A Japanese and Chinese Major

I experienced my first earthquake today, and I continue to even now.

I was standing in my usual spot on the JR platform when it came.  I walked down the stairs and waited for a line of uniformed middle schoolers to pass so I could walk down the narrow platform and get to my waiting spot.  One thing unusual about today, besides the earthquake, was that there were a considerable amount of young students out and about, more than usual.  School must be getting out soon.

I was standing and staring ahead,  thinking about the future, what I will do after I leave Japan in the coming months.  This thinking was cut off when I started feeling the sensation that I was going to faint.  My legs began to dissappear from under me and return again.  I’m I going to faint?  It’s dangerous to stand so close to the edge of the platform, what if I were to faint and fall in front of the train?  I am indeed wobbling, I must not be eating the right foods.  I need to eat healthier.  More students walk by in front of me and I look down at their shoes.  I look at my legs.  What is going on with my legs?  They’re becoming weightless and heavy on and off again.  Looking straight down at my legs, nothing wrong with that.. I look at other people and they look a bit preoccupied too, businessmen with scowls on their faces looking towards the tracks, but not sure where exactly.  The ground is shaking now.  There must be construction work going on near the train line.  Is it an earthquake? maybe, but no one else is reacting.  In Japan there is a saying, the first person that says rain is stupid.  The platform is moving! The edge of the platform is moving!  This is definitely an earthquake.   Then it really comes, I feel the Earth bob down and to my right, then return up again.  I’m standing on solid concrete but now it feels like I’m standing in the middle of an ocean.  I can’t hold my curiousity any longer… I say earthquake?  in the direction of a Japanese man but he gives me no look and no answer, like I had said nothing.  The train had come and it was wobbling, back and forth.  By that time I did realize it was an earthquake, and I quickly got on it feeling safe inside.  I didn’t want to sit next to that man that ignored me because I felt a little embarrassed, and so I went to sit in the four seater seats, but before I did I stood a little while out of curiousity and looked forward to the aisle ahead of me with a girl wearing a white fur coat.  I watched to see if she had any reaction to the shaking, the woman sitting in the other chair I was about to sit in began to look up at me, wondering what I was doing, or perhaps trying to find another face to compare her own puzzlement to as well.  She probably didn’t notice the shaking while the train was running, so with me standing next to her, looking forward intently, and the train itself rocking back and forth while stopped, was probably her first clue about what was happening.  Two very young school boys came and sat down in the chairs in front of me and I looked at the one with a puzzled look, we stared at each other for about 3 seconds, and I turned my head away and closed my eyes.  Got to work… and a few minutes later I started to get a strange pushing sensation in my chair again… did it come again?  It definitely had, the window curtains slowly and gradually smacked against the side window panels.  The door in the other room swayed a little back and forth.  It went on for about 30 seconds and was very calming.  Ah, before that I thought I should get under the desk if the shaking started picking up.  I got under the desk in my room but my feet were sticking out, not very good I thought so I just climbed out.

Some notes.

I like the gentle rocking of small earthquakes.  Even if I were in the middle of  a desert, when the ground beneath me begins to shift back and forth, up and down, I could be fooled into thinking I was in a boat on the seas.  I would best describe the feeling as standing on something floating on water…  It feels like the entire country is a boat and you are out at sea.  You also feel a connection the Earth, you can feel the awesome power Earth has and be a part of it.  It reminds us that we are not in charge, even though we think we are.  You also know that everyone is experiencing it together, and that’s a good feeling, like when you know thousands of other people are watching your favorite movie along with you on Channel 5 at prime-time.

Good way to test if you are experiencing an earthquake.  What seems to work:  If you have to ask yourself if an earthquake is happening, it’s probably happening.  Stand up straight and feel for imbalances and swaying.  Listen around you.  The things in your room- tvs, windows, tables, air conditioner, began to make little noises from the shacking that can be picked up with an open ear.

Thoughts while it happened:  This is a big one for the epicenter being so far away, the source is probably way way far out, meaning that other cities like Tokyo got it real bad.  I’m fearing hundreds of people have just lost their lives in these few seconds, terrible damage has happened. Similar to feeling a disturbance in the force.

I am very fortunate that I was not at all hurt.  I hope that I will be as lucky again when the next major earthquake hits Japan.

The “Act on the Encouragement of Ainu Culture and the Diffusion and Enlightenment of Knowledge on Ainu Tradition” however does not include any apology regarding the previous discriminatory acts and even though it provides some financial support for cultural activities, it does not respond to the Ainus’ basic needs: recognition and protection. Still, the government’s basic idea is that there is no ethnic problem in Japan, thus there is no need to teach about their history or culture in schools, thus majority Japanese don’t know too much about them.

On the other hand the Ainu want to control their own lives and cooperate with the majority. They do continue to fight for their rights, but mostly without success. For example in 2008 an action seeking restoration of Ainu properties held in trust by the government was dismissed.

However there are also some success stories. After much debate, in 2006 the first Ainu person was included in a governmental advisory board that helps developing policies, e.g. the “Ainu Culture Law” (1997).

The Ainu really need protection, as today it is estimated that there are only about 100 people speaking the Ainu language, which is not related to the Japanese. Also other components of the culture differ from the Japanese culture. One of the most interesting things I saw in the Ainu museum were the shoes made out of salmon skin. I was told that they are difficult to tear and the fins on the sole serve as non-skid. Their colorful dresses are also amazing. I had no chance of trying the Ainu cuisine, however it sounds interesting, consisting of deer, bear, fox and other meat.

Who knows what the future brings for Japan, however, sadly it can be said, that the future of Ainu is quite sure and it is not too fair.