Katriona's Diary

For weeks, I have done teleworking and had generally peaceful, not much inconvenient life but at the same time, all the while, I have been feeling like “I can not believe this is real”. Though bit by bit, I have been accepting the truth that the world is changing now and the happy time when we can visit anywhere in the world if we have some money and courage might be ending. Not just a recession but also an unfamiliar, maybe more uncomfortable time would come when we’d survive this pandemic.
During the disaster maybe we tend to feel like this. I remember I have felt similarly in 2011, during and after the great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuke crisis. But this time, though the life of most of us is not damaged badly, the whole world is suffering and fighting against the same enemy, no place to run into.
Today, a very popular Japanese comedian died of coronavirus, the first famous deceased in Japan. So people were shocked and the newspapers and internet are full of the words of mourning. Yes it was sad, a tragedy. Still, to me, it seems that there are far more grief than the essential awareness of that how danger our current situation is. I hope his death would awake the cautiousness in many “optimistic” Japanese but it might be too late. We might be following the same path where Italy and Spain have walked on 2 or 3 weeks ago.
Even so, yes most of us would eventually survive and the “normal” life would be back someday, but I’m afraid some things will change forever and never come back.
Yes this is really a war, and with tens of thousands of dead, who can be the same as before?

Coincidentally my best friend who has lived in Yokohama for about 15 years will move to a very far city within a few months for her husband’s job, I’ll lose the best companion for going out and talking and thinking together. I’m not sure if she would come back, and even if she will, then I’d become far older and... things can never be the same. So I have to change my life somehow.

At the moment I have no idea how bad this infection would be here in near future, thus cannot imagine well about my job and life in very near future. I really hope the ”optimistic” ones would be right and the situation would not become as worse as in Europe, but not sure.not sure at all. I just know our society, and my own life must change. And still cannot prepare for it enough.

At the end of my garden, simple but very beautiful Mansaku tree in bloom.



Even if we human beings all get infected and become sick, the nature doesn’t care and show their flowers and leaves ...



I like these mild green colour in early spring...

Yes... I feel a bit horrifying.
Now many countries close their borders. Our government told us not to go to ANY foreign countries for a while, this was not the strict order but practically the prohibition of any foreign voyage for us ordinary people.
At the moment I have no plan to go to other countries still this stop of coming and going between the countries makes me feel really gloomy, feel like now we are back to the Medieval period. Just the idea “we can go to any country, any part of the world if we want” has made us feel so free and positive, now I noticed.
I’m afraid visiting other countries just for fun(for holiday) might be out of question at least within half a year, or worse, one year or more. I feel like being locked up in a small place though I have no real inconvenience at home at the moment...

After one week teleworking today I came to the office, bringing the office computer in my bag X) for I have some meetings today. I found most of the employees in the office - just a few members do the teleworking, it seems -, working just as usual. Here things seem to be quite normal. I’m not sure this is right or not. Staying at home might be safer, but also, we cannot stop our job - economic activities. People’s life and health is of course most important, still if the every business would stop it would also kill people. This is really difficult, should we eat out or go for shopping and use money? I heard this sudden stagnation has already broken many small businesses. But of course we should be very careful, avoid any crowded places...
And I wonder how my foreign friend are doing in their areas...

Since yesterday we all have worn surgical masks in the office. It’s turned out that one of the employee had gone to the gym where one coronavirus carrier had gone - not same time, just use the same gym still they could have touched the same things. This means, any of us could have been infected now but without symptoms, and could transmit the virus to other people. So just in case, we wear the surgical masks in the office. This is not comfortable, rather inconvenient but I don’t want to carry the virus to someone :( I’m not sure if this is effective or not, but in such time we should be very, very careful... And of course I wash my hands well every time I go to the toilet X)

The big typhoon has left much damages in various areas. More than 10 big rivers burst their banks because of the extravagant amount of rain in many places and wide areas were flooded, there are people still waiting for the rescue on the roof or the 2nd floor of the houses. More than 25 were killed and more are missing. In Nagano many Shinkansen cars were flooded. It’s just terrible!
Though fortunately our area got no serious damage at all. Last night, before midnight the heavy rain and strong wind have already ended. This morning when I opened the shutters it’s beautifully fine and the air was full of wonderful smell of fragrant olive. It’s almost unbelievable that we have such beautiful, quiet day when many people are suffering by the damage.




“Kinmokusei” - the fragrant olive began to bloom and send out their wonderful sweet scent.


They were all safe!

Meanwhile, in my room...

...relaxing rabbit XD

Yesterday it was cloudy with some weak sunshine in the morning. Before noon when I went out I saw this.

The mimosa tree in the neighbour's front yard I have posted about some days ago - the tree is now in full bloom and entertains the passersby - and the plastic bucket full of mimosa sprays with the sign saying "feel free to take some". How generous they are! Needless to say I accepted their kind offer, now the small entrance hall of my house looks bright with yellow flowers :)

BTW my best friend who has once lived in Roma says mimosa allergy is rather common in Italy. Really?? But I can imagine .... big mimosa tree would scatter the huge amount of pollen!!
In the afternoon I planted a very young Ume(Japanese apricot) tree in the garden. For years I've wanted to have my own Ume tree but too lazy to buy one. Now I hope this tree will take root safely :)

In the evening it started raining, and the rain continued all night, sometimes heavily, especially very early morning today.
And we now have 11 March - the 8th 3.11. I mean, since the Great Tohoku earthquake, Tsunami and the nuke crisis (in 2011). This is the very important day for us, all the media report various news related to the disaster 8 years ago. I read that still more than 2,500 people are missing and the families are trying to find them, more than 100 bodies (the part of bodies, of course) are not identified yet, about 20,000 people are still living in the small temporary houses and far more than 50,000 people waiting for the day they can return to their hometown. For these people the disaster is not the incident of the past. It's very very difficult to know what we can do for them and how we should think about their current situation. I just feel thankful for my fortunate situation, this peaceful days.

Yesterday, 11th March, is the special, unforgettable day for us Japanese. It's 6 years since the disaster - the great Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami. About 16,000 people were killed on the very day and just after the earthquake, over 3,500 have died in the aftermath, and still over 2,500 people are missing. And because of the nuke crisis still over a hundred thousand people can not return to their own houses in Fukushima. As for me, quite fortuntely I haven't had any direct damage or loss by the disaster, no, for me, ...the disaster has made a small rabbit living in Fukushima be rescued and come to my house. Now the rabbit, Mr.Uma is gone. 6 years passed. People tend to forget the tragedy, but never we should.

Yesterday evening I went to listen to a concert of classical music.( ...and )

My garden is now full of spring flowers, and greenery is lively and beautiful. I feel the joy of springime!


It's great fun to pick some flowers and put them in small vases :)


But you know, the nature could be also menace to us human beings. In the evening of Thursday there was big earthquakes in Kumamoto, Kyusyu (the south part of Japan) which killed 9 people ...then again, last night (after midnight) there were the bigger quakes in the same area. These quakes killed more than 40 people, caused landslides or collapse of many buildings... at the moment we don't get the whole picture of the damage yet.

Kumamoto is far south from here so in our area we have no damage but we are all a bit nervous, many people afraid of the great earthquake which is expected to occur along the Japanese Archipelago in near future. We all know it will hit us sooner or later, as long as we live on this archipelago earthquakes are avoidable disaster. Our ancestors has suffered them hundreds of years, maybe this is the reason that we (unlike many Westerners) think nature is never controllable. Before the great power of nature we human beings are just like other plants and animals, we just bow to it and endure the difficulty.

At the moment we don't know what we can do for the victims in Kumamoto, we are just praying for them.

3.11.

It's 5 years since the fatal day. The disaster which killed nearly 16,000 people with the earthquake and tsunami. More than 2500 people are still missing, more than 170,000 people still can not return to their house and hometown near Fukushima nuclear power plant. The reconstruction of towns, people's lives and many social systems doesn't progress well.

Just after the disaster I had reread Albert Camus's "La Peste", the story of the people's struggle against the evil. Now after 5 years I'm reading Saint-Exupery's "Citadelle" which seems to be curiously suited to the current social situation and my mood.