What Exactly is Category 2?

A landed ship in the middle of Ofunato



On Wednesday, I was working outside at a fish distribution center as a category 2 typhoon was working its way in our direction up the Honshu Island.  The group that I was working with was cleaning large seafood drying racks that had been covered in mud by the tsunami.  With three large vats of water, scrub brushes and rubber gloves, we cleaned the metal legs of the racks, each about half the size of a doorway. The normal mid day heat had given way to a chilly grey sky and heavy rain.  The wind whipped through the mountains and trees, moaning and wheezing like a large wounded animal.  Everyone kept repeating, “the typhoon is only a category 2.”  Well, the ‘category 2 typhoon’ shut down the Shinkansen (bullet train) and some of the highways up here.  Wednesday stands out as a reflection of what has quickly become my new comfort zone.

Mr. Sugawara, a super spry and opinionated 72 year old with a large warm smile, is the owner of the distribution center.  He showed us the route that he and his wife used to escape the tsunami.  The three houses next to his were all swept into the sea, along with his elderly bedridden neighbor. Having also survived the Ofunato tsunami in 1962 that resulted from the earthquake in Chile, Sugawara-san is now planning to donate his land to the city to build a sea wall and to move his operation to higher ground. He reiterated to me several times that he was going to be okay, that he had other income streams and that he didn’t want to be super wealthy anyway because he didn’t want to pay any more tax to the Japanese government.  At lunchtime, his wife came to the work site on her bicycle with warm soup and coffee to go with our bento lunches.  Sugawara-san was quick to point out that the sanma fish in our lunch was now imported from Hokkaido, as sanma could not be distributed from this area for the next 5 years.

 

Mr. Sugawara

I spent several days working on projects for Sugawara-san.  I’m beginning to think that he tries hard to come up with new tasks for us to do because he simply enjoys our company.  An important part of the rebuilding effort is allowing people to share their experiences. 

I’ve started to exhibit a sort of obsessive compulsive disorder when I’m clearing debris or cleaning anything here.  I will pace back and forth, working diligently, digging, scraping and sweeping that small section of the river ditch until it sparkles. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with this irrational feeling that if even one tiny section of a ditch can sparkle, then northern Japan will be restored to normal, that the splendor of the coast and the rolling rugged mountains will be free of the sadness and pain of the 3/11 tragedy.  Sugawara-san said that he was surprised and impressed by how hard we worked everyday, all day….even in the driving rain amidst a typhoon warning.  He assured me that he will never forget our faces.