I never expected that issues of "who was and wasn't directly affected", feelings of "indebtedness" and "guilt" would surface in Sendai, one of the affected areas. I think the current mood, in which you feel like you are not supposed to speak up unless you were directly affected, belittles the earthquake event. I feel keenly that people in Sendai experience a unique dilemma.

015: Takahiro Nishimura (Café Philo de Sendai Facilitator / Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University Associate Professor)
Whereabouts at the moment of the quake: Tohoku Fukushi dai mae Station, Kunimi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi

*Café Philo de Sendai: Forum aiming to encourage participants to experience the challenges and excitement of developing original and robust ideas through engagement in ""philosophical dialogue.""
*Thinking Table: Project by sendai mediatheque in which tables and chairs covered in blackboard paint are used to discuss matters related to the earthquake and tsunami."

recorder311 Stories Another Take:
additional stories recorded so that the experiences of 3/11 and the day itself will never be forgotten.