Praying for Japan

On March 11, Japan's Miyagi and Iwate prefectures in the northeast were struck by the largest and most severe earthquake in Japanese history, a record-breaking magnitude 9. The powerful quake also triggered a 10-meter-high tsunami, which overwhelmingly engulfed and flattened the large and small towns and villages that had always prided themselves on their magnificent coastal scenery. Public infrastructure—roads, railways, airports, and high-speed rail—was severely damaged. Homes destroyed, lives lost, heaven and earth overturned, everything unrecognizable, a scene too tragic to bear, horrifying to behold, with devastating casualties. Japan is weeping; it is a catastrophic event of the century that shook the world.

Then, misfortune never comes alone: the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's reactors 1, 2, and 3 exploded successively, with severe radiation leaks, and reactor 4 also caught fire. The crisis rapidly worsened, a situation causing deep anxiety. It resulted in the most severe nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union, also raising worldwide concerns, unease, and panic over the uncertainties of nuclear power.

Under the triple severe conditions of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, Japan faces its most serious crisis since the end of World War II 65 years ago. I also admire the calm and composure of this nation and its people. As a fellow human being, I share in the grief and mourn for the earthquake victims, and I offer this article in prayer for Japan.