It's incredibly hard to believe, but it's now been three years since the event they're now calling the 'Great Eastern Japan Earthquake' (東北大震災). I was making a presentation on the earthquake and my experiences therein to show to my students tomorrow, and I remembered that at the moment the Quake hit, I was sitting in the office on 練習。
I wanted to share a short video released by the Miyagi Prefectural Government on the quake and the 3 years since: [url]http://http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/site/ej-earthquake/kt-kirokueizo.html[/url]
Also, if you check Google.jp today, they made an amazing site looking back on the last three years as well, including Street View shots taken from several sites before the earthquake, just after, and now (If the link is gone, you can get to the page here: [url]http://www.miraikioku.com/2014.html[/url]
Never Forget.
I totally think it is a day everyone should remember, but I HATE the way the Japanese media plays this up repeatedly leading up to and through and after the day in question. I know people who lost loved ones during the earthquake, and the consistent pandering of it is really harsh for those who suffered from it.
We should never forget, but remembering shouldn't mean seeing stories about it for a week straight.
As someone who was in the Quake, I would rather have the "pandering," as you call it, and have attention called to the event, than to have it be ignored. I know that just around March 1st every year, my Facebook starts exploding with people changing their profile or cover pictures to the Miyagi flag, or to the picture of a friend who passed, and messages of remembrance.
It can be remembered without popping 3/11 crap on TV all day every day for a week. I don't care if people change their Facebook photos or whatever, but they can do what they do during other dull news periods and ask people about the weather or some crap as opposed to spamming 3.11 on the news for a 7 day period.
And I experienced the Quake first hand, too. Was not close enough to the source to worry about tsunami, etc, but as mentioned, I know people who were and who have lost loved ones. They shouldn't be forced to suffer through a week of 3.11 only. Let there be rallies, and one or two programs, to be sure, but I am damn tired - as are the people I know who have lost friends and family - of seeing it non-stop. It's horrible.
