earthquake, I was a victim myself while simultaneously participating in relief efforts. Before those experiences and memories fade, my conviction—that we must prepare and take countermeasures for the Nankai Trough earthquake, a direct-hit earthquake in Tokyo, or an eruption of Mount Fuji—has not wavered over these 15 years.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and various universities are currently running simulations for these disasters, but I pray that every possible preparation will be made.
In this 15th year since the Great East Japan Earthquake, I hope that the establishment of the Disaster Management Agency will be completed and that full-scale countermeasures will be implemented. There is so much to be done—not only the 72-hour emergency response immediately following an earthquake, but also industrial policies including post-disaster reconstruction plans, and the training of personnel capable of handling states of emergency.
Just as fluctuations in oil due to conflicts in Iran affect our daily lives here in distant Japan, the occurrence of a disaster impacts our lives even more directly.
While the government, business sectors, and private citizens can work together to prepare physical countermeasures against earthquakes daily, we can also make mental preparations as a countermeasure for our hearts. Furthermore, as the WHO states, human beings are holistic entities in need of spiritual care. Therefore, care and preparation for our spiritual identity and existential value are also necessary.
The Christian church, which has historically provided spiritual care within the international community, recognizes the limitations of political and physical care. Thus, I pray that we can provide the utmost preparation and care for life itself.
There is a verse in the Bible that says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." In times of life-threatening emergencies, there are limits where human power and political authority simply cannot save us.
Unlike the days of Noah—when people did not believe his warnings and suddenly faced a great flood—I want to deliver a message to all of Japan this year. I want to be like Jonah, who went to Nineveh to preach repentance, even while fighting loneliness and facing rejection.
No matter how much an era advances or how much AI develops, there are things we cannot prevent. And no matter how much we shift the blame to others, there are facts that remain unchanged.
In the field of spiritual care for terminally ill cancer patients—often known as terminal care—when people face death, they think about:
What happens after death
The meaning of their birth
The loneliness of feeling misunderstood by everyone
And the recovery of broken relationships with others, or past sins they could never tell anyone
Whether facing death through war, disaster, or illness, I pray that people can experience the profound reality of being loved by others, loving their neighbors, and being loved by God.
Whether I die first or experience death after someone else, I find hope in gaining eternal life and being able to reunite one day.
Jesus taught us, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
Just as we once shared God's love and the message of loving one another with terrorists, I want to be someone who can practice love toward the person next to me in the way God has taught us—whether in times of war, disaster, COVID-19, or anything else.
Like Jonah, I will first repent for my own lack of love for my neighbors and allow my way of living to be transformed.
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