Crushed floor in Sannomiya office building. Had the quake struck three hours later there would have been 50-100 people on this floor.
DAY THREE - Thursday, January 19, 1995:
Today I woke early to my phone ringing. It was Masa telling me he had heard from Yuko’s fiancé in Hawaii and that she was OK and now staying with relatives in Osaka. She had been trapped for several hours in the rubble but was not seriously injured. I was so relieved.
Mike and I were extremely hungry, so we decided to go to Sannomiya to find food and fresh clean water. We left the apartment and walked southwest towards JR Rokkomichi Station, and then east to Sannomiya about six or seven kilometers away. Along the way, I mentioned to Mike that there did not appear to be much rescue work going on today or yesterday. The people we saw digging through the rubble today were more stoic and had less urgency and intensity about them. Rather than looking for people, they were now looking to salvage treasured belongings. We soon passed a group of soldiers poking through the ruins of a crushed house, but they moved and acted like robots. Mike and I wanted to help in case they were looking for survivors, but they did not seem to want any help from civilians. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and professional rescuers had taken over and were rather possessive and territorial over whatever ruins they worked on. And civilians were, in fact, told NOT to try any search and rescue operations without professional help.
On the way to Sannomiya, Mike and I met two women carrying a bag of bread. We asked where they had gotten it and they pointed to a long line of people up ahead. We got in line and I recall thinking how ironic it was for an American lawyer in one of the richest countries in the world to be standing hungry in a bread line. After thirty minutes, Mike and I were able to buy one loaf each of four-day old pre-quake bread. Across the street another shop was open and selling canned juice and other drinks. We bought ten cans and stuffed everything in our backpacks. We were elated by the sudden unexpected availability of food and drink.
Sannomiya itself was quite damaged by the quake. Several large office buildings had toppled into the streets and other buildings had one of two of their middle floors sandwiched together. Most commercial buildings had large structural cracks and broken windows. Hankyu Sannomiya Station was severely damaged and would have to be rebuilt. The Sannomiya Terminal Hotel had large zigzagging cracks running up the entire length of its concrete outer walls. Across the street, Sogo Department Store had broken in half right down the middle. One half of it then fell a meter below the other half. Up Flower Road an office building had neatly fallen into the six-lane street completely blocking it and narrowly missing the building located directly across the street from it. Construction crews were already busily working to pulverize and remove the obstruction.
What had once been the center of Kobe’s neon nightlife now resembled a strip mine with heavy machinery ripping away the walls of damaged buildings and dump trucks of all sizes hauling away the debris. Less than three days after the earthquake, Kobe was already intensely rebuilding itself. Noise and dust were everywhere. And so were the world's news reporters and cameramen.
Severely damaged buildings balance precariously over passersby in Sannomiya.
Mike and I walked north up Ikuta Road towards the more trendy and opulent neighborhoods of Kita-Kobe and Kitano-cho. Ikuta Shrine did not appear damaged except for some minor damage to the entrance nearest the street. Later, however, the main temple would collapse during one of the many aftershocks. A beautiful seven-story Chinese style building on Nakayamate Dori had cracked near its base and the upper floors had slid out and were dangerously perched a few meters towards and above the street below. It would also have to be demolished.
We turned up Tor Road and headed for the Kobe Club in Kitano-cho where I was a member. The higher up we walked the less damage we saw. As in my own neighborhood, the higher mountainside areas of Kobe seemed to have fared well.
Because the Kobe Club was designated an official relief shelter, there were many people there when we arrived. Over one hundred people had set up futons, blankets and other belongings in the large ballroom, meeting rooms and upstairs bar. An attractive well-dressed Korean lady lay sprawled out on one of the bar couches with a bloody handkerchief wrapped around her head after being struck by falling debris. She was being cared for by her equally attractive well-dressed sister. They were wealthy tourists waiting to catch a plane back to Korea. Under different circumstances, Mike and I would have playfully asked them to take us home with them.
Since it was an official relief center, there was plenty of clean drinking water at the Kobe Club being trucked in by government workers. The only food, however, was some stale bread and hot noodle soup the Kobe Club’s world class chef made over a bar-be-que in the middle of the upscale dining room. It was our first hot meal in three days, and it was absolutely delicious! After eating soup and bread, we helped clean up and carried drinking and cooking water from a truck parked outside to the upstairs dining room. I met with the Director of the Club and volunteered to help some more. The Director was very tired by then, and replied that while they were OK, they could use some flashlights or candles. The Kobe Club still had no electricity or heat. I gave him a flashlight I had brought with me - the only one I had.
After a while there was not much else to do, so Mike and I left to return home. It was about a seven- or eight-kilometer walk. In Kitano-cho we found another small open shop and bought more snacks and drinks. Our trip to Sannomiya to find food and water had been very productive and we no longer worried about having enough to eat or drink for the next few days.
As we walked through Kitano-cho back towards Rokko, I noticed how quiet it had become and mentioned to Mile that it was the first time in three days I did not hear sirens or helicopters. But then we rounded a corner and once again heard many far-off sirens coming from the lower-lying areas of the city. We continued walking in silence.
There was little damage on the road from Shin-Kobe to Ogi Koen. In fact, there was little traffic and at times it seemed as if the quake had not happened at all. But we were soon shockingly brought back to harsh reality when we passed a shop with many freshly made wooden coffins stacked neatly out in the open on the sidewalk in front of the shop. It was quite a shock to see these coffins sitting out in the open sunlight in sharp contrast to the quiet undamaged tranquility of the nice upscale residential neighborhood we passed through.
Ogi Koen is one train stop from my home and it had now been turned into a staging area for airlifting people and emergency relief supplies in and out of Kobe. Commercial and military helicopters buzzed all around like a swarm of giant bees. In one five-minute period, Mike and I watched four squads of four helicopters each come in and land at a high school playing field.
While watching the helicopters, I saw a huge piece of foam rubber lying in the street. It was about a meter square on each side. I picked it up and threw it at Mike when he wasn’t looking. We then began an impromptu game of dodgeball. People passing by looked at us like we were crazy. We did not care. It felt good to finally let off some steam. We ended the game tied three to three and resumed walking back home.
It was almost dark when we arrived home, and we were exhausted by all the work and walking we had done during the past three days. There wasn’t much going on in our neighborhood, so we just relaxed indoors. After cleaning ourselves and the apartment some more, we used the rice cooker to heat up the rice ball snacks we had purchased on the way home and made some hot tea. We still had no gas or hot water. We had been wearing the same clothes for three days and were in desperate need of a hot shower. But since it was not likely we would get gas and hot water restored for several weeks at least, I called and made plans for Mike and I to stay with some friends in Osaka beginning from Sunday.
Damaged Hankyu Sannomiya Station and nearby Santica Building with blown out windows and collapsed floors.
DAY FOUR - Friday, January 20, 1995:
Last night was my first decent sleep since before the quake. The day before had exhausted me, I finally had something to eat, and the aftershocks were becoming less intense and frequent. After fixing a light breakfast of stale bread purchased the day before, I used the electric tea pot to heat up water to give myself a sponge bath and a quick rough shave. It took a while, but after this bath, shave and change into fresh clothes, I felt fantastic and refreshed. That little tea pot was the most important item in my home after the quake. It was our only means of heating water. We used it for cleaning, cooking and bathing.
Mike and I gathered some extra clothes, toys and tissues, and put them into a box to donate to a relief center. We dressed in warm clothes and headed out once again, this time intending to find a place where we could volunteer to help those who had lost their homes. We were directed to a local government office where there were a lot of donations there already stacked up against the outside of the building. The office had been turned into a temporary Red Cross center, so we left our box there and walked to a nearby school to volunteer.
There were still a lot of emergency vehicles in Kobe’s Nada Ward where I lived. Most of the fires had finally been extinguished and firemen were able to rest a little for the first time in four days. Some of the press criticized them for being unorganized and slow to respond, but these guys all worked extremely hard for many days and their exhaustion clearly showed in their tired gritty faces. I have nothing but praise and respect for them.
We walked by the main fire station in Nada Ward. Since fires were less of a problem and searches and rescues had decreased, there were many dirty fire trucks parked in front of the station. The tower above the fire station was damaged and hung precariously over the third floor of the station. A man was seen looking out of the window of an office located directly below the tower. He did not seem to notice or care about the danger looming directly above him.
Several blocks later the destruction was much worse. It was the same area we had been on the first day we helped pull people out of the rubble ahead of the advancing fires. Everything now was completely burned right down to the ground. Smoke still rose from some hot spots.
We then saw an elderly couple at least seventy years old. The old man was trying to carry many bags of belongings hanging from a piece of partially burnt lumber he balanced over his shoulders. Mike and I offered to carry it for them, but they refused at first. The man was clearly tired and struggling with the load, so Mike and I took it despite his objections and began following his wife. The load was heavy, and we were amazed the old man had been able to lift and carry it as far as he did.
The couple were going to Rokko Elementary School where many other homeless people had taken refuge. They stopped at the entrance to the school and wanted to carry the load the rest of the way by themselves. But there was no way Mike and I were going to let them carry such a heavy weight by themselves. They were very tired and struggled simply by walking. In deference to their pride, however, we handed them one or two bags and let them lead the way ahead of us.
Collapsed building blocks six-lane road in Sannomiya. Rescue helicopter flies through smoke from continuing fires.
The school was packed with people and a massive amount of personal belongings they had salvaged. Every classroom was full. People camped out in the hallways when there was no room left in the classrooms and gymnasium. Even the stairs had people staying on them. Every possible space was being used. People sat and wandered around aimlessly for the most part. But it was not a happy place and none of them wanted to be there.
We were a strange group. An old tired couple in dirty tattered clothes, followed by two tall freshly dressed young foreigners. As we walked up to the third floor, people stopped talking in mid-sentence and a hushed awkward silence followed us. When we got to the classroom where the couple would stay, they thanked us profusely and we hurried back outside.
The grounds in front of the school were jam-packed with cars, tents and people coming and going in all directions. A news van had parked in the middle of the lot with a big satellite on its roof. Three foreign technicians stared at a flickering video image of something happening across town, numb to everyone going around where they were. The front of the school was plastered with hundreds of handwritten notes by people looking for missing family members and friends.
We saw a teenage girl walk out and talk with some soldiers. She seemed to be working there, so Mike asked her if we could help. She told us to wait while she went back inside the building, and then returned with two adults who greeted us very politely. We asked if we could volunteer to assist them, noting that we both lived in the area. They spoke among themselves for a minute or two, but appeared reluctant to accept our offer. Apparently, there was no one around who was comfortable enough in English to communicate with us. And our limited Japanese made us less useful to them. We realized it would be more of a burden for them to direct and watch over two foreigners with whom they could not efficiently communicate.
The school did not have electricity or heat. So we asked if there were any families with sick children who wanted a warm place to stay that night. I explained that my apartment was nearby, safe and warm, and had a spare room they could use for a few days. They eventually understood what we were offering and wrote a note about our offer which they placed on the bulletin board in front of the school’s main office. They thanked us, and Mike and I hurried back home just in case someone called us. But no one called or accepted our offer that day or the next.
Mike and I were starting to get bored and frustrated. We had returned to Kobe after taking Takako to Nishinomiya so that we could continue helping our neighbors. We wanted to do much more to help people. Our inability to speak fluent Japanese did not matter much on the first day of the quake when immediate help was needed to save lives or dig people out of an approaching fire. But now there was no longer any such life and death immediacy. And once the government and emergency teams arrived, they did not want any civilians - especially foreigners - traipsing through the rubble looking for people. In fact, they actively prohibited civilians from doing so. So as the days passed, Mike and I found ourselves more and more staying at home with nothing much to do.
It was now Friday night. Normally, Mike and I would be out drinking and having fun with friends in Sannomiya. But those days would be gone for some time now. And after seeing all the damage the quake did to Sannomiya, we wondered if it would ever again be the exciting night spot and gathering place it had once been.
Devastated burned out neighborhood near downtown Kobe.