Joe Swift
Today
Jan-17 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. I truly the
saw the awesome power of the earth a mere six months after moving to Japan. I
was living in Osaka at the time (close to the epicentre) but was in Kanazawa on
that day as I was on winter break from college classes. However after heading
back to Osaka, I volunteered at the hard-hit areas, translated letters back and
forth between children in Kobe and children in San Francisco who had just had a
major earthquake of their own exactly one year earlier. I did what I could back
then.
Humans
can not “defeat” nature, nor is there any real meaning in trying to. We can,
however, be prepared in order to not be defeated ourselves. As one who works in
the field of natural disaster risk, I will continue to do all that I can in
order to assist people in this regard.
We must
also not forget the resilience of the human spirit. Even when disaster strikes,
the resilience to refuse to be defeated. On A Full Moon Evening that was
written as a requiem to the earthquake teaches us this lesson. The video is my
friend Reika Ao and her husband
singing this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RslkzNV9UIo
Lyrics
(Rough translation from the jacket cover of Soul Flower Union greatest hits
album, they sang one of the many variations of this song)
Mangetsu no Yuube (On a full moon evening)
A
frightening wind is blowing from the dock,
as it's wrapping the ruins of the fire
Every thing is so sad that's it's being laughed away
on a dry winter evening.
Crossing
time, and standing in the city of rubble,
far away from the "borderline".
The heart's pendulum beating loud,
ticking to the present time.
A Shiba
dog that's lost it's home
is running the streets while playing with its compatriot.
Everything is set free and being laughed away
on a dry winter evening.
YASA HO
Ya A song is heard
We're not going to sleep. We're going to dance till morning.
YASA HO Ya The white breath is dancing around the bonfire.
Set
everything free! Let's laugh with life
on a full moon evening.
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