Hello!
This is Ishizuka Akari, also known as Anchu.
Thank you for looking after me.
Since 3/11, 3 years have already passed.
I will never forget what happened to me 3 years to this day.
On March 11, 2011, at 2:46, the world would change.
3 years ago, I was just an ordinary student in Chiba.
Like always, I was going to school without a care in the world, preparing for club activities…
Then the earthquake hit.
At first, it was shaking just a little bit, and just as I thought it would settle down…
With a feeling that I’ve never felt before, the shaking intensified.
The 13-year-old me felt that, for the very first time, she was prepared to die.
Club activities were cancelled, and we all huddled together, scared, as we returned home.
I commuted by bike so I put on my helmet as I went home.
With my helmet and my bike I could use them as a shield, but, I felt scared for those who were walking and didn’t have anything to protect them.
On the way home, I remember being shocked at the number of collapsed buildings, and I was scared that more earthquakes could come.
I couldn’t sleep at all that night.
The great Eastern Japan Earthquake… the damage wasn’t limited to those collapsed buildings.
There was the damage that came from the tsunami caused by the earthquake.
Even the biggest people and the tallest buildings were washed away one by one.
I saw this video on the news.
It was such a shocking video. It was the first time I saw things fail to hold up, and I had thought it was just a CG movie that they made up.
Furthermore, it wasn’t big news but
Asahi City in Northern Kujuukiri Beach in Chiba also received some damage.
When I was in primary school and I belonged to a mini-basketball team, we played against a team from Asahi City, and I was really shocked that this could happen there.
Furthermore, there was the nuclear disaster.
That day, the wind and weather in my area was alright.
It didn’t exceed the standard but compared to other areas it seemed a bit high, and it might have been my imagination but I had nose bleeds 4 times that day.
Lately, my throat has been hurting when I sing…
I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.
It’s scary to live life being fearful all the time.
But it’s not anybody’s fault.
That’s why, instead of being sad, I laugh, and I think it’s better if life is just fun.
And so today, I performed in Osaka, Namba’s NMB48’s Revival Support performance.
I wanted to go to the disaster areas and help, I wanted to cheer them on with my heart, but because of the circumstances my wish couldn’t be granted.
Although I couldn’t go to the disaster area, maybe by singing here I could be just a little bit helpful.
Someday, I want to fulfill my wish and visit the disaster area.
I don’t know when the next earthquake could hit.
It could even be as soon as tomorrow.
No matter what happens, I will be cheery in my own way, and I will sing on stage to make other people happy.
In order to make a lot of people happy…
Now, normally I don’t read people’s blogs, because the blog system in NMB is a mess. I was intrigued because I was paging through G+ and she directly linked to her blog. Usually the girls will say “Hey, I wrote a blog! Check it out!” but Anchu actually provided the link.
And, well, what a post. I’ve been starting to like Anchu a lot lately. Before I only knew her from her Geinin appearance and thought of her as just some funny girl who yells a lot, but as I’ve been watching the stages, she’s calmed down a lot and is starting to show a lot more maturity. She’s a lot better when she shows a more human side, like in the skit when she was worried she wouldn’t be able to memorize her lines.
This post really brought that into perspective. Ninjas came into my room and started peeling onions.