Editor’s note: Paul Fales was located in Japan on Monday night, a day after this story was published online. Please see our news blog for more details.
As the recovery process begins in Japan following Friday’s devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake and treacherous tsunami, shock and worry quickly blanketed the Eastern Michigan University community.
2010 EMU graduate Paul Fales, an assistant language teacher in Kesennuma-shi in Japan, is currently missing. The city, located in the northeast area of Miyagi Prefecture, was one of the hardest hit areas.
Fales’ family members and friends have been trying to locate him since they learned of the disaster, but they have yet to hear any word.
Mary Fales, Paul’s mother and the senior assistant city attorney of Ann Arbor, said her family is working with a variety of agencies to locate her son.
“We still have not been able to contact him,” Fales said. “We have been contacted by the State Department to see if they had any updates—they had none. We also were able to speak to the JET administrators in Sendai this morning, they have no word on Paul either.”
While at EMU, Paul worked as an RA in the First Year Center.
Various acquaintances were saddened to hear he cannot be located right now, but they’re hopeful he will soon be found safe.
EMU graduate student Duane Price worked with Fales as an RA.
“We didn’t work in the same residence hall, but from time to time we had friendly conversations,” Price said. “I know that his interests were to learn and be emerged in the Japanese culture. This is what he wanted to do and what he has done. I hope they find him safe after this tragic event.”
2007 EMU graduate Jared Brown also worked with Fales as an RA in Walton and Putnam Halls. Brown said although he hasn’t spoken to Fales in awhile, he’s the type of person to leave a lasting effect because of his kindness.
“He always put his best foot forward,” Brown said. “He’s a really nice guy with a good heart. It really saddens me that he is unaccounted for because I know it must be really difficult for his family. I hope it’s just that he can’t get to a phone to communicate right away.”
Brent Myrand graduated from EMU in December 2010. Myrand said they considered each other “relatively good friends” and they hung out on “several different occasions.”
“The last time I remember speaking with him was the 2010 fall semester,” Myrand said. “I saw him near Starbucks in the Student Center studying. We actually spent the majority of the conversation talking about his upcoming trip to Japan.”
Japanese studies professor Motoko Tabuse said Stephen Burwood, Director of International Programs, told her all of the EMU students currently studying in Japan at present are fine. EMU study abroad students in Japan are placed in one of three locations—Kansai Gaidai in the city of Hirakata is located near Osaka, Japan’s second largest city; the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone; or Tokyo Gakgei University in Koganei City.
“The Japan Center for Michigan Universities was far from the quake hit zone,” Tabuse said. “The one near Osaka was also far from the hard hit area. The one near Tokyo was somewhat affected, but they’re all fine.”
However, in addition to Fales, there are other graduates who live in or around Tokyo and Tohoku that the University has not been able to get into contact with yet.
“We are in communication with the Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit,” Tabuse said. “They are working with us to find out about their locations. We know in the hard hit area, people cannot use cell phones. I’m hoping the EMU graduates are evacuated.”
Tabuse said when she heard about the earthquake and tsunami, she was at home getting ready to go to work at EMU.
“My first reaction was ‘oh, no,’ ” Tabuse said. “I was very concerned about my family.”
Tabuse said all of her family members are fine and they were not in any of the hard hit areas.
“They felt quakes,” Tabuse said. “They lived through the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, so based on their experiences, the quakes they felt weren’t that hard at all, but they were concerned about the people in the hard hit area.”
Tabuse said family members of Japanese students and faculty members are also fine.
“We have been able to confirm that their family members are fine, but two of the students grandparents had their house swept away.”
EMU 2010 graduate Jessica Lang is currently teaching English in Japan. Lang is placed in the Kansai region, which is the southwestern area of central Honshu—the main island of Japan.
Lang said the earthquake was about 860 kilometers away from where she lives, but she still felt the effects of the earthquake.
“We still managed to feel an earthquake with a magnitude of 4,” Lang said. “It is astonishing that we could still feel such a shock. I can’t even begin to imagine what people who were closer to the epicenter must have felt.”
Lang said the earthquake felt like “gentle swaying.”
“It was like we were on a boat,” Lang said.
Lang said even though the quake is over, Japan is still facing many new obstacles.
An explosion at a nuclear plant was caused by system failures induced by the earthquake, according to Lang.
“There are so many repercussions caused by various natural disasters,” she said. “For many, it is an unfortunate fact, but things will likely never return to normal.”
Like others, Lang is also hoping Fales hasn’t been able to communicate because of the damage, rather than injury.
“Given current conditions in northern Japan, communication must be extremely difficult,” Lang said. “I pray that is the case in this situation.”
Graduate student Jumpei Takegawa said although his family and friends were not affected, he was still sad to learn the disaster occurred.
“There is a big city near the worst part,” Takegawa said. “We call it Sendai. I think many buildings are not broken because our buildings have protection from earthquakes, but we couldn’t do anything about the tsunami—it was just too huge.”
Senior Jackie Ferrer said she was very worried.
“I was really scared because I have so many friends over there,” she said.
Ferrer said when she discovered exactly where the damage occurred, she was concerned because she has a friend teaching there. Luckily, her friend’s mother posted a message on his Facebook wall saying her son was fine.
“My friend Brian was right in the epicenter,” Ferrer said. “My friend Ashley is teaching in a city called Akita. They’re both fine though. It’s kind of like a shock.”
Ferrer said Facebook is the primary way people are communicating because of widespread blackouts.
For those interested in donating or helping those affected by the natural disaster, the Japanese Student Association, in conjunction with EMU Japanese faculty members, are collaborating and planning to have a booth in the Student Center sometime this week, Tabuse said.
She said she doesn’t know exactly when the collections will begin, but she’s pretty sure they will be located on the first floor of the Student Center.
Tabuse said she, along with various Japanese faculty members and students, have been inundated with well wishes and concerns. On behalf of everyone, she said they’re all grateful and touched.
“We really want to express sincere gratitude to the entire EMU community during this time,” Tabuse said.