This is me in Matsushima, Japan in 1986. Matsushima means Pine Island and is a national treasure as well as a beautiful natural symbol for everything Japanese. Matsushima is just north of Sendai. The epicenter of the earthquake and resultant tsunami was not far from the shore here. If you have seen the footage of the wave coming ashore, then you can just imagine what these lovely islands look like now. I have also been to Sendai and climbed the mountain to Sendai Castle to look out at the sea. This is all gone now. For me, having had first hand, feet-on-the-ground knowlegdge of this land and these people, this is an especially bad day. However bad a tsunami can be, though, the end of the planet will be much worse for all of us. Words can not describe.
