Fukushima Native Living in New York Survived Quake, Misses Family, Gives Back

Posted on 13. Jun, 2011 by JD Capuano in Asia Pacific, Latest, The Morningside Post

Yuichi Ando, 36, a Japanese investment banker and visiting fellow at Columbia Business School, dressed in jeans and a blazer, is sitting with me in his cramped, windowless mid-town Manhattan office. While sipping green tea and nibbling on a cookie, he tells me, in the first of two interviews, about surviving the March 11th earthquake in Japan and how he feels about the aftermath. The day of the earthquake I was in Tokyo, Mr. Ando begins, about to go back to my hometown then the earthquake hit and the shake itself was so severe. Ando said earthquakes are normal in Japan and they usually last 30 seconds or so. He said it was different this time. This one was huge! It lasted more than five minutes. For the first week back in New York, when sleeping I woke up and felt like the bed was shaking. It was a terrible, how do you call it, PTSD experience. On Friday March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm Japan Standard Time, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the east coast of Japan. The earthquake triggered massive tsunami waves that reached up to three stories high and traveled as far as 6 miles inland. As of June 5th, the National Police Agency of Japan confirmed 15,365 deaths, 8,206 missing and 5,364 injured because of the earthquake and tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged causing a partial meltdown of

three reactors, radiation releases and an evacuation zone of 20 km. As of June 2nd, the International Atomic Energy Agency considered the situation at the nuclear plant as very serious. News reports from Fukushima are sketchy and sometimes contradictory. And while international news attention in the U.S. has moved to the Middle East and Pakistan, the true picture of what is happening to the land and people of Japan in the aftermath of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, remains unclear. When the calamitous nuclear accident occurred, I was curious about the effects on the people in that part of the world. Not knowing anyone from the Fukushima district or prefecture as they say in Japan, I reached out to a friend who often interacts with the Japan Society of New York. The Japan Society connected me with Ando. In our first email exchange, Ando wrote, As you may have heard, I am from Fukushima [prefecture] and my parents still live there. The hometown Ando was on his way to visit when the earthquake struck is Koriyama; a small mountainside town located about 40 miles west of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Ando never got to visit his parents following the earthquake. He arrived in Japan on March 9th, accompanied by his wife, Yuka, to attend business meetings, renew their visas and visit their families. While they did renew visas and visit his wifes family in Tokyo, disruption to rail and highway systems prevented them from reaching Koriyama. Having no way to visit his parents, Ando and his wife returned to New York on March 19th, four days earlier than scheduled. They had moved to New York in 2009 for Ando to study law at Columbia, earning a Masters of Laws (L.L.M.) before serving as a visiting fellow at the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia Business School. That commitment runs through the end of May. Leaving Japan after the disaster was a very emotional decision for Ando. Although he had been back for weeks, the emotion in his voice was fresh when we met on the first of April, I have very mixed feelings, he told me. I feel very guilty because I couldnt really help the people even though I am from that area. On the other hand I dont have any job or any commitment in Japan at this point. I live here now. When I asked about Andos parents the first time I interviewed him, exactly three

weeks after the disaster, he stopped nibbling at his cookie and sighed, In the beginning my parents said, there are people who died, but we are okay. We have enough food and everything. Then they started to worry a little more because they dont know the ultimate result of the radiation. According to the Japanese government, whatever happens, if youre out of a 20-mile zone, youre okay. But Im not sure if thats correct. On April 11th, four days prior to my second interview with Ando, the Japanese government raised the severity rating of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident from 5 to 7, the maximum rating on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. On the same day, the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan estimated that the Fukushima accident had released about 10% as much radiation as the Chernobyl accident, the only other nuclear accident to receive a 7 rating. Because of the ongoing uncertainty over the leaking radiation, during our first interview I asked Ando if he would feel more at ease if his parents left the area. He took a moment before replying, Thats a difficult question. Personally, to be very egoistic, I want them to leave the area. While still livable, the quake damaged his parents house, including a large crack along one wall. Due to aftershocks, initial distribution interruptions and high demand for both builders and building supplies, his parents are unsure when theyll be able to fix their home. Ando continued, But they are actually lawyers. The have been community, rather than corporate lawyers. I have heard there are lots of issues people are having because of the disaster. Ando added, So to sustain or keep the local community, people need to stay, right? There are a lot of things they can do. From that perspective I think they should stay. At the time of our second interview, it no longer appeared that Andos parents would consider evacuation. He admitted, The good thing about my parents is if they want, they have places to go like Tokyo or Yokohama where my elder sister lives or evacuate from the country and go to Seoul Korea [where Andos younger sister lives] or come to New York.

He sounded a little relieved when saying, I think they feel that they have backup plans. From the distance of New York, half a world away from Fukushima, Ando does his best to stay in touch with family and friends. He has called or emailed his father and mother, Hiroki and Yoiko Ando, both 67, every few days since the disaster. His parents have a general law practice with an office in Koriyama. Ando is encouraged that they keep busy working until five or six oclock. Their business is getting busier and busier, he said. He added in a more somber tone, Good for the business, but you know, people are obviously suffering, thats why there are a lot of claims. Even though they are filling their days, Ando is still concerned about his parents. Well, my mother seems a bit exhausted, so I really want to see my parents. My father is trying to stay calm, acting normal. He talked about an email his father sent before the second interview as an example, Oh, he went for a walk with the dog and cherry blossoms started to bloom, just normal as if every year. Ando continued, but I dont think so! He let out a hearty, incredulous laugh. When I asked what hes learned about his parents through their response to this disaster, Ando replied, I touched upon this, but if I were them, I might just escape, but they have a strong commitment to the local community. That was something that I was very impressed with. However, when prodded about their attitudes in general and optimism for the situation he admitted, Its difficult to tell from this distance. Before the chain of tragic events that began on March 11th, Ando never told people he was from Fukushima because he assumed they had never heard of it. That has since changed. He admitted, I have something to talk about with anyone now. However, he admits concern for how people will react as the nuclear disaster continues, Oh, you are from that disaster area. Or something. Its similar to saying Im from Chernobyl. Some of Andos friends, especially those with infants, left Tokyo shortly after the accident over fear of radiation leaks. Those friends returned, but just before the government raised the nuclear disaster rating. At first Ando expressed that he was disappointed and frustrated by how little information the government disclosed.

Those feelings had intensified by the second interview, You know, I think many Japanese feel a bit betrayed. Because after the local elections, which were held [April 10th], the government released that this accident is not level five, this is level seven. During the weeks that followed the disaster, Ando and his wife anxiously kept up with the Japanese media reports with bad news causing sleepless nights. A little more than a month after the disaster, he admitted that he stopped following the Japanese news. After all, if I look at the news every minute, I get really depressed, Ando explained, So maybe I take a look at whats going on if there are big events, a big aftershock or an email from my family. These days Ando said he is still sleepless at times, but for a different reason. He is a partner in a new business venture. In our mid-April interview, he broke the news of an upcoming trip to Tokyo to line up potential investors. He was very excited to also go visit his parents while there. He planned on spending a weekend with them, to assess the damage to their house and his hometown, and to, try to cheer [them] up! Ando and I emailed a few weeks ago to follow up on his visit back home. Koriyama is now back to normal, he reported, Shinkansen [high speed train] is running and supermarket is full of goods. Traffic is jammed. My comfort level clearly went up. While his comfort level has since risen with regard to the immediate situation, in our second interview I asked Ando about his connection to the community back home. Yeah, its the people and land that made me what I am now, so I have to give back at some point. I dont know what at this point. But Ando is already giving back. And I think my question made him realize this. He perked up and asked, Did I tell you that I had a chance to speak with high school students visiting from Fukushima? Until just before their visit, Ando wasnt sure the students were going to come because the trip was arranged before the earthquake. He sounded pleasantly surprised that they ended up coming. During his talk, a sixteen year-old student asked about the important characteristics a student from Fukushima should develop if they want to work outside of Japan. I

answered Japanese are really good at three things, said Ando. One is hard-work, [two is] attention to detail, and the third thing is being honest. I think Japanese are good at those three qualities. Ando believes there are other qualities the Japanese are not as good at. He encouraged the students to build and nurture certain skills and attitudes. He began by telling them, the leadership mindset is a challenge for Japanese. He repeated and emphasized this need for leadership before continuing, And [the] second thing is to have better communication skills with a willingness to accept diversity. Reflecting upon his interaction with the students from Fukushima, Ando shared, So I felt like we really needed to encourage them because those are the ones that are going to build the new Japan. They have to be motivated well. Speaking about his own motivation, Ando explained that when he returned to New York following the earthquake, he felt an obligation to be successful. He said, I feel very motivated and inspired. Because now I have to be good, I have to be excellent. Now people are watching Fukushima as a failure of the Japanese system with the failure of the nuclear technology. Whenever I say I am from Fukushima, they might have a negative image, so I have to prove that I am good and that I am of good quality. And that takes a lot of effort. Dont you think? This article is co-published with The Morningside Post. By JD Capuano Tags: Fukushima, International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan