Tokyo: A Land of Revival

Today Richard sent us this impressive first person travel story by Angelina. Truly remarkable the spirit and humanity that Japanese people reveal when facing such a tragedy. I'm sure that, like mine, everyone's thoughts are with all of those that suffered with this earthquake and tsunami. Hope that Japan and it's people can quickly and fully recover from this terrible tragedy.

"Search and rescue teams are on the ground in Japan to help the recovery effort. A disaster assistance and response team is working to confront the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami..." I lowered the volume of the television set dimming President Obama’s speech wearily and opened the window of my hotel. The streets were deserted. No wonder... it was only six in the morning.

I had been visiting a friend at her office in Kagurazaka when I felt the first tremor under my feet. "Don’t worry," said Mina, my friend, looking up from her computer, "it’s a tiny little quake, we are used to it here in Tokyo." She was smiling at my nervousness. Some two and a half minutes later the smile left her face when, what then seemed like, a cyclone swept in. The large window panes were rattling. "Let’s get out of here!" shouted Mina. That’s when a massive blackout enveloped us. I could hear chairs and computers falling into each other and crashing with sickening thuds as Mina pushed me – and herself – out of the office.


The elevators weren’t working and Mina led me downstairs via the fire escape. She was clutching my hand fiercely and my attempts to wrench myself free were fruitless. Descending into the enormous car park we wheeled around to take a look at the building: it was swaying like a pendulum.

A sea of people, some crying, was milling around the building not knowing what to do or where to go. Fortunately, no one appeared hurt or injured.

I tried calling my hotel on my cell phone in vain; no network. I looked at my watch: 5 p.m. Over two hours had passed and the trains weren’t running. At around 8 p.m. we heard that certain subway lines had resumed services, so we headed to the Kudanshita station. Needless to say, the station was packed. As the next train arrived everyone surged towards it. I felt Mina’s hand being yanked away from mine, panicked people crushed me against until I fell over and passed out.

On waking I found myself in a strange place. An elderly Japanese woman, in her sixties, was leaning over me, massaging my hands. She said, in sign language, that she had found me on the steps of the station and brought me home. She then gestured with her hands: was I hungry? I nodded that I was. I looked at my watch, 11 p.m.

At the dinner table I sat with my legs tucked beneath me my hostess treated me to a bowl of steamed rice called ‘gohan’ and side dishes called ‘okazu’. These included dried seaweed and grilled fish; both were delicious. We finished dinner with green tea. It was past midnight by then.


The next morning I took leave of my hostess; her name was Akira. ‘Akira’ means ‘bright light’ my friend Mina told me when I mentioned my rescuer a week later. "Lets invite her," she said and set about planning the menu. Did I have her phone number? I told her that I did. Thank God my cell phone was finally working. Akira expressed her delight at being invited and brought flowers.

Dinner being the main meal in Japan Mina had taken real pains over it. She had prepared many dishes but there was one that I truly liked- the Domburi, a rice dish with deliciously cooked chicken pieces. We finished up with green tea which, I confess, I had come to enjoy.

Not being conversant with Japanese I had to contend with being silent for the most part. I did enjoy the food, though. I learned that Akira, now retired, had been a teacher in a private school. Her husband had died in an air crash when she was still quite young; she had never remarried. It was 11 o’clock by the time we finished our tea.

Tokyo holds many memories for me- Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, Meiji... but the one that stands out in memory is my kind savior Akira. It is because of her that I made it out of that stampede alive. The people of Japan are truly remarkable and kind, even in their worst hour, they reach out to help a stranger like me. I hope that all of us can help them too in some little way by donating to the red cross and other organizations that are helping the people of this traumatized nation.

Author Bio:

Angelina Christy is a travel author who has written many articles that keeps on guiding the travelers throughout the world using cheap flights. Angelina herself is an avid traveler who has travelled more than 22 countries. She also talks about travel options like Flight to Tokyo that explains how tourists can minimize the cost of their travel fares.