Japan, thy name is tsunami
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Dr Shahed Hassan
In Japan, March and April are the months of Sakura (Cherry) blossom. People in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Yokohoma and Tokyo enthusiastically wait to watch the great gift of nature. Unfortunately, the landscape has lost its beauty only 10 days after the third month as the year 2011 started rolling. A mighty tsunami triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, wiped out the most popular attribution of calling the country as 'the land of the Rising Sun or the country of Sakura Blossom'. At least for next few years such attribution will remain a tragic myth. 'Japan, thy name is tsunami' may be used now, with pain and love. On March 11, the energy, strength and, above all, the wrath of the tsunami pushed the landmass of Japan eight feet towards the east. An incredible phenomenon indeed! Historically, most of the recorded tsunami devastated Japan. Since circa 1700, of the 28 major tsunamis, 11 occurred in Japan taking away large number of lives and property. The very term tsunami is derived from the Japanese word; 'tsu' meaning harbour and 'nami' meaning wave. So tsunami can be defined as 'harbor wave'. It is also called 'yoda' in the Tohoku region. Each tsunami is preceded by an earthquake. The latest in the series has got another dimension, that is, damage of nuclear power plants. Thus, the cumulative effect of three types of interconnected disasters obviously brought an immense tragedy. And Japan is yet to recover and regain its prosperity and beauty. I am confident that the commendable nation building spirit, discipline and fellow feeling will one day surely bring a sunny and smiling face in the eastern horizon of the globe. Had the last earthquake followed by tsunami had happened 50 years ago, the loss of human life would have crossed six digits. Fortunately, the death toll did not go to that extent. There is an established fact in disaster statistics that the high probability of a calamity causes low causality and the low probability always causes high causality. Experiencing frequent or periodic earthquake cum tsunami has taught the vulnerable Japanese people, those living along the coast, to devise certain survival strategies. And the most effective is the indigenous skill of prediction. For some it may sound unreliable or ineffective. The lessons I learned from the tsunami experienced survivors of Japan, while conducting a study in Sendai in 2009, can be aptly mentioned here for having practical bearing. My research was conducted in three moderately populated towns (Taro, Ofunato and Otsuchi) in Iwate prefecture of the Tohoku region in the northeastern Pacific coast. The great March tsunami of this year did not spare my research areas as it is adjacent to Sendai. All these three towns are predominantly settled by the fishermen. Their very occupation exposes them to the mighty Pacific and they do keep a vigilant eye on the ocean and marine life. There are 16 biotic and abiotic predictive indicators to forecast the onslaught of a tsunami. The biotic indicators include certain animals, prior to tsunami, come out of their habitats and behave estrange, pheasants cry and crows chatter unusually. There are good catch of fish, particularly sardines, tuna, eel, crab, yellow tail, bonito, sea weeds and other phytoplankton. Some survivors of 1933 tsunami in the area reported that a few of them experienced feeling of tremor below the navel and hysterical women began to display extremely convulsive behaviour. Low blood pressure and ringing of the ears of any normal persons are considered as predictive indicators of tsunami. An earthquake in the region is considered as the most important abiotic indicator. Usually a big earthquake generates big tsunami, as it happened in last March. Also, long duration of earthquake is perceived to bring tsunami definitely. Before a tsunami hits the land mass its shadow can be seen on big and small water bodies. Rise of sea water temperature is taken with caution. Most visible indicator is the disappearance of the sea and even water from small wells and canals. There are reports of sudden blowing of wind and abnormal and huge dooooon or canon like sound before the waves embarks on landmass. The abiotic indicators, as revealed through my research, include tsunami drawbacks or the first part of a tsunami to reach land is a trough rather than a wave crest. Tsunami waves with more cycles or broken waves have less impact while wall like waves are always devastating. The survivors were found not to consider any particular biotic or abiotic indicator into account rather their perception and prediction are based on a holistic consideration. My respondents also admitted that the above stated tsunami lore are not free from error. Some of them are superstitions without verifications or locally called kyokai, some mysterious phenomena can be explained scientifically or jikkai and some are simply mystery and possibly can never be verified or shinkai. All the respondents stated one single and immediate survival strategy to be adopted once the predictive indicators appear is to run to a higher altitude place. Japan coast line is blessed with hills and that shelter the tsunami victims. In the past there were no short cut escape route to climb the hills; but now the local disaster prevention offices have put billboards and maps showing the escape routes. May be with such advancement of mitigation plan, associated with their indigenous predictive skill and government's warning signals, the death toll was restricted to a minimum level. My 86 year respondent, Ms. Yoshi TABATA of Taro, stated that her grandfather was the one to teach her about tsunami symptoms and the ways to escape. Ms. TABATA has experienced three great tsunami and, as I came to know, she has also managed to survive at the pace and face of March 2011 tsunami. The adjacent mount Akanuma was always the first shelter for those who could run immediately after noticing the symptoms. Mr. Kumagai Seigo of Ofunato survived four tsunami. At the age of nine Mr. Seigo first learned what a tsunami is. He used to accompany his fisherman father and grand father in a boat to venture in the sea. His father taught him the difference between normal and abnormal behavior of the sea. Sudden disappearance of water from the sea with canon like sound was the most important sign of a tsunami. His father and grand father also taught him to notice the direction of swing of their boat. A boat does not swing when a tsunami approaches rather it changes the direction and follows a route that has numerous bubbles arising from the sea. Mr. Seigo first noticed this abnormality during the Showa tsunami of 1933. He also reported other symptoms as were told by survivors interviewed elsewhere in Iwate prefecture. Nevertheless, in all cases the only means to survive was to run as fast as possible and climb the hills. After two weeks of the last tsunami I could get confirmed information from my interpreter Yoko San that Mr. Seigo has successfully managed to escape along with his family members, but the small town is devastated. I still become nostalgic while watching video footage of damaged towns and neighborhoods in the Japanese and other international television channels. In some of the areas I walked with Yoko San and talked to tsunami survivors without apprehending that another giant tsunami is watching us to unleash its anger. Disaster anthropology is my passion and I strongly believe that each death, no matter how big is the total figure, is a tragedy not mere statistics. May be some people I meet in Iwate have already left for the 'far pavilion' but I uphold my deepest regards to them as they taught me how to read a 'hidden transcript of knowledge'. The writer is a professor in the Dept of Anthropology, University of Dhaka, and can be reached at E-mail : shahedhassan@yahoo.com
In Japan, March and April are the months of Sakura (Cherry) blossom. People in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Yokohoma and Tokyo enthusiastically wait to watch the great gift of nature. Unfortunately, the landscape has lost its beauty only 10 days after the third month as the year 2011 started rolling. A mighty tsunami triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, wiped out the most popular attribution of calling the country as 'the land of the Rising Sun or the country of Sakura Blossom'. At least for next few years such attribution will remain a tragic myth. 'Japan, thy name is tsunami' may be used now, with pain and love. On March 11, the energy, strength and, above all, the wrath of the tsunami pushed the landmass of Japan eight feet towards the east. An incredible phenomenon indeed! Historically, most of the recorded tsunami devastated Japan. Since circa 1700, of the 28 major tsunamis, 11 occurred in Japan taking away large number of lives and property. The very term tsunami is derived from the Japanese word; 'tsu' meaning harbour and 'nami' meaning wave. So tsunami can be defined as 'harbor wave'. It is also called 'yoda' in the Tohoku region. Each tsunami is preceded by an earthquake. The latest in the series has got another dimension, that is, damage of nuclear power plants. Thus, the cumulative effect of three types of interconnected disasters obviously brought an immense tragedy. And Japan is yet to recover and regain its prosperity and beauty. I am confident that the commendable nation building spirit, discipline and fellow feeling will one day surely bring a sunny and smiling face in the eastern horizon of the globe. Had the last earthquake followed by tsunami had happened 50 years ago, the loss of human life would have crossed six digits. Fortunately, the death toll did not go to that extent. There is an established fact in disaster statistics that the high probability of a calamity causes low causality and the low probability always causes high causality. Experiencing frequent or periodic earthquake cum tsunami has taught the vulnerable Japanese people, those living along the coast, to devise certain survival strategies. And the most effective is the indigenous skill of prediction. For some it may sound unreliable or ineffective. The lessons I learned from the tsunami experienced survivors of Japan, while conducting a study in Sendai in 2009, can be aptly mentioned here for having practical bearing. My research was conducted in three moderately populated towns (Taro, Ofunato and Otsuchi) in Iwate prefecture of the Tohoku region in the northeastern Pacific coast. The great March tsunami of this year did not spare my research areas as it is adjacent to Sendai. All these three towns are predominantly settled by the fishermen. Their very occupation exposes them to the mighty Pacific and they do keep a vigilant eye on the ocean and marine life. There are 16 biotic and abiotic predictive indicators to forecast the onslaught of a tsunami. The biotic indicators include certain animals, prior to tsunami, come out of their habitats and behave estrange, pheasants cry and crows chatter unusually. There are good catch of fish, particularly sardines, tuna, eel, crab, yellow tail, bonito, sea weeds and other phytoplankton. Some survivors of 1933 tsunami in the area reported that a few of them experienced feeling of tremor below the navel and hysterical women began to display extremely convulsive behaviour. Low blood pressure and ringing of the ears of any normal persons are considered as predictive indicators of tsunami. An earthquake in the region is considered as the most important abiotic indicator. Usually a big earthquake generates big tsunami, as it happened in last March. Also, long duration of earthquake is perceived to bring tsunami definitely. Before a tsunami hits the land mass its shadow can be seen on big and small water bodies. Rise of sea water temperature is taken with caution. Most visible indicator is the disappearance of the sea and even water from small wells and canals. There are reports of sudden blowing of wind and abnormal and huge dooooon or canon like sound before the waves embarks on landmass. The abiotic indicators, as revealed through my research, include tsunami drawbacks or the first part of a tsunami to reach land is a trough rather than a wave crest. Tsunami waves with more cycles or broken waves have less impact while wall like waves are always devastating. The survivors were found not to consider any particular biotic or abiotic indicator into account rather their perception and prediction are based on a holistic consideration. My respondents also admitted that the above stated tsunami lore are not free from error. Some of them are superstitions without verifications or locally called kyokai, some mysterious phenomena can be explained scientifically or jikkai and some are simply mystery and possibly can never be verified or shinkai. All the respondents stated one single and immediate survival strategy to be adopted once the predictive indicators appear is to run to a higher altitude place. Japan coast line is blessed with hills and that shelter the tsunami victims. In the past there were no short cut escape route to climb the hills; but now the local disaster prevention offices have put billboards and maps showing the escape routes. May be with such advancement of mitigation plan, associated with their indigenous predictive skill and government's warning signals, the death toll was restricted to a minimum level. My 86 year respondent, Ms. Yoshi TABATA of Taro, stated that her grandfather was the one to teach her about tsunami symptoms and the ways to escape. Ms. TABATA has experienced three great tsunami and, as I came to know, she has also managed to survive at the pace and face of March 2011 tsunami. The adjacent mount Akanuma was always the first shelter for those who could run immediately after noticing the symptoms. Mr. Kumagai Seigo of Ofunato survived four tsunami. At the age of nine Mr. Seigo first learned what a tsunami is. He used to accompany his fisherman father and grand father in a boat to venture in the sea. His father taught him the difference between normal and abnormal behavior of the sea. Sudden disappearance of water from the sea with canon like sound was the most important sign of a tsunami. His father and grand father also taught him to notice the direction of swing of their boat. A boat does not swing when a tsunami approaches rather it changes the direction and follows a route that has numerous bubbles arising from the sea. Mr. Seigo first noticed this abnormality during the Showa tsunami of 1933. He also reported other symptoms as were told by survivors interviewed elsewhere in Iwate prefecture. Nevertheless, in all cases the only means to survive was to run as fast as possible and climb the hills. After two weeks of the last tsunami I could get confirmed information from my interpreter Yoko San that Mr. Seigo has successfully managed to escape along with his family members, but the small town is devastated. I still become nostalgic while watching video footage of damaged towns and neighborhoods in the Japanese and other international television channels. In some of the areas I walked with Yoko San and talked to tsunami survivors without apprehending that another giant tsunami is watching us to unleash its anger. Disaster anthropology is my passion and I strongly believe that each death, no matter how big is the total figure, is a tragedy not mere statistics. May be some people I meet in Iwate have already left for the 'far pavilion' but I uphold my deepest regards to them as they taught me how to read a 'hidden transcript of knowledge'. The writer is a professor in the Dept of Anthropology, University of Dhaka, and can be reached at E-mail : shahedhassan@yahoo.com