Japanese Exchange Student Heads Home For First Time Since Earthquake

It will not be the same Japan when an exchange student to Murrieta returns to her home country after 10 months away.

In less than two weeks time, Ayae Mori, 17, will see her family for the first time since the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit the northeast coast of Japan March 11.

Ayae's uncle, Noriyuki Monma, was a firefighter who died while working in rescue efforts after the disaster. Her aunt found his body after two weeks of searching.

Ayae, who has spent her junior year at Murrieta Valley High School through the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) program, said she was on Skype with her boyfriend when she saw his house shaking the day of the earthquake.

She did not hear from her family until three days later via a text from her mother. Her mother told her they were still trying to locate Ayae's grandfather, aunt and uncle, who lived in Fukushima, the capitol city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The city is located 36 miles south of Sendai, the hardest hit area.

"After I heard my uncle died, I couldn't do anything. I just kept crying," Ayae said in a phone interview.

Ayae's grandfather is a farmer who lives near the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, about 36 miles south of Sendai.

"I was worried about it because my grandpa's house is so close to the nuclear power plant," she said.

She described the area as countryside, where her 72-year-old grandfather farms rice and vegetables. He lost his crops and won't be able to recover for at least a year, she said.

All 47 prefectures (states) in Japan are still being monitored daily for radiation, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency keeps an updated log about the nuclear accident.

Ayae is from Yokohama, about 165 miles south of Fukushima. While her parents were safe and her home did not sustain any major damage, Ayae wanted to do something for her home country.

She began a donation drive at Murrieta Valley, walking around with a donation can at lunch time. She raised $1,700, which she sent to Red Cross.

Murrieta resident Stori Nagel, a local coordinator for CCI, has been hosting Ayae since early May. Ayae stayed with two other families in Murrieta before completing her visit with Nagel, her husband and their three children.

"I knew she raised money at school, but I didn't know it was that much," Nagel said, impressed.

The family didn't expect to host any students until August, but Nagel said they were asked to host her for the remainder of her stay. It was a good fit for their family as they already had an interest in Japanese culture, she said.

A going away party is planned for Ayae with some of the friends she made at Murrieta Valley. She said she was the lone exchange student at the high school this year.

"I will miss it so much. I love it here," Ayae said.

Since the school year starts in April in Japan, she will be returning home as a senior, with no break between classes.