"Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful," wrote Anne Thomas, an American citizen who has lived in Sendai for 22 years.

"During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets."

"It's utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. . . A restaurant owner, who also lost his home, but not his business, opened up shop and offered hot bowls of noodle soup to evacuees for free."

(READ other signs of hope from Anne in Ode Magazine)