OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture--Thousands of Bibles that survived the March 11 tsunami are the answer to a struggling publisher's prayers, as Christians are snatching up copies of the "scripture that survived the tsunami."
OFUNATO, Iwate Prefecture--Thousands of Bibles that survived the March 11 tsunami are the answer to a struggling publisher's prayers, as Christians are snatching up copies of the "scripture that survived the tsunami."
E.PIX, a publisher here of Bibles that were translated into "Kesen-go," a dialect spoken in Japan's northeastern coastal region, has sold more than 620 copies since May, thanks in part to Internet postings. Sales before the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster were 300 to 400 copies annually.
Harutsugu Yamaura, a 71-year-old Catholic and doctor in Ofunato, took almost four years to do the translation.
Yamaura said that he recalled the Bible passage Matthew 27:46 when he saw Ofunato completely transformed by the disaster -- the worst in Japan's postwar history.
"Kamisamansuu, kamisamansuu, nashite oreadogoo, misute yaryashitare?" which is the Kesen equivalent of Jesus on the cross saying, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The standard Japanese translation is "Watashi no kamiyo, Watashi no kamiyo, naze watashi wo omisute ni narunoka."
The tsunami also destroyed E.PIX's warehouse, causing its ceiling to collapse and swamping most of its publications, mainly of privately printed books, including the Bibles.
Three days after the quake and tsunami, Masaya Kumagai, E.PIX president, discovered cardboard boxes containing about 3,000 Bibles in the warehouse. He took them to his home located on high ground and dried them on floor grates he put in his garden. He then sorted out the Bibles that were not badly smeared.
Kumagai, 58, and his three employees slowly resumed their sales at a prefabricated structure in April.
Although he was hesitant about selling the Bibles without giving a discount on them, an acquaintance, Masahiro Kudo, deputy director of the foundation operating Ayako Miura Literature Museum in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, wasn't. Kudo insisted on selling them for the original price at the museum, which is dedicated to the deceased novelist known for her works on Christian themes.
"They are precious copies," Kudo said. "Let us sell them at full price."
Word of the assistance being offered to Kumagai spread on the Internet, fueling sales.
Mizue Takahashi, a 70-year-old woman in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, bought one of the Bibles.
"The copy was still moist when I received it," said Takahashi, who ordered by mail. "I could imagine what the tsunami would have been like after I got a copy."
The publisher also received an order for 120 copies from a Japanese pastor in Detroit.
Those orders helped Kumagai regain some of the confidence needed to rebuild his company.
"I was at a loss about what to do," he said, referring to the slim prospects of being able to pay his employees.
The copies, each of which comes with a CD that contains a recitation of verses of the Bible, are priced at a tax-inclusive 5,880 yen ($73.50) through 6,090 yen.
For more information, call E.PIX at 080-6003-4319.