The Baby Boomer Renaissance: The Boomer Chronicles

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Boomer Chronicles

I’ve Got Friends at Ground Zero in Japan

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:56 AM PDT

For a long time, I did activism on the issue of violence against women. Through this work, I met lots of wonderful people, among them, a great couple from Japan who were in the Boston area around 2002 while one of them was doing an academic fellowship. They were the coolest people and, in true Japanese tradition, were incredibly generous. When the fellowship was winding down, they took me out to dinner and insisted that I visit them in Japan. I thanked them and was very touched, but couldn’t imagine going to Japan.

One day I casually asked a friend if she would like to go to Japan with me. She said, yes. And then I thought, why not? So, off we went. That trip, in November 2003, was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. This wonderful couple took us around, met up with us at the Tokyo fish market, traveled to a bed and breakfast with us, got us a free place to stay in Tokyo (no mean feat), and I fell in love with them and their country. We bonded strongly, and I cried when we said goodbye.

Anyway, I fell out of touch with my friends in Japan until I heard about the earthquake and tsunami last week. The area — Fukushima — sounded familiar. Sure enough, it is where my friends live and work, and where the nuclear reactors are failing. I searched for their email address, found it and wrote to them. They responded quickly, happy to hear from me, despite being in the middle of fleeing to the southern part of Japan. They had to leave their town, with their young daughter, with no chance to pick up anything they need. Now I am putting together a plan to house them should they decide to come to the U.S. I have already found an apartment they can use for a month.