The Second Anniversary (Feedback)

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　アメリカ英語　のみです。 For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Thanks for all your comments. I was very sorry to hear about people’s stories about how natural disasters have affected their families. The thing I remember most about the disaster is seeing a documentary on TV about a young couple who had both survived, but who had lost both of their children in the tsunami. The documentary showed them walking along a beach holding hands. I don’t know why, but that scene affected me more than all the horrific images of cars and buildings being swept away. I guess that as long as we choose to live in Japan, we have to accept the possibility of these kinds of events. Actually, I suppose that “possibility” is the wrong word; we know they are going to happen, so all we can do is hope that we won’t be affected too badly.

Anyway, here is some feedback on your comments.

今週のエントリーの訳です。
Thank you.

there have been almost no changes since they have cleared debris two years ago.
… since they cleared the debris two years ago. (A-Z: since/for)

I bet you that more and more politicians will visit affected areas before the general election in July.
Nice sentence. And sadly, probably true.

I really admire the people who are working in the front line including the Toden employees risking their health to decommission the nuclear reactors.
As I understand it, the people doing the dangerous work are not Toden or TEPCO employees; they are lowly paid temporary workers, many of whom do not understand the risks involved.

I don’t understand why they don’t ask for help/ideas from other countries.
Because of national pride and the egos of the old men who run this country.

but what surprised me most was the fact that not many affected people were in favor of rebuilding them.
Nice sentence.

as they coudln’t see the huge tunami exactly because of the seawalls!
I think “precisely because” would be more natural here.

As you know, Japanese government doesn’t like bearing responsibilities, so they make their decision by the whole committee as possible.
…, so wherever possible, they make their decisions by committee.

I found your comment right after I posted mine!
I saw / noticed / read your comment right after I posted mine!

実は、私の父は昭和51年、雨台風の被害で家もろとも土石流に押し流され、３日後に発見されました。
Thank you for sharing this story. I can’t imagine what your family must have gone through in those three days.

My husband’s parents’ house in Indonesia was completly destroyed after the earthquake in May 2006.
I’m glad that no one was killed, but it must have been a very stressful time for all of you, especially just before your wedding.

That is true to some extent, but on the other hand, as Tomoaki mentioned, I think it’s quite difficult to meet everyone’s needs.
Nice sentence.

What they (the affected people) fear the most is that other people ( we) are forgetting them.
Nice sentence, and very true. It’s easy for those of us who weren’t really affected to forget about those who were.

stand up together and oppose to the ridiculous plan
stand up together and oppose the ridiculous plan

Many would have died without her wisdom.
I bet there were hundreds of stories of individual heroism that we never got to hear about.

Some of you might know her because of this video.
Thanks for posting. I had never seen that video before.

We must learn how our predecessors coexisted with nature
I think that is good advice for the whole world!

I must be coming down with something.
I hope you feel better soon.

Therefore, politicians and administrators must keep the laws strictly, and they make laws to contribute to the whole.
I agree with you. The problem is the corrupt political system and bureaucracy.

I think one of the things what people should do is to elect best politicians not only by what TV said but also by their own thoughts. I can’t believe the consequence of last election.
Me neither!

This reminds me of my friend whose house was destroyed and almost all things were swept away because of the typhoon in 昭和51年. I
I suppose this kind of disaster affects you more when you have personal experience of it.

I always wonder why people(including me!)like to criticize politicians we chose ourselves.
To be fair, Japanese people don’t really have much of a choice. The system is so corrupt that it is almost impossible for good people to become politicians.

But anyway, the first thing we should do is to have interest in politics and have our own thoughts as you say.
This is very true. The next thing is to start educating people to question authority, not just to follow it meekly without complaining.

but are there any expressions like “goo-goo（ぐーぐー）” or “kyuru-kyuru（きゅるきゅる～）”?
We don’t have expressions like this in English, just words like “growl” and “rumble” that are supposed to mimic the actual sounds.

That’s all for today. Have a great weekend, and see you again on Monday.