[SML] HNY & Other Housekeeping

[David Neale]

New Year’s Eve/ Day is the biggest holiday in Japan, far bigger than Christmas which isn’t even a day off for most people.  However, Eve is not so much of a party day like in the States, as much as a time to be at home with the family and maybe quietly go to the local Shinto shrine at midnight.  Like many families, mine has a meal of boiled crab and later a special kind of soba noodles, plays board games, and watches a  live traditional showcase of Japanese musical artists on NHK.   The First is usually more of the same but this year the mood was severely dampened by the earthquake that took place on the west coast, followed by the tsunami and fires.  My in-laws are from Kobe and are survivors of the Great 1995 earthquake that occurred there.  I spent my formative years in Tohoku and have a number of friends that lost family members in 2011.  So we were pretty much glued to the TV, trying to send whatever positive vibes we could to the people in Ishikawa, knowing exactly what they were going through.  We felt the quake here in Tokyo but it was a pretty average one, not worth getting up to think about taking cover.  Currently 48 people are confirmed dead.   Astronomically fewer than in Tohoku but no less devastating for the people there.  

Today we were hoping to reset our mood a bit but were shocked when, right in the middle of a news broadcast, they cut to a live shot of a plane burning on the runaway at Haneda Airport.  At first they had zero information and just kept saying that there was a fire on the runway.  Details trickled in slowly and it was over 30 minutes before they could confirm that everyone from the jet had evacuated safely.  Unfortunately five of the six military personnel on the other plane didn’t make it.  They were getting ready to fly supplies to the earthquake victims on the west coast.  So we’re all reeling.  Grateful that our loved ones are safe but deep in empathy for those who aren’t so lucky.

So far I’m filing 2024 in the same bin as 2020.  Not impressed and would like a do-over!  Having said that, I’m not pessimistic by nature and, barring anymore disasters, I look forward to bringing a little more theater and music into the world.  More than ever, I’m grateful for my job and my students and can’t wait to learn a little bit more of the many things I don’t know.   If any of y’all find yourselves in my neck of the woods, be sure to look me up.