Quake survivors struggle to secure housing (JAPAN)

Takeshi Ishikawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi--Many of the people whose houses were destroyed in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami--more than 110,000 remain in evacuation shelters--cannot find rental housing, and many are building their own prefabricated houses in desperation.

"I can't wait for the government's temporary housing any longer," said one survivor.

An estimated 120,000 houses were either destroyed or damaged in the disaster and the government put together a plan to build about 68,000 temporary housing units, with some already completed and occupied by families.

Others are moving back to what remains of their homes, some of which are in dangerous condition.

Such is the case for 24-year-old automobile mechanic Kazuya Doi of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, who after the March 11 disaster evacuated with his family to a middle school, where they stayed until April 6.

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They sleep in their carport.

:cry:

- ニューオーリンズ (Nyūōrinzu)

Of housing small Japanese children in my home, homeless orphans... :cry:

There's no escaping this line of thinking, not even when I'm asleep. There is constant worry in the back of my mind, no matter what time of day or night, no matter what I'm doing. Radiation... children... hopeless desperation... the folly of men laying waste to so much beauty.

My dad is a dentist in N.Y. and has a very, very nice house that is really way too big for both my Mom and Dad. He talked to his brother and said something like... You know, if things become too bad you can always leave Japan for a while, and live with us in the USA. Our house is big and comfortable. Your three daughters could come here as well.

My uncle thought about it and finally told him, that they could never leave Japan. Our family had been there for generations, and that their roots were there. If they were to find out tomorrow, that the entire nation would sink under the sea,.. they would gladly go with it.

When I thought about that, two things came to mind. One is that maybe it was my Uncles way of telling my Dad, he should have never left Japan, but I don't think my uncle would be that petty. I do believe that what he meant is his (my Uncle's) heart is there and would always be there..and he could never separate his body from his heart..

And secondly, being Shinto, He believes that the spirit of the place will some how preserve the best of Japan, no matter what happens there..and when he finally leaves this earth, he would much rather be with those spirits there, than anywhere else.

That's beautiful.

Has your Dad ever regretted leaving? These are such personal choices. I feel the same way about California... I was born here, and although most of my family has moved away, I can't bear the thought. It's expensive to live here, there are earthquakes, and who knows what will happen to the weather patterns in the next decade... but I can't leave here. I've never lived more than six miles from The Pacific Coast Highway... I feel blessed that in the Cosmic roll of the birth dice I landed here. It just feels like I belong here. I love many other places... San Francisco, England, Ireland... I'd love to spend time in Norway... but California is my home. El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula in particular is where my heart is. My family is of English, Irish, and Welsh descent, but El Pueblo is home.

He has always been fascinated with American culture and American ideals. He went to a University in Japan to become a dentist, and when he came to America in the 1950s put himself though an American Dental school all over again, and with my mothers help, learned English. (He also became an American shortly after.) Despite loving California, he felt he had a better opportunity to open a practice in New York, and so with my Mother, and her mother moved there. I stayed behind to go to school, and ended up staying here. (I love my parents, but there are times, I am so glad to be on the other side of the country! LOL!)