Welcome concerned viewers to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home. Today's program is the first in a three part series examining the complete destruction of many Japanese coastal communities following the March １１, ２０１１ Tohoku earthquake centered off of Japan's northeast coast.

Measuring ９.０ on the Richter scale, the quake was the world's fourth-largest since １９００ and generated an immense, destructive tsunami that hit the coast just minutes after the seismic event. Entire seaside towns were flattened as they were directly hit by the tsunami, which had waves up to ２４-meters high. Of the ３０ coastal towns wiped out, ２４ or ８０％ were fishing ports. With many fishing and trawling ships left badly damaged or completely gone in the wake of the tsunami, a spokesperson for Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world stated, 『The entire fishing industry has disappeared.』 This event not only resulted in widespread loss of human and animal life, but also caused radiation to be released from the severely quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture, elevating radiation levels in cities far from the site such as Tokyo.

Even １０-days after the massive seismic event, magnitude-６.０ and higher aftershocks have been recorded in Japan, rattling the nerves of already traumatized survivors while raising risks of landslides and further destruction. As of March ２６, ２０１１, over ２７,０００ are dead or missing, with more than ３６２,０００ displaced and／or evacuated from their homes. Over １８,０００ buildings were totally destroyed and nearly ９８,５００ damaged by the catastrophe.

This is the most expensive natural disaster in history and the Japanese government estimates that the cost to rebuild is around US$３１０ billion. Due to the intervention of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in mid-February ２０１１, Japan's whaling fleet ceased whaling in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica a month earlier than scheduled, arriving in Tokyo Bay on March ２１, ２０１１.

Owing to this early return home, Japanese officials were able to immediately redirect one of Japan's largest whaling ships, the Nisshin Maru, to deliver aid to the hardest hit prefectures in the northeast. Sharing his heartfelt thoughts about the tragedy in Japan, Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society wrote the following in his March ２３, ２０１１ online report:

Wednesday, March ２３, ２０１１: VOICE １(m): 『Our hearts and sympathies do go out to the men and women in the whaling fleet who may have lost family and friends to the disaster. I personally know how frustrating it is to be at sea when there is a loss in the family. We do not know what the Japanese whalers knew of the disaster or even when they knew it, but we can only imagine the anguish some may have suffered.』

HOST: Many coastal towns in the worst-affected northeastern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima had economies primarily based on the fishing industry. These communities have been completely shattered by the earthquake and tsunami leaving the survivors traumatized, helpless and destitute.

IWATE PREFECTURE

Iwate Prefecture, the northernmost of the three northeastern prefectures, is a popular tourist destination for hiking, boating, camping in the summer and skiing in the winter. The fishing port of Otsuchi Town, was literally swept away by the immense tsunami.

Of the estimated population of １６,０００, １０,０００ are missing, with most presumed dead. The mayor of Otsuchi Town, Koki Kato, sadly lost his life to the tsunami. The city of Miyako with a population of more than ５７,０００ suffered extensive damage, including the small fishing village of Taro that is part the city.

The village was ravaged by the waves despite a １０-meter high sea wall that was built to protect Taro from further tsunamis after the １９３３ Sanriku earthquake. Homes and buildings have disappeared, debris is everywhere and ２,０００ are missing or dead.

Ofunato, another fishing port in Iwate, reported a ２３.６ meter high wall of water thundering down on the town, engulfing and flattening most of the buildings and taking many residents out to sea. As of March ２４, ２０１１ nearly １０,０００ have perished and over １６,０００ people are missing.

One of the very few buildings that were left standing and virtually undamaged was the town's theater, which now serves as a shelter for survivors. The same devastation was repeated in the fishing town of Rikuzentakata where ５,０００ houses and buildings were completely swept away. On March １８, ２０１１ the mayor of Rikuzentakata, Futoshi Toba, made the following somber announcement.

Futoshi Toba, Mayor of Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan (M): As we have informed you, at １４:４６ today, we have decided to call off our investigation activity of lifesaving. The Governor of Iwate prefecture has announced this. Because we have to move ahead.

We hear that a lot of remains have been discovered. However, the figure has not been announced yet at all. After that, missing persons are １,７８３ people. The number of shelters is ６７, and ９,５４７ people are taking shelter. We, the city government, must also think about the future of the citizens who are alive and taking shelter. Therefore, we think that we have to work further for them.

Well, to tell you the truth, at this moment, to comment on what kind of town or how we are going to revive is impossible. I think that it is our number one obligation to enable those people to live at least in a state close to normal.

HOST: A Rikuzentakata tsunami survivor tells of his harrowing experience.

Tohoku earthquake and tsunami survivor Rikuzentakata, Japan Victim (M): The shakes were so tremendous that I could not keep standing. So, I suspected these earthquakes were catastrophic, and I decided to escape from where I was. I escaped on foot instead of using a car, carrying my grandchild on my back.

It was within １０ minutes after I had reached a refuge area that a huge sheet of spray went up and a tsunami rose up into the air, exhaling jet-black smoke as if it was a wind. Thus, the evacuation site became dangerous, too, so I ran up a mountain. That's all.

MIYAGI PREFECTURE

HOST: Miyagi Prefecture's capital is Sendai, the most populated city in the prefecture with more than one million residents. Sendai specializes in electronics and appliance manufacturing and food processing. Much commerce flows through its large port.

The earthquake's epicenter was １３０ kilometers from Sendai. Just over an hour after the massive temblor struck, the resulting tsunami swamped Sendai Airport, washing away cars and airplanes and flooding many buildings. Though the tsunami did not reach the heart of Sendai itself, the force of the quake caused substantial damage to infrastructure such as cracks in buildings and roads.

Minami-Sanriku a major fishing center in Miyagi was entirely inundated by the tsunami. A staggering ９５％ of the town was destroyed and fishing vessels were either completely obliterated or smashed beyond repair. More than half of the population of approximately １７,０００ remain unaccounted for.

One witness characterizes the town as a 『submerged cemetery.』 A similar story was repeated in Iwanuma City. Prior to the disaster, the municipality had a population of around ４４,０００.

Tsuneaki Iguchi, Mayor of Iwanuma City, Miyagi Prefecture (M): A massive tidal wave warning was given, so we tried to call out many citizens as possible to evacuate. Unfortunately, because the tidal waves were much more overwhelming and fierce than we had expected, they robbed a great number of peoples' precious lives and homes away with waves without mercy.

We were really shocked by this disaster, which was the most catastrophic incident that ever happened to Iwanuma City in history.

HOST: Other coastal communities in Miyagi Prefecture that incurred major destruction and had their fishing industries wiped out include Kesennuma, Ishinomaki and Shiogama. Prior to the catastrophe, Kesennuma accounted for ９０％ of Japan's shark fin trade.

In ２００９, nearly １４,０００ tons of shark went through this port town. In the coastal whaling base of Ishinomaki, a whale-processing facility was swept away.

FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE

HOST: Many residents of Fukushima Prefecture's coastal region are involved in the fishing and seafood processing industries as well as carp aquaculture production. The fishing communities of Minamisōma, Soma and Namie, like many others, were largely laid to waste by the earthquake and tsunami.

At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, located in the prefecture's Futaba District, a major crisis unfolded following the Tohoku earthquake. Due to releases of radiation, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for residents within a ２０ kilometer radius of the nuclear power plant, and a voluntary one issued for those within ３０ kilometers of the complex. Citizens as far away as Tokyo are being affected with the Japanese government warning that the city's radiation-tainted tap water is unsafe for infants to drink.

Since March １１th, local and international humanitarian relief organizations have been working tirelessly around the clock to serve the numerous victims needing care and comfort. The ordeal of the survivors continues with many of the displaced staying in overcrowded shelters and enduring freezing temperatures while facing shortages of food, water, medicine, and other necessities.

In the midst of all the chaos and the suffering, the mayor of Iwanuma City noted the following:

Miyagi Prefecture (M): Sorry to say, but there is still a possibility that every place can be affected by any earthquake or tsunami. So we would like those who live in other areas to listen to what we have experienced this time, so that everyone will be able to avoid such tragedy from happening ever again.

If we can serve any contribution through our experiences, we are very grateful.

HOST: Supreme Master Ching Hai has often spoken about the many natural disasters occurring around our world such as in this August ２００９ videoconference in Thailand.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: On one hand, yes, it is alarming to see so many crises erupting one after another

But if we stop to remember what our religions have taught us and what our scientific observation shows us, these problems are not without their causes. It's all about the energy. Negative or positive, like energy attracts like energy.

From this viewpoint, we see that we have produced a lot, a lot, and a lot of negative energy by killing billions and billions of innocent sentient lives, and killing millions of our fellow humans even, over millennia, directly or indirectly.

how could we escape our own conscience and the collective murderous energy that is emitted and hangs in the atmosphere until it is forced to manifest again - as wars, as disease, as the unstable climate and its disastrous consequence？ It is not a coincidence that the main cause of global warming is meat eating. It's not. And the main cause of many of the leading health problems in our world is also derived from meat eating. So, meat eating is cruelty to animals, meat eating is cruelty to our well-being, meat eating is cruelty to our children's wellbeing, meat eating is cruelty to the planet.

If we don't change our way of life, things will only speed along in this destructive path. So, in order to go toward a positive destination for ourselves and the planet, all we have to do is change the direction. Be vegan, make peace with one another and our co-inhabitants, create peace, emanate compassion, then the future will be peaceful and we will never have to suffer many of these kinds of consequences ever, ever again.



HOST: Please join us next Wednesday on Planet Earth: Our Loving Home for part two of our three part series examining the devastation to coastal towns in northeastern Japan following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.