The new year is exceptional in Japan, and we celebrate it like Christmas for Western people. Many go home to spend time with their families, eat extraordinary food, and watch special TV programs. However, at the beginning of 2024, the Japanese people had the saddest new year because of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. I was at a cinema in Tokyo, far from the Noto Peninsula, but I felt the cinema floor shaking. When I came home in the evening, all the special TV programs for the new year celebration were canceled, and news about the earthquakes was broadcast. They showed how badly the earthquakes damaged the region, and it didn't feel like the new year at all. I'm sure most Japanese people were sad about the earthquakes and felt horrible to start a new year like that.
The next day, there was a plane crash at the Tokyo International Airport. I was reading X tweets and couldn't believe the videos of an airplane sliding so fast on the runway, like a big ball of fire. Everybody wondered how such a horrible accident could happen. Fortunately enough, all the passengers and the crew were able to evacuate, but all the animals in the cargo area died. The cause of the accident is not clear yet, but it seems to be human error.
Although my life wasn't affected by these two incidents, I was devastated and realized that we live in such a vulnerable country. So many people are still missing in the Noto Peninsula, and most people who survived are still in terrible conditions because of a lack of electricity and water. I could have been one of them if I was visiting Ishikawa Prefecture. If I had taken Japan Airlines flight 516 with my rabbit Sarah, I would probably have lost her, and I would never have been able to forgive myself for taking her to accompany me.
This horrible beginning of the new year reminded me of my travel to Israel in June 2001. There were many suicide bomber cases at that time. Besides, many men tried to take advantage of me just because I was an East Asian woman, I think. One day, in Jerusalem, several boys followed me and asked me to kiss them. Another day, a young guy who talked to me on a street took my arm and tried to push me down. I was so relieved every time I returned to my hotel room, safe and sound. I thanked God every day that I ended my day without dying or being molested, which I had never had to do in Japan.
I'm afraid most Japanese people overestimate people and underestimate nature. We believe everything is handled by someone in charge and that disasters like these won't happen as long as we are careful enough, but we turned out to be wrong. Human beings make fatal mistakes, and nature is out of our control. We took everything for granted, but nothing should be taken for granted. Anyone can die or get hurt terribly or lose someone or something very important at any time. So, should we live afraid that something terrible could happen at any moment? I don't think so, because just being scared doesn't prevent anything from happening. We need to recognize that human beings make mistakes and that things created by human beings are vulnerable, and what we can do is appreciate what we have in this moment. If a day ends all right, it is not normal--it is a miracle! I could be hit by a car in an hour or die in a big earthquake tomorrow. Nothing can be taken for granted. That is what I learned from the terrible beginning of 2024.
The next day, there was a plane crash at the Tokyo International Airport. I was reading X tweets and couldn't believe the videos of an airplane sliding so fast on the runway, like a big ball of fire. Everybody wondered how such a horrible accident could happen. Fortunately enough, all the passengers and the crew were able to evacuate, but all the animals in the cargo area died. The cause of the accident is not clear yet, but it seems to be human error.
Although my life wasn't affected by these two incidents, I was devastated and realized that we live in such a vulnerable country. So many people are still missing in the Noto Peninsula, and most people who survived are still in terrible conditions because of a lack of electricity and water. I could have been one of them if I was visiting Ishikawa Prefecture. If I had taken Japan Airlines flight 516 with my rabbit Sarah, I would probably have lost her, and I would never have been able to forgive myself for taking her to accompany me.
This horrible beginning of the new year reminded me of my travel to Israel in June 2001. There were many suicide bomber cases at that time. Besides, many men tried to take advantage of me just because I was an East Asian woman, I think. One day, in Jerusalem, several boys followed me and asked me to kiss them. Another day, a young guy who talked to me on a street took my arm and tried to push me down. I was so relieved every time I returned to my hotel room, safe and sound. I thanked God every day that I ended my day without dying or being molested, which I had never had to do in Japan.
I'm afraid most Japanese people overestimate people and underestimate nature. We believe everything is handled by someone in charge and that disasters like these won't happen as long as we are careful enough, but we turned out to be wrong. Human beings make fatal mistakes, and nature is out of our control. We took everything for granted, but nothing should be taken for granted. Anyone can die or get hurt terribly or lose someone or something very important at any time. So, should we live afraid that something terrible could happen at any moment? I don't think so, because just being scared doesn't prevent anything from happening. We need to recognize that human beings make mistakes and that things created by human beings are vulnerable, and what we can do is appreciate what we have in this moment. If a day ends all right, it is not normal--it is a miracle! I could be hit by a car in an hour or die in a big earthquake tomorrow. Nothing can be taken for granted. That is what I learned from the terrible beginning of 2024.
