Below is an excerpt from a letter written by a Vietnamese immigrant working in Fukushima as a policeman to a friend in Vietnam. It is an extraordinary testimony to the strength and dignity of the Japanese spirit, and an interesting slice of life near the epicenter of Japan’s current crisis, the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
*The worst things here right now are the cold, the hunger and thirst, the lack of water and electricity. People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren’t as bad as they could be. The government is trying to provide air supply, bringing in food and medicine, but it’s like dropping a little salt into the ocean.
Brother, there are so many stories I want to tell you - so many, that I don’t know how to write them all. But there was a really moving incident. It involves a little Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to behave like a human being: Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn’t be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was in the middle of PE at school when the earthquake happened.
His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father’s car away. I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn’t make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives. The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That’s when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. “When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food. So here’s my portion. I already ate. Why don’t you eat it.”
The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn’t. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed. I was shocked. I asked him why he didn’t eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: “Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally.”
When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn’t see me cry. It was so moving -- a powerful lesson on sacrifice and giving. Who knew a 9 year-old in third grade could teach me a lesson on how to be a human being at a time of such great suffering? A society that can produce a 9 year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people.
* (translated by New America Media editor, Andrew Lam.)
