There I saw many other foreign students frightened from the aftershock, but a few Japanese men from the neighborhood dealt kindly with us. They explained the situation intelligibly in Japanese while playing the radio loud and advised us to go to shelters after gathering food.

　As I thought it would be faster, I moved around by bicycle to get food at a number of convenience stores and supermarkets but I couldn’t get anything because of the crowdedness. Yet what surprised me was that salesclerks were leading customers in the partially destroyed store to evacuate without help of policemen and controlling traffic as substitutes for traffic signals, which stopped working because of the power outage. I was able to witness the noble service of ordinary Japanese citizen and the high awareness of disaster prevention with my own eyes.

　Finally I arrived to a hotel which was designated as a temporary refuge. There was no relief or food available there because it was only a temporary facility. I did not want to stay in my apartment where walls were cracked so I ended up staying the hotel for three days.

How did your family at home country react?

　I sent my family a message that I was safe by Skype. They tried to call me many times after that but couldn’t get through. So they seemed to be seriously worried.

　When they finally were able to get hold of me, they did not dare to tell me to return but advised to move to Tokyo or Osaka area for fear of radiation. I couldn’t make it due to limited transport facilities. Reading reports in China every day, my father was concerned and sent them to me. There was an apparent gap between news in China and what I see in Japan. I had hard times to make him understand what was really happening. I translated information from a third country into Chinese and explained it to him, and then he finally understood.

Did The Great East Japan Earthquake leave you any impression on Japan?

　I didn’t have any food for three days during my stay at the temporary refuge, but I was truly saved by student volunteers of the Tohoku University and other surrounding universities who distributed chocolates there, and by a family of no acquaintance sitting next to me who shared snacks with me.

　Also a Japanese friend of mine from college days living in Yamagata Prefecture, fifty kilometers west of Sendai City, was worried about me and gave me a call, and soon he came to Sendai by car to pick me up. Thanks to his thoughtfulness, I stayed in Yamagata for about a week. I had felt the spiritual climate in Japan even before the earthquake that they deal with others, with or without acquaintance, with thoughtfulness and kindness from the bottom of their hearts, and such Japanese mindset was proved to work out even under disastrous circumstance like this, which I sincerely appreciate.

How is your current life and work condition?

　I moved to Tokyo from Sendai in late March as my employment was in Tokyo. I negotiated with the moving company and managed to move by the end of March.

　Lifeline was not damaged in Tokyo too much. Goods were available at supermarkets and convenience stores despite the earthquake. There was, however, prescheduled power outage enforced due to the electricity shortage. My office in the central Tokyo was not influenced much since the area was excluded from such enforcement. On April eighth the scheduled power outage was over, and our life in Tokyo resumed to usual.

　I think this electricity shortage was a good opportunity for each of us to be infiltrated with the awareness of power saving for the environment.

Please describe what you think about the recovery and reconstruction from this natural disaster.

　 With its technological and economical potential, I think the reconstruction of Japan will not take too long compared with other countries. I started working with an infrastructure company, it is important for me to concentrate on my job, which will be an aid for the reconstruction of Japan.