Sept. 13th
It is a weird time to be an American citizen abroad right now. The election is big news here. There is coverage of it on the news shows and in the newspapers. I have been reading the coverage of both conventions and the aftermath on the web.
(The Japanese version of the BBC is NHK. They are completely publicly funded. An NHK representative comes around once a year and if you have a TV in your home you pay a fee. No questions. There are no advertisers.)
The world is watching America. I caution anyone who thinks otherwise. The September 11th memorial was covered. There was even a documentary of the events from September 11th to the Iraq war. I was a bit surprised because it was on TV in Japanese with English subtitles. The sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway in 1995 came right to mind. The trains and subways are the life lines of every city here. Spurred on by the anniversary of September 11th, I found myself talking to the people around me, and their terror and fear sounded the same as mine had been. I remember every moment of that day, in clear detail. What does it mean that I am comforted by talking and sharing with a person here, just as much as those that lived through it with me?
Read the rest by downloading Kyoto dispatch #2 as a PDF
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