..and a struggle to survive...JAPAN

Millions of people faced a fourth night without water,food or heating in near freezing temperatures in devastated areas in North-East Japan. They are suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and home.

"People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said Mr.Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture,one of the three hardest-hit, along with Miyagi and Fukushima. Body bags and coffins were running so short the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said. Elderly people, many of whom are fragile and may be living on little food and water and without life-saving medicine.

The super chic Japanese capital Tokyo also faced confusion and uncertainty over the supply of food and power..!:(

Amidst all these grief-stricken news I have something (good news from the Nippon) to share with you from my very own, small private circle :

1. My Japanese neighbour in Singapore, [who is a good friend of mine..(the moms are friends ..so the kiddos :))]...is safe and secure in their homeland. She went there with her family for a vacation..! Am soooooo..happy for them :)

 

2. Some of our good old family friends (hubby's classmates)..who are settled in Tokyo for long..are more or less OK now...what a big relief for us :)

3. The International School in Singapore...where our children are studying, sent a long e-mail from their Tokyo branch stating that all their students are perfectly alright..though the school building damaged here and there! They are taking all necessary precautions for their children's safety,monitoring the local news diligently and taking heed of the Japanese government's advice and guidance...the spokesperson added.

For the elderly who live in the villages lining Japan's north-eastern coast, it is a return to a post privation that their children have never known. As in so much of the Japanese countryside,  young people have largely fled, looking for work in the big city. The elderly who remained are facing devastation and possible radiation contamination, a challenge equal only to the task this generation faced when its defeated, despairing nation had to rebuild from the rubble of the war.

All pics are taken by me from our very own Japanese Garden, Singapore.  Please, do not reuse them..