Japan in Crisis

I'm a little late on this, but I feel I need to comment on the tragedy of the earthquakes in Japan this past week. It is always hard to feel any strong emotion for people you have never met or places you have never visited, I was genuinely worried when heard the news.

As a guy that nearly every waking hour is devoted to something Japanese on one form or another, the thought that something as terrible as the biggest earthquake in Japan's history destroying what I love deeply concerned me.

You can say what you want about me being a fool for being so infatuated with a country I have still yet to visit, but it doesn't change the fact that if it wasn't for the things that Japan has produced that I have so much passion for, I probably wouldn't be here today. I probably would have killed myself a long time ago (am I joking? I'm not so sure).

I'm still in contact with a couple of Japanese friends from back in the day that when the quake hit, I was left with a desire to send a quick email to see if they and their families were okay. As is the case with things like this connections can be made either directly or indirectly.

They were okay, and more to the point they were grateful to have people ask that they were okay. As cool as I think Japan is, the country doesn't really hit the conscious of the world as much as China, Russia or Europe. Its kinda sad though that it would take a natural disaster, thousands of deaths and potential nuclear fallout for the world to take notice of Japan again.

And despite everything, I still plan to go to Japan someday soon. My dream will not die yet!