Into the Land of the Rising Sun: ONE YEAR LATER

March 11, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the giant earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region of Japan. Twelve months later, the situation is still pretty grim. Over the past year, thousands of volunteers have come to help clear out the area and take the first steps in restoring homes, businesses and infrastructure. Though a great deal of progress has been made in rehabilitating the area, recovery has proved elusive. The local economy has stagnated as most of the working population, particularly those in their 20s-40s, have moved elsewhere in order to find jobs. This made for a particularly difficult winter for the elderly population, who have been forced to fend for themselves, not just in putting their homes to right, but also in dealing with the snow and foul weather.

There are a number of words bandied about in connection with the tsunami. Denizens of Tohoku were praised for their gaman (forbearance), as they stoically went about putting their lives back together. The disaster also created a national sense of kizuna, or bond. Several people have told me that the quake reaffirmed for the country the importance of family and solidarity. The most prevalent word, however, has been "Gambatte!" Gambatte is a bit difficult to translate. The Japanese think of it as "Do your best," though I think there's an undercurrent of "Good luck!" as well. Precise definitions aside, this is the word that most irks people in Tohoku, many of whom are sick of words and are looking for action, like assistance with practical tasks such as disposing of debris, reconstruction, etc.

Perhaps the most prominent Japan-related story in the news has been the nuclear power plant at Fukushima. The plant continues to grapple with unstable reactors, sinister radiation levels, and the question of what could happen in the case of another earthquake or tsunami. However, the greatest danger may be TEPCO, a utility company that controls electric power in the greater Tokyo area, and owns and administrates the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who has gained great notoriety in Japan and elsewhere for his coverage of the yakuza (Japanese mob), writes that there has been a push within the government to nationalize Fukushima Daiichi and wrest it from the control of TEPCO. Their concern lies not in a fear of an imminent meltdown, but rather TEPCO's cozy ties with the yakuza. It seems that a number of yakuza associates are currently employed at the plant, and as one senator of the Diet said, "TEPCO's involvement with anti-social forces and their inability to filter them out of the work-place is a national security issue. It is one reason that increasingly in the Diet we are talking de facto nationalization of the company. Nuclear energy shouldn't be in the hands of the yakuza. They're gamblers and an intelligent person doesn't want them to have atomic dice to play with." There don't seem to be any immediate plans to nationalize Fukushima Daiichi, but we'll see what the next year brings.

HOW TO MAKE TOFU

March is a month-long hiatus from classes, although teachers are still required to come to work as usual. This week some of the staff decided to kick off the break by making tofu from scratch. Wildest spring break ever. I was conscripted into service for several hours; making tofu is time-consuming, but remarkably easy. You leave dried soy beans to soak overnight, and then the next day, stick them in a blender with some water, and juice them until you have soy milk. You boil the milk, and then place the fluid in a cotton bag (like a pillow case, for example). Squeeze the milk from the bag, leaving a hefty amount of soy sediment behind. "I've never milked a cow before, but this is what I imagine it would be like," said one of the teachers. Put the milk back on the stove and bring it to a boil again. Then turn off the heat, and take a slotted spoon and sift through the milk to find the soy curd. This is your tofu. Put the curds inside a cloth in a square wooden box, and allow this to sit in cold water for several hours and solidify. Then, presto: tofu!

The remarkable thing about this process was that nothing was let go to waste. The soy sediment is used in soups, and the last dregs of the soy milk were drunk in large mugs. The Japanese make the Native Americans look wasteful.