The magnitude 8.9 earthquake that ravaged Japan last Friday was at once shocking and tragic, a singular event that kept the entire world frantically checking the news as the situation unfolded. But for some UNC students, the event was more personal. Some have friends and family in Japan and didn’t know if those loved ones were safe—or even alive.
Student Kana Kuroda was shaken awake at 6 a.m. the morning of the earthquake, when her mother informed her of the disaster unfolding overseas. She immediately went to the phone and started dialing her friends in Japan.
“I felt a wide range of emotions but overall the sinking feeling in my stomach and shock were the strongest,” Kuroda said.
“Thankfully, most of my friends and relatives were not in the hardest-hit area, so I was able to get a hold of them.”
“It took about 4 hours, though, to contact my grandparents via phone,” she said. She just found out yesterday that one of her family friends living in the hardest-hit area was safe.
Kuroda, a junior, was born in Japan and moved to North Carolina at a young age, but all her relatives except her immediate family remain there. Having attended the Japanese Language School of Raleigh, Kuroda also has many friends who live in Japan.
“I’ve been glued to the TV and the Internet since it has happened,” she said. “Hearing about everything and looking at pictures have made me extremely sad and worried, and at one point I lost motivation to do anything else.”
Kuroda has found solace in the support of others, including other Japanese friends in the same situation. She also mentioned a website, PrayforJapan.jp, that compiles tweets of those witnessing the strength of the Japanese people and said it has made her more hopeful.
Kuroda is the vice president of UNC’s Japan Club, which will be holding a donation collection for the Japanese Red Cross in the Pit from 10-2 p.m. this Thursday and Friday. Donations anywhere from one cent and above are welcomed, but the club recommends at least $3.
“For those that donate $3, we will be giving out a ‘Hope for Japan’ wristband,” Kuroda said.
“All the support and concern that I’ve felt and seen from my friends and strangers at Carolina have been amazing and I’m very grateful to be amongst such a caring group of people,” she said.
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