Like everything else that happened in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami, our exit from the ravaged city of Sendai was unexpected and sudden. The owner of the hotel we were staying in barged into the room saying something in Japanese as she lifted our tripod and took it to the elevator.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV "Go, go!" she urged us, pointing towards the direction of the Sendai city hall where we knew the embassy bus had been waiting for the past two days. As I drew out money to pay for our three-day stay, she waved me off and refused to accept our money, saying something excitedly in a stream of Japanese mixed with English. The message, however, was clear: never mind the money, just go save yourselves. Your lives are more important to me. We bowed and gave our thanks, then ran through the streets as snow started falling again. Only five Filipinos from Sendai opted to leave the city despite the food and fuel shortage. When I asked where the others were, they said most wanted to stay behind and be with their Japanese husbands to face whatever fate awaited them.
A patient is evacuated from a destroyed hospital after a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami hit Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. Reuters/File
In Fukushima where the threat of radiation exposure was greatest, emotions ran high as Japanese men brought their Filipino wives and “Japino" children to the three designated rendezvous points along Tohoku highway. A Japanese man waved to his wife and children sitting by the bus window, crying unabashedly in the heavy snowfall. "Paalam at mag-ingat kayo," he cried in heavily accented Filipino while blowing kisses to his family. His seven-year-year old daughter suddenly leapt from her seat and rushed to the bus door to embrace her father one last time. I would later learn that the Japanese man stayed behind because he was the caretaker of a church that still had Japanese evacuees inside.
A Japan Self-Defense Forces officer smiles as he holds a four-month-old baby girl who was rescued along with her family members from their home in Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. Reuters/File
We often hear or read about how important duty and honor are to the Japanese. Up until now, this was just a vague notion to me. People all over Japan are answering the call of duty: the fathers who stayed behind in Fukushima, the workers trying to prevent the Daiichi reactors from overheating, the hungry in long orderly lines outside stores, and so many others. As I witness first hand the way Japan and its people tackle their greatest crisis since World War II, I have no doubt in their ability to triumph over adversity.
– HS, GMA News Read the first part:
Reporter's journey to Sendai reveals Japanese virtues 
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