Letter to All

Date: Wed, Feb 1, 1995 9:15 PM EST
From: HTO2.aol.com
Subj: Refugees
To: --Email to family--

Hi folx, Just a note between sips of cafe-O to keep you posted on the latest earth-shaking news. Fortunately, not much to say on that front. Seems as though things have settled down for the time being (yes, for the superstitious, I am making immediate use of a nearby wooden table).

We are currently staying with a friend from TFWs grad school days in a very nice (American-style construction) house north of Osaka. The area got a good jolt on the 17th, but no damage. We spent Monday doing house cleaning at our apartment and plan to move back in this weekend. Water and gas are still a few weeks away, but our neighbors upstairs have offered to tote water for us in 5-gallon jugs. Not much different from living in VT or NH... In any case, as I may have mentioned before, our view of the mountains has improved since the apartment building in front of us collapsed.

I am anxious to get back and set up the computer. If I can borrow someones monitor for a few minutes, I will be able to configure the computer to use a normal TV as a monitor. God used my monitor as a basket ball. I checked the warranty and that's listed as foul play. Until then, I am asking permission (daily) for the use of TFWs notebook.

TFW returned to work yesterday and found things in an expected up side down condition. Her company did however give her a care package for us to cope with our difficulties. It included a canister-style, one-burner gas range, various amenities and some chocolate--all bundled up in a knapsack.

Both DAIKIN and SANYO are Osaka-based companies. A lot of people lost their homes. According to TFW no lives lost on her side. I know that all those working at my location are OK, but Im not sure about the other factories in the area. A good portion of the 70% world-market share we have in rechargeable batteries are made on the island where the quake centered. I have a lot of friends down that way that I havent heard from yet.

You have probably heard of the extreme stupidity on the part of the Japanese government in dealing with the crisis. In situations like this, it is by association that aid is offered and received. First comes family, many Kobe residents escaped to relatives living in unaffected areas.

Japanese companies are often likened to corporate parents. Within hours of the quake, companies in Osaka were sending out relief teams to employees in stricken areas. The American friend we are staying with rode to Kobe on a scooter with water and food. Climbing up 9 floors of a teetering building, he convinced an employee family to vacate the building.

Yesterday on the news, the Japanese Emperor and Empress visited shelters in my town. For the Japanese interned there, many of them older, the royal presence and concern in the midst of their suffering will be the most powerful memory of this entire episode.