World - Japanese Earthquake Brings Back Sad Memories

Japanese Earthquake Brings Back Sad Memories
Andy Rooney

I thought I would write about Japan today because, like most people in the world, my heart goes out to all its citizens. The world hopes that the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami will subside. We also hope that damage to the nuclear power plants can soon be brought under control so the Japanese people, with help from the world, can begin the process of rebuilding their great nation, again.

I remember my father telling me as a boy that he had spent many months in Japan when he was a salesman for the Albany Felt Company. His company sent him to Japan to sell felts to Japanese paper makers. He liked the Japanese, and this probably influenced my lifelong opinion of the people. How many kids in the 1920s could say their fathers went to Japan?

My father traveled to Japan frequently for the company and he told me of his experience in Tokyo on Sept. 1, 1923, when a huge earthquake triggered fires and destroyed buildings, killing an estimated 140,000 people in Tokyo, Yokohama and the surrounding region. The 7.9 magnitude quake was known as The Great Kanto Earthquake. My father was lucky because the hotel where he was staying was well-built and remained standing, though it did sustain damage. The Imperial Hotel was designed by the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Thank goodness there were no nuclear power plants in 1923 Japan. Now there are something like 55 nuclear power plants in the country.

After my dad returned from Japan, he didn't say much about his experiences during the quake, but I know the images in his mind always haunted him. He had taken pictures of the devastation he witnessed. I remember looking at those pictures years later. However, I was still very young and I didn't really understand the impact the earthquake had on the Japanese people and the world then.

My mother explained to me many years later that she decided to burn the pictures because they were too horrible to keep, and she felt that by destroying them it would keep her from thinking about the worst things that happen in the world.

I can remember my father talking about the Japanese people with admiration for their good business sense and their kind and gentle demeanor. He told me they were gentle on the outside and tough on the inside.

Throughout the long history of Japan, its people have survived many natural and man-made disasters. They came out of each one smarter and stronger. At one time in history, Japan was our bitter enemy, but now we count the Japanese as strong allies and good friends to the United States. I hope we'll do all that we can as friends and allies to help Japan recover from this latest blow.

My father was right. The Japanese are tough. They will come out of this, but I hope that they'll have help from their good friends around the world.