絆：ニッケイ・ストーリー ～東日本大震災から～

I happened to speak with Chef Bill Telepan yesterday, who was full of news about his recent trip to Japan. He was one of eight New York chefs who traveled to Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, one of the areas most devastated by the March 11 Greater Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The team’s mission was to cook a heartwarming Fourth of July weekend lunch for an estimated 1,000 people in this city.

“It was an amazing event, and it went perfectly,” said the chef, whose eponymous Upper West Side restaurant is known for its artful presentation of seasonal and local ingredients. “The …

I was shocked, saddened and depressed when I learned that there are people in the United States who think that the Tohoku Kanto Earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which has caused enormous damage and casualties that will surely top 10,000, is some sort of karmic payback for Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Really? Seriously?

Yes, unfortunately. Here’s just a sampling of some updates and comments from Facebookthat rant about Pearl Harbor and the tsunami, and how the U.S shouldn’t send any aid to Japan:

Who bombed Pearl Harbor? Karmas a bitch.

Do I feel bad for japan? Two …

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Monday, March 14th

Monday morning we woke up early to get to the bus. The first bus was leaving at 9:20 a.m., but it was first come, first served. On Sunday, we saw people arriving two hours ahead of time, so we arrived early to secure our seats. I went up to the front desk to get my cell phone that they had been charging for me and a staff member handed me an article and a note. He told me rolling blackouts would be starting that day and the Tsukuba Express train that we would …

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Saturday, March 12th

My friends and I woke up at 6:00 AM to see if any of the buses were running and going to the airport. I had made a bus reservation for 6:45 AM that would take them directly to Narita Airport. Their flight to Chicago was scheduled to depart at 11:20 AM. However, we couldn’t get through to the bus company and the hotel staff said no buses were running and all the taxis were in high demand. There was no way to get to the airport, so my friends called the airline to …

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Electricidad

Si Japón empieza a crear programas para que su población empiece una transición hacia la vida comunitaria cercana, real, donde el individuo sea lo más importante, bajando su dependencia en la electricidad, se convertirá en ejemplo para el resto del mundo.

Este ejemplo es necesario porque la época crítica para nuestra [supuesta] civilización ya empezó –sin ser alarmista- y estamos viviéndola de hace décadas sin saberlo.

La nuestra es una civilización basada en el consumo desmedido de energía que se produce a partir del petróleo; preferimos nuestro confort a dejar de contaminar nuestro medio y por …