Community Corner

Memories of Northeast Japan

Del Ray resident Dana Damico taught English near earthquake epicenter more than 15 years ago

Like many people in Del Ray, Dana Damico woke Friday morning to news of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan.

But as Damico read closer, she discovered that the disaster hit an area of the country that captured her heart more than 15 years ago.

Damico taught English at a school in the Miyagi prefecture from 1993 to 1995. In Tsuyama-cho, she was a safe distance from the coast, nestled among rice farms and timber yards.

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She visited other Americans in the area, taking in the culture of some of the towns that washed away on Friday.

“I remember being freaked out by the tsunami that hit Thailand [in 2004], but this is going over towns that I’ve been to,” she said.

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Damico remembers visiting a coastal town named Shizugawa where she rode fishing boats and ate fresh tuna and oysters. She saw memorials honoring the victims of tsunamis from the past.

“Those areas are all very working class,” she said. “I learned to speak some Japanese there. When I went to Tokyo, I had the accent of a country bumpkin.”

Shizugawa has since merged with another town and was renamed Minamisanriku. The town is located near the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake, which measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and is considered the largest in Japan’s history.

The country's Kyodo News agency expects a death toll of more than 1,000.

“I’ve lost touch with the locals that were there,” Damico said. “I’ve been looking for photos of my town and others. … There was a river running through [Tsuyama-cho]. I wonder if it is overflowing.”

The American Red Cross is currently taking donations for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan on its website. A $10 donation to Japanese relief efforts can also be made by texting “REDCROSS” to 90999.

Those with concerns about the whereabouts of a specific U.S. citizen in Japan can e-mail JapanEmergencyUSC@state.gov or call 1-800-407-4747.


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