Blog Birthday!

Today was this blog's birthday! This will be Here and There Japan's fifth year. The first post was about our pet turtle, Ethel. She lived 19 years. Here is the post about her funeral. She had a quiet life, but she had a few adventures, too.

Ethel's ancestors were probably from the southeastern United States, but she came from Sendai. That's where I bought her 22 years ago. The coastal area of Sendai was hit by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. Please read the post about Sendai below.

What may be lost....in Sendai...

a small Japanese inn overlooking the sea where I stayed 22 years ago,

small tree-covered islands dotting the shoreline,

a small shrine,

tourist boats where you could feed the seagulls, (oil refineries in the background),

hotels and a tourist industry.

That smile is rarely seen as we all deal with earthquakes and aftershocks in Tokyo since March 11th. There are fewer now but they keep reminding us that there are people in the north who are closer to the center of the earthquakes and the destruction. Many have lost their homes. Many have lost friends and family members. And not just in Sendai. So much has been lost.

N.B. I haven't seen pictures of this area after the earthquake and tsunami. I am assuming that it's been destroyed because it was right on the ocean and near the epicenter of the earthquake.