Cirencester book release in memory of Tōhoku disaster

Caroline Pover, who now runs Auntie Caroline’s Pickled Onions & Chutneys from her home in Cirencester, lived in Tokyo at the time of the disaster.

Ten years ago yesterday, one of the biggest earthquakes in history occurred off the northeast coast of Japan, triggering a deadly tsunami that destroyed much of the Tohoku coastline.

Caroline’s book, One Month in Tohoku, tells a moving tale of the very human impact of this natural disaster.

The day of the disaster she was on the island of Saipan and was called into a nearby bar as the horror unfolded.

She watched as the sea destroyed the country she loved.

"Helicopters were showing footage of huge walls formed by the ocean.

"Walls of sea water that grew bigger and bigger as they got closer to land, then crashed through buildings, buses, bridges, boats and anything that got in their way.

"The walls of water grew dark and dirty as they surged on, dragging everything in their path along with them, causing even more destruction.

"I’m not Japanese, but a little piece of my heart broke as I watched that footage."

Life would never be the same again for anyone who called Japan home.

Caroline wasn't able to return home as scheduled due to the disaster and a week afterwards as she as she tossed and turned in her bed she decided that she would travel to England.

"I had no idea what I could do from within Japan at that time ... you couldn’t get up to Tohoku to help, and I didn’t speak good enough Japanese anyway.

"I didn’t want to draw upon resources within the country when people were already panic buying, and at that point nobody cared whether that month’s issue of my magazine didn’t come out or my book wasn’t finished yet."

She decided to drive a van around the UK, giving talks to schools and community organisations.

During the past ten years, Caroline has visited schools in Gloucestershire, including Balcarras, Thomas Keble, Kings Stanley, Fairford Primary, Denmark Road High School, and Henley Bank High School, giving talks on the tsunami and on volunteering in general.

"I was going to give talks on all the wonderful things about Japan and in doing so, counteract the horrifying and negative images being portrayed in the media by sharing beautiful images of Japan and all the reasons why I loved it."

The talks were free, but in exchange she asked schools and groups to bring emergency supplies or items needed by tsunami survivors and help keeping her van fuelled.

These supplied where loaded into the van and Caroline took these to Japan and the people who desperately needed them.

"I am sharing Oshika’s story because I want to encourage people to look beyond the images we see in the media whenever and wherever disasters occur; to know that when the images disappear from the media, people are left to pick up the pieces of their lives and they have to try to rebuild.

"It is a story that needs to be told, because the humour and laughter I found in this beautiful place just weeks after the disaster are certainly not what I expected to find in the aftermath of such a massive tragedy.

"I did not write this book because I want to share a story of disaster; I want to share a story of love, kindness, compassion, and resilience.

Caroline wants to share the story of a very special community of people, and the way in which they live.

"Everybody takes care of everybody else: they trust each other, put the needs of their community above an individual’s needs, listen more than they talk.

"They find ways to laugh even when they want to cry, look for similarities rather than differences and don’t care which country you’re from, or the colour of your skin.

"They share everything, even when they have nothing, it's a beautiful way to live and I feel like we need to be reminded of this in today’s world."

One Month in Tohoku: An Englishwoman’s memoir on life after the Japanese tsunami, is now available.