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Ian Williams / NBC News
Junko Takashi, 79, stands outside her temporary home in the tsunami-devastated town of Otsuchi, Japan. All of the town's residents over 65 have a yellow flag they put out in the morning and take down in the evening. If no flag appears in the morning, then officials come and check on them.
OTSUCHI, Japan – When 79-year-old Junko Takashi saw the tide fast receding in the bay below her house, she remembered the warnings of her mother and her grandmother, that this was a sign of a tsunami.
But still she hesitated.
"I lived on high ground, on the hillside," she said. "I never thought the water could reach here."
She decided to take no chances, and leaving all her belongings behind her, she climbed to higher ground. She didn't see the tsunami rolling in, but remembers the terrible noise – like a waterfall, only far, far louder, she recalled.
By the time it was over, all that was left of her house were its foundations.
Some 70 percent of her town, Otsuchi, was destroyed and 10 percent of the town’s population of 16,000 are dead or missing. Its fishing industry, the backbone of the local economy, was obliterated.
Yellow flag marks sign of life
One year on and Takashi lives in a temporary home, consisting of a tiny living room, narrow kitchen and bathroom. It's one of a cluster of 80 temporary homes erected on the outskirts of what remains of Otsuchi.
She lives alone, her belongings neatly arranged in little cubicles around her. We could barely squeeze into her living room as she pointed to the television, fridge, microwave and heater, all donated by charities who were at the forefront of a massive aid operation in the weeks and months after the disaster.
Toru Yamanaka / AFP - Getty Images
This combination of pictures from Otsuchi, Japan shows a catamaran sightseeing boat washed by the tsunami onto a two-storey home on April 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom). Click on the photo to see a SLIDESHOW of before and after pictures.
Now much of that initial support has gone. "We're on our own now," she said.
"You've got to be positive. I am 79-years-old, who knows how many years I have left."
She told me that before the tsunami she was pretty self-sufficient, since she had land to grow all the vegetables she needed, and her two brothers were fishermen. Now she had to buy everything with her pension, while trying to save for an uncertain future.
But free temporary housing, in which 2,000 of Otsuchi's people now live, is only available for two years.
Outside her home, and outside those of many of her neighbors, flutters a little yellow flag. I asked her what that was for.
"They are for everybody over 65 and living alone," she replied. They are asked to put the flags out in the morning and take them down in the evening. If no flag appears in the morning, then officials will come and check on them.
Ian Williams / NBC News
A mountain of debris in the Japanese town of Otsuchi.
Mountains of debris and uncertain plans
Otsuchi appears to have made great strides in cleaning up the twisted wreckage that was once their town, and removing the fishing boats flung inland.
Looking down from the surrounding hills and all you see is a flat plain with a dusting of snow, just the foundations marking where buildings used to stand.
But the remains of the town has essentially been scooped up and piled into vast mountains of debris, which will take years to dispose of.
Takashi believes she will be allocated a new apartment once she leaves her temporary home, but the town of Otsuchi has been slow to draw up plans for the future. There is still no blueprint for what will replace a town virtually wiped from the map.
The local mayor has pledged to build a new 50-foot high seawall, more than twice the height of the one tossed aside by the tsunami. But there is no agreement as to where any new town will be built, nor how it can be made economically viable.
Elderly people, who dominate many of these small coastal towns, are wary of grand plans for new (and more economically sustainable) towns. They form an important political group.
"I want to live where I used to live," Takashi said. "I was comfortable there."
Staying positive
The future looks daunting, but Takashi is remarkably upbeat, showing me photos of some of the charity workers and celebrities who have visited over the months.
"I like visitors. I like to talk with people," she said.
"It's always been my policy to be positive about what lies ahead."
Leave a Comment:
Didn't they learn from this disaster that seawalls and water breaks are useless in events like this? There are numerous videos of 30 and 40-foot-high seawalls being overtopped by these waves. It's the epitome of hubris that mankind thinks we can construct a dinky little concrete wall and it will protect us against the power of a tsunami. When essentially the whole ocean says, "Hey, guess what? I think I'm going to come a few miles inland for a little while", there's basically nothing you can do except run for high ground and rebuild. Those tsunamis just kept piling up against the existing seawalls until they got over them. Furthermore, a lot of the towns with seawalls seemed to be built in inlets and bays, which have a tendency to focus the tsunami to even greater heights. Do they plan on building eighty foot or higher seawalls in every coastal town?
If the Japanese people want to live in an area that could be destroyed by a tsunami then they can do so. However, if insurance is paying for it and that insurance is in any way connected to the world market then I would say no it is not fair to the international community to absorb the cost. That is the problem with global markets if one country acts irresponsibly then the rest must pay for it.
I will say though that I admire the Japanese people in the way that they have pulled together. While Americans continue to argue over what to do in New Orleans the Japanese have in one year already cleaned up and are moving forward.
I am always amazed at these people! They are so resilient, hard working, positive and grateful for what help comes there way. The people of New Orleans still are waiting for there help, and complaining!! How many years has it been already??? Yet the Japanese have already done more in 1year, than New Orleans has done in 5 years. That says alot about Americans, we should be embarrassed!!!
How resilient these people are, atomic bombed, tsunami, earthquakes, nuclear meltdown and on they go! I guess it's because they believe themselves to be ONE people and take pride in their Country. We could learn a lesson from them!...
That last quote from Junko is the most important thing about this particular article. Stay positive and keep moving forward. Good for her!
I cannot even imagine witnessing this devastation, my entire neighbourhood utterly destroyed and having to completely change my way of life in the blink of an eye. May your days ahead be brighter, Junko.
Another, that is what 1 Corinthians 15:52 is all about; In the blink of an eye, we shall be changed.
Imagine that, a phrase my daughter Lesley has coined. Easter is on the horizon. Have a nice
weekend all.
I love her positive attitude.
Good for her!
I wish Japan would PLEASE STOP KILLING WHALES AND DOLPHINS. Go see the movie THE COVE to learn about the atrocities going on right now today at Taiji Japan. STOP KILLING WHALES and DOLPHINS JAPAN
that lady it's 79 and look like some women in the US at 55
That was my first thought also. She looks better than most women I know twenty years her junior. Her hair isn't even grey.
If the UN and NATO would be ONE PEOPLE, like the Japanese people, we would have World Peace.
Not to worry, Phyllis; that one world thing is on it's way.
Well, speak in one voice, maybe. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill once was quoted
as saying. (7/10/06) "We want to make it very clear that we all speak in one voice on this provocative
action by the North Koreans to launch missiles in all shapes and sizes. We want to make it clear to
North Korea that what it did was unacceptable." Hill said. Phyllis
What I can't seem to wrap my head around is apparently they have no advance warning system in place for this kind of natural desaster occurance for the people to respond to accordingly. You can't tell me that they never expected a tsunami surge after an earthquake of that magnitude, so why then wasn't the coast evacuated immediately? Maybe they never had a measure of time before it hit, but the way this lady speaks in the article, she must have been warned in some way about it and had a degree of time to move to higher ground before it hit. With that said, then why did it appear that everybody was caught off guard when it did? I can't help but think that somewhere up the chain of command, somebody screwed up and failed to do their job and a lot of unsuspecting people died that day whom shouldn't have had to? I hope I am wrong, but something inside tells me there is more going on here than what meets the eye and it can't be good?
I am also amazed at the resolve of these people, atomic bomb, etc. and going through papers, I came across
this info and would like to share: (7/10/2006) Japan's air force is top class in defending the nation's
airspace, but attacking another country is almost impossible," said analyst Kazuhis Ogawa. "Even if Japan's
planes made it to North Korea, they wouldn't make it back...it would be an act of suicide. Japan has no
capacity to wage war." Hendrik Willen ban Loon, "The Story of Mankind" made the same case about Japan
and Pearl Harbor. "The more you look at the map, the more incredible it seems." I would only add that
my Uncle who was station in England in WW2 did not believe Japan was responsible and on his deathbed
was still convinced of it and I have always believed his version of Pearl Harbor, evidence to the contrary.