Thinking of Japan

With so much going on in the world these days it sometimes feels overwhelming. I've been following the events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Libya -- thinking not only of the political repercussions, but also about the individuals. I continue to be stunned by the magnitude of the changes and the momentum that has carried event after event after event. And then yesterday happened.

On Thursday I was stunned to hear people beginning to call the events in Libya a Civil War. I expected to wake up Friday morning, turn on the radio, and hear about the latest events. Instead, Friday, March 11, I was still in bed and I picked up my iPod Touch and checked my Twitter account. It was there that I saw a post - 8.9 earthquake in Japan. My heart caught in my throat. 8.9. It is a stunning number. I quickly began scanning other tweets and the news and saw a flurry of words like "earthquake," "tsunami," "whirlpool," "missing commuter train." I wanted to cry as I saw the pictures and began to process what they really meant.

This was one of those moments that confirms what I have long believed -- that my passion for tea has made my world much, much smaller. I have spent years learning about Japanese tea, its growing regions, and its traditions. I have attended a Japanese tea ceremony and while in London last year, I met a Japanese woman who was starting her own tea farm. This story was no longer just one of a tragedy in a far away place. This was a devastating moment that felt personal. My heart broke for the families desperate to reach their loved ones. I thought about those friends I've made and wondered how they were and if they were safe. I spent the day sending out emails and compulsively checking news stories and my Twitter feed. I read about a town where 9,400 people are unaccounted for. I saw that the main island of Honshu has actually moved 8 feet east. The quake moved the earth on its axis four inches. And then this morning I awoke to the news of the explosion and fear of meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power facility.

There is another part to the story -- one of resilience and planning. It is always harder to tell the story of what didn't happen. The foresight of the Japanese policy makers to develop stringent architectural and engineering standards certainly prevented the collapse of countless buildings. Advance emergency and evacuation plans created systems that made these mass evacuations possible, possibly saving hundreds or even thousands of lives. These things should not be overlooked as lessons from these tragedies.

But these are tragedies and they continue. Aftershocks will continue to strike fear and it will be many days before we fully understand the magnitude of the losses and what it will take to begin the recovery.

As people who love tea, we have an obligation. We cannot simply use these nations to obtain the product we love. Tea is bigger than that.  I think we also have an obligation to support these nations when emergency strikes.  Just as we came together after the Sri Lankan tsunami several years ago, I hope that we as a tea community can find special ways to show our support for the tea farmers of Japan.

For those who wish to help, donations can be made to established organizations like Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and the Red Cross. I will certainly let you know if a tea industry-specific charities come to my attention.

And to my readers in Japan, know that we are thinking of you. Please let us know if there are ways we can help.