The chance to visit a tsunami-devastated area in Japan is an illuminating experience for journalist Azzah Mohamed Som.
She admires the residents
perseverance and determination to move on with their life as the affected area undergo reconstruction.
Alongwith three other
journalists from Asean, Azzah is participating in a fellowship programme
organised by the Foreign Press Centre Japan (FPCJ) to share the country’s experience
in the aftermath of the 2011 gigantic tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan
Earthquake.
The three others are
a reporter from Antara Indonesia, a Filipino journalist from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and a Thai, The Nation reporter.
Azzah of the International Desk shares her thoughts on the on-going programme.
“When I first received the assignment from my
boss (Encik Zukiman) who informed me that I was to cover the post great East Japan
earthquake in Japan, I was shocked ,excited ,scared and happy at the same time.
“I had preparations
as early as a month before to get prepared of my wardrobe, the food and weather
“And late Saturday night, I was at the airport (KLIA) waiting
for my flight MH088 supposedly taking off at 2330 hours but delayed for two hours, so I
departed at 0130 hours.
“While waiting, I browsed my phone and upon checking my email, found an email from Indonesian Bayu Prasetyo
which he sent to all participants, inviting us to meet on Sunday (the arrival
day).
“When I arrived at Tokyo’s Narita airport around 1030, an official from a travel agency was
already waiting for me, raising up my name sign and arranged my trip to the
hotel by bus.
"After meeting the Indonesian
friend at the hotel lobby, we decided to take a tour of the Chiyoda-ku town in
Tokyo and had lunch..
“It was a good first
day where we walked and took train and had some sights at the shops and took
photos around the town….we were heavily surprised by the cleanliness and
tidiness of this city where the people don’t simply throw away their trash ..
“I can say they don’t
have dustbins at every corner of the streets but I am impressed with their high
discipline of preserving the environment.
"The next day on Monday,
we gathered at the hotel lobby and met an
official from the FPCJ Miss Ayako Yokota and interpreter Mr Etsujiro Tamura..
“They are the most
important people for our 10-day trip…they are always with us taking good
care of our needs and request such as foods, guidance and trip arrangement (from one place to another)
“They tried their best to
fulfill our request and make sure our trip went smooth and well
“We (participants)
shared our experience and culture with Ms Ayako and Mr Tamura in each other’s
countries, like traffic jam ,musics, foods and fruits, background education, places
of visits and many more.
“We make good friends
and get along very well altogether
 |
In the welcoming
lunch by FPCJ president, Mr Kiyotaka Akasaka, I asked him what his expectation on the overall
of this programme from us participants and he said it is for Asean journalists
to visit Japan to write about anything they want and find interesting in Japan
for each others countries' audience to read
After two nights in Tokyo,
the young journalists began their travel on Tuesday morning to three major
prefecture affected by the Great East Japan earthquake on march 3, 2011 in the
Tohoku region.
Starting with
Kamaishi and the Otsuchi town in the Iwate Prefecture, they visited the Iwate Prefectural Miyako Fisheries High School,
one the oldest fisheries school there.
“We interviewed a 14
year-old junior high school student who advised his next generation to evacuate
to higher places when tsunami strucked,” said Azzah who returns home on Wednesday.
The Foreign Press
Center/Japan (FPCJ) was established in 1976 as a nonprofit foundation through
funding provided by the Nihon Shimbun Kyokai (Japan Newspaper Publishers and
Editors Association) and the former Keidanren (now Nippon Keidanren [Japan
Business Federation]). In 2011, FPCJ was registered as a public interest
incorporated foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment