Due to the Kamchatka Earthquake

When I turned on the TV in my hotel room in Fukuoka this morning, a breaking news report was playing about a major earthquake off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
At the bottom of the screen, the words "Tsunami Warning" were flashing in red. It said there was a possibility that a tsunami could reach the Pacific coast of various parts of Japan.
Stunned by the unexpected situation, I found myself sitting on the floor, staring at the news.

That said, there was no shaking in Fukuoka where I was, and the sky was perfectly clear without a single cloud.
The sky was so blue and clear that it made it hard to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
I had planned to return to Fukushima today, flying from Fukuoka Airport via Sendai Airport.
While the news made me a little anxious, I was optimistic, thinking, "It will probably settle down by the afternoon."
It was a baseless assumption, but looking up at that blue sky, I couldn't help but feel that the planes would fly.

I arrived at the airport in the morning.
Since I was a bit early, I went into a "motsunabe" (offal hot pot) restaurant to have a quick bite before boarding.
This is a Fukuoka specialty. Miso-based soup with plump offal. I thought it was a bit luxurious for the morning, but I slurped it down, blowing on the hot soup.
Both the sky today and the steam from the soup were warm and gentle.

Then, I looked at the electronic display board.
"Sendai bound: Cancelled"
The text was cold, conveying only the facts.

When I checked at the airline counter, I was told that Sendai Airport had been closed due to the earthquake, and all arrivals and departures had been suspended.
There was nothing to be done about that.

In the line at the counter, there were other people whose travel plans had been disrupted just like mine.
However, I was impressed that no one was raising their voice, and everyone was waiting quietly for instructions.
The staff were also handling the situation calmly and politely, and I felt nothing but respect for them.

"We can rebook you on a flight to Tokyo-Haneda."
Following that guidance, I decided to fly to Haneda first.

By the time I boarded the plane, I knew that Sendai Airport would be closed for the rest of the day and that some train lines in the Tohoku region had suspended operations.
Still, I was grateful just to be able to head "east" for the time being.

I arrived at Haneda in the afternoon.
I looked into how to get from there to Iwaki, but all trains and buses were out of service.
To retrieve my company car that I had left in Sendai, I would need to head north again.

In the end, I decided to take the Shinkansen to Sendai.
I had moved around so much today that I was starting to lose track of where I was even heading.

But on the way here, I was helped many times.
At the airport and at the station, everyone who provided information was polite, and the other travelers were calm.
Strangely, rather than the rush, what remains with me is a sense of gratitude.

The sky in Fukuoka and the sky in Tokyo were both cloudless and just purely blue.
This blue sky separates the "disaster" on the news from the "daily life" right in front of me.
That gap was somehow strange, and it was an unforgettable scene.

Today was a day that didn't go according to plan.
But there was a way to rebook, and there were still means left to head to Tohoku.
And the motsunabe was delicious.

It was that kind of day.