earthquakes

Our friend, Hamaji, was having dinner with us when our apartment started to sway.
It was the strongest earthquake we had experienced so far.

Fortunately nothing fell or suffered any damage and we continued with our dinner, TV and conversation.

Since that evening, we experienced 2 more quakes with other parts of Japan suffering greater damage.

I was reminded once again of the movie "The Sinking of Japan", screened in Singapore as well as in Japan in 2006. http://www.tbs.co.jp/movie/english/soj/

The reviews in Singapore, both in the Straits Times and of friends, were negative.
"Boring", "poor attempt at disaster movie", "draggy"...

However, every Japanese I knew who saw the film was profoundly touched.

I was intrigued by the difference in response.

This year, we had the opportunity to see the film on TV and understood why.

To a foreigner, the disasters in the movie were unreal, the buildings that collapsed held no significance and the different towns and cities looked the same.

To a Japanese, the reality of earthquakes is ever present, the buildings (Shibuya 109, Tokyo Tower etc) are familiar landmarks that evoke memories and maybe signify dreams, the towns and cities are their homes. That each place looked exactly the same in the movie - dilapidated with volcanic soot raining constantly on them - marked the scale of the nightmare. Japan was sinking, and as we followed the family trying to escape to diffenrent parts of Japan, we know the awful truth that they dared only half suspect: there was no escape.

We cried watching the movie.

Although we are not Japanese, we have come to love this people and their home. The make-belief suffering on screen reflects too powerfully the actual pain and fear of the people.

Whether or not one is moved by the movie, in the end, boils down to whether we watch it as an unconcerned outsider or as "one of them".

I reflected too, the spiritual reality that was reflected in the film. How much pain it must inflict on God to daily watch the people he created running in circles, trying in vain to escape from lostness and death.

How we ache to shout at them, "Here is the exit! Come!"

How much more their God, who daily stretches out his hands.

For some clips from the film, see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNQNFsE_iJc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJ6Cftc-E8