"The Sea Has a Mind"
Winter 1996
As a commercial diver, Shibuya has been engaged in a variety of underwater engineering work, including the restoration of Kobe port, damaged by the quake that ravaged in Kobe in January 1995. Immediately after the quake, Shibuya left for Kobe and has been there over 50 times since. We conducted an interview with Shibuya on January 13, 1996, (just after he had completed a scuba dive near Kobe) to get his impressions and memories of the previous year.
The interview is divided into three parts followed by a text by Shibuya.
Interview 1
Kobe Immediately following the Quake
Q: What did you do on your first visit to Kobe after the quake?
A: I spent all of my time simply walking around the city and observing the
people.
I was told that it was impossible to get around by car, so I took
trains, and then I walked around the coastal areas.
But there were so many
dead-ends everywhere.
So I looked into the possibility of approaching the
coast from the ocean, and fortunately I got a ride on a rescue boat run by
the Sakai Fishermen's Co-op, with whom I'd worked on the project "Research
for a Clean Sea."
Q: And what did you see?
A: There were many things just drifting in the water, and on the reclaimed
land areas people were burning waste.
Flocks of seagulls and crows were
looking for food.
At night I could see the crimson flames of the incinerator
facilities; against the darkness they illuminated for me the reality of Kobe.
When the wind was up I could see smoke and dust all over the city.
The city
had the aura of a mortally injured person, of someone dying.
I could only
think of the mindlessness of wars and their victims...people and the sea,
ports and towns: all of them dead or injured.
I certainly wanted to help
save people, but I also felt very strongly that I had to do something to help
save the sea and port facilities.
I wanted to dive into the sea and ask it,
"Are you all right? How does it hurt?"
Q: And how was the port?
A: The Port of Kobe is an important center for cargo distribution.
It is
symbolized by its many, many cargo container cranes.
But now they were all
bent or their bases broken.
They were like an image of an endangered
species, like huge dying dinosaurs that could no longer move and were stuck
in these positions.
The port was the result of a drive for cargo facility
construction, a drive that had economic efficiency as its top priority.
Cargo distribution is important, of course, but we also have to think
about how to build a system for communicating human feelings.
There weren't many people on the newly developed Port Island.
Stacks
of containers were scattered all over the place, turned upside down, and the
coastal roads, which had been flat, were twisted with holes and gaps in
them.
I couldn't stop my tears as I walked about.
I felt completely
helpless, and guilty for my idle way of life.
We have to care much more for
each other, I kept telling myself.
We have to care much more for the sea.
We
must understand nature and the earth more deeply.
Q: After that first visit, you began going to Kobe for professional reasons
too, didn't you?
A: About six months after the earthquake, I began to receive assignments
concerned with the reconstruction of Kobe.
My group is now involved in more
than a dozen marine facility projects in and around Kobe.
Coincidentally
perhaps, but the sites where we are working now are in fact those places I visited on
my own just after the quake.
It makes me wonder if the sea itself may have a
mind.
Perhaps these places recognize people who want to help heal
them.
Interview 2
The Restoration of the Sea
Q: What did you find underwater?
A: Rain drainage tunnels and sewerage facilities had been destroyed, and
people were concerned that polluted water and other pollutants would flow
directly into the sea.
Some 80% of the ferro-concrete port retaining walls had also
been destroyed, and sandy debris was coming out of the cracks in the walls.
About two weeks after the earthquake it snowed in Kobe, and the melted snow
turned the color of the sea a reddish-black.
In the winter usually, because
of the northern winds, the water near the coast is relatively clear.
On the
Pacific Ocean side of Japan, polluted water is usually swept away offshore; the phenomenon is called the offshore sweep.
And because the low temperatures inhibit plankton growth, the coastal waters become
clear.
But last winter in Kobe, as a direct result of the influx of sewage
and pollutants, the coastal seawaters were very dark.
Waste and debris
must have flowed into the sea along with the melted snow.
Q: Is the situation better now?
A: I cannot tell.
But as repairs to the rainwater drainage system and to
the port retaining walls progress, I'm sure that the seawater will get cleaner.
Q: You dove in the sea around Kobe today, almost exactly a year after the
earthquake struck. What did you see?
A: I had expected the water to be clearer because it's winter.
In fact, as
soon as I entered the water, dredging boats approached and
everything became dark!
They were removing the remains of a broken pier to make way for a new one.
There is usually a base or foundation made of rocks which resembles a fortress under piers.
The dredgers were
removing these rocks and will lay them anew.
Q: There was much underwater damage, then, from the quake?
A: Oh yes.
And the marine ecosystem must have suffered a lot too, though
I am not an expert in that field.
Captains of fishing boats and fishermen
say that before the quake they could easily catch swordfish in the middle
water layer, but now they catch none.
Instead, they're catching sole and
other fish that live on the sea floor.
I suppose they live in the cracks of
the foundation stone.
It's also possible that the water turbulence caused by
the quake released a lot of fish feed.
This is an important point. Now we
may have to take into consideration the possibility of such chance
occurrences when constructing structures for port facilities and
the fishing industry.
Q: In what areas of Kobe is your group working?
A: Offshore of Nagata, Nishinomiya, and Ashiya, as well as around
Port Island and Rokko.
We currently view Kobe from many different vantage
points as we can now get around by car, in addition to diving and
travelling by boat.
Kobe is a city that lies on a sharp slope, so you can get a
complete view of it from either the mountain tops or from the sea.
Q: Compared with on-land reconstruction work, do you see any delay in the
work being done on the port and underwater facilities?
A: No, not at all.
Important underwater facilities are being repaired as
quickly as possible.
In the distribution sector, for example, container
cranes were a top priority.
Some 80% to 90% of the coastal area was affected
by the quake. You can't restore everything at once.
In fact, I'm rather
worried about repair operations being hurried.
There is a lot of work to be
done, yes, but that is no reason to hire unqualified contractors.
That has
to be avoided.
While there is a definite shortage of qualified contractors and
engineers, it would be dangerous if the media and public opinion
applied pressure for a speedy clean-up.
Interview 3
Earthquakes, Seas and People
Q: Has this experience changed you in any way?
A: Certainly.
I have come to care more dearly for people.
That is an
internal change.
It is presumptuous for me to say this, especially in the
face of those many people who suffered from the quake, but it has given me a
chance to take a new look at myself, the way I live and work.
I feel that
this search will continue and evolve.
Q: What do you mean by a "new look?"
A: I'm in a rather precarious position.
Sometimes I am asked to
participate in land reclamation projects.
In other words, I am at the
forefront of artificial land development.
This kind of work is my financial
life support.
One thing that the earthquake has taught is that our land
reclamation strategies have to be redirected.
We need to find a new approach
to reclaiming land.
Kobe is a typical case: they quarried the mountains and filled the waters with the displaced earth.
They increased the amount of available land so as to
meet residential demand.
But as a matter of principle, if you want to
protect the sea you also have to protect the land.
But they did the
exact opposite.
The earthquake resulted in the liquification of Kobe's Port
Island.
I felt that the eruption of sand and soil was the expression of the
land's fury.
We are not maintaining sand and soil in their naturally
endowed, proper places.
It may sound far-fetched, but let's put ourselves in
the Earth's shoes.
Can't we imagine how it must feel?
Q: You're saying, then, that rampant land transformation has to cease?
A: Yes. Divers especially have to be conscientious about their work.
It's
very easy to cheat when you're working in a place where no one can observe
you.
For example, once a job is finished it's easy to just leave your tools
and equipment on the sea floor where you've been working.
But each of us
have to be responsible for cleaning up after ourselves.
Q: Do marine facilities inevitably have a negative impact on the sea?
A: Well, look at the phenomenon that I mentioned earlier whereby fish that
usually live on the sea floor had come up to shallower waters after the
quake.
We cannot totally deny the possibility that underwater construction
may have a positive impact on the ecosystem.
Dredging may temporarily
pollute the water, but that stirring up might also do some good for marine
life.
At least I want to believe so.
We need to explore how to construct
marine facilities that will benefit human life, marine life and the sea.
Q: And how do you think we can do that?
A: We need to understand nature and the sea much better.
With respect to my
colleagues, we will continue to work on construction projects, but from now
on, I am urging my fellow divers to show more care for each community, for
the sea and the ports and the facilities that we work on.
We have to
consider how we are all related as a result of the earthquake.
I sometimes fantasize that some day there will be a network of "sea-bound" people, those of us living with and working in the sea.
We have worked fast this time, but never in history has there been a network of sea-bound people
who equaled land-based people in scale and efficiency.
Everything is
connected to the sea: mountains and cities and the land...the whole universe.
I want to share what I've seen and learned underwater with all people
everywhere.
Shibuya's View of the Sea
How We Feel about the Sea
To Whom Do the Seas Belong?
The Connection between the Seas and Rivers
The Sea Is Our Last Fortress
We also give a report on his experience of diving into the Kushiro swamps in Hokkaido.
Enter your opinions, comments and questions in the comments page.
To register to receive updated information about sensorium, please go to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.
[Shibuya Dived in the Icy Swamp]
[map page of sensing Japan]
The theme of the sensorium and texts that relate to sensing Japan are in the library of the linked senses. If you are interested in these texts (some are rather long), please click the text icon or the name of the text.
["water" Aquatic Sensibility by Shin'ichi Takemura]