FUKUSHIMA--After the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan, William McMichael saw many foreigners hastily packs their bags and leave.
FUKUSHIMA--After the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan, William McMichael saw many foreigners hastily packs their bags and leave.
The 29-year-old McMichael was not among the throngs of "flyjin" who left the country over fears of radiation spewing from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. He stayed put in Fukushima.
As assistant director of the Student Services Department at Fukushima University, McMichael got busy translating information on the quake and radiation updates, which he posted on the Internet.
He also took phone calls from anxious foreigners wanting to know what was happening at the nuclear plant.
"I couldn't put up with foreign media that were talking about 'ghost towns,' " McMichael said. "Fukushima is not dead."
McMichael was born in Vancouver to a Canadian father and a Japanese mother. He came to admire Inazo Nitobe, an agronomist, educator and diplomat during the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) periods, who came from Iwate Prefecture. McMichael decided he wanted someday to live and work in Japan.
After the March 11 disaster, McMichael saw people lining up in front of a neighborhood supermarket, but they were not panicking. A supermarket employee even gave him milk to feed his 1-year-old son, whom he was holding in his arms.
"I want to repay the kindnesses of the Fukushima people," McMichael said.
Since then, McMichael has been spreading the word that Fukushima is thriving and that Fukushima University is an excellent place to study.
"I want to be an Inazo Nitobe of Fukushima and act as a bridge to the rest of the world," McMichael said, referring to a visit he made to the University of Bucharest at the invitation by the Romanian government.
He also attended an international conference in Canada and a trade fair in New York. And in November, he visited Germany and France to recruit students for the university.
McMichael and his Japanese wife had their second child in November. The March 11 disaster has taught him the preciousness of community and the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.
"That's why I wish to continue living in Fukushima with my family," McMichael said.