2. CASE REPORT
A 80-year old woman lived near the coast of Soma city. She lived with her husband, her eldest son, and his wife. The tsunami engulfed her house during the March 2011 earthquake, but she was able to escape from it in her son’s car. The house remained, but the mud carried by the tsunami flooded her house for one month. After that, she sought shelter in an evacuation center, then moved to temporary housing, and eventually relocated to another apartment in Soma City. She and her husband decided to live separately from their son due to a space issue. In July 2012, while she was in an apartment, her husband died of lung cancer, leaving her alone. She moved to a nagaya, a rowhouse apartment, in June 2013. Over this period of two years and three months, she lived in four residences after leaving her own house.
Before moving to the rowhouse, her son invited her to live with him and his wife again in their new house. However, she decided to live alone, because she did not get along with her son’s wife. He and his wife occasionally escorted her to doctor appointments, but most of the time, they were not on good terms with his mother. Their visits to her were limited to emergencies. When she called them, they did not answer. She told other residents that she envied those with children and grandchildren who visited them frequently.
The woman was not capable enough to continue living alone, but she did not want to live in a nursing care facility. She was invited to sign up for the rowhouse by a friend from her dance circle. In the rowhouse, she engaged in interactions with the residents who came from the same town. She built close friendships with her next-door neighbors. She had even known one of the neighbor’s parents. In the rowhouse, she and her neighbors shared dishes and helped each other when they had problems. She participated in the morning exercise routines organized for rowhouse residents. She thought participation in community events was crucial. She always kept her door propped open as a welcome sign.
She suddenly developed an aortic dissection in the nagaya and died at the hospital on the same day. Her neighbor, a long-term friend, was the key person caring for her until her last day. For several months before she died, she occasionally complained about her health problems to her neighbors. Her neighbor would care for her and contact her son, who lived far away, on her behalf. One early morning, she had vomiting and diarrhea, so she pushed her speed-dial number to ask her neighbor for help. Again, the neighbor took care of her and contacted her family, then sent her to an emergency room. She relied on her neighbors for her survival. Without her neighbor’s assistance, she would not have been able to promptly access hospital care.
People in the rowhouse often talk about this woman who suddenly passed away. After dealing with the unexpected death of her friend, her neighbor became exhausted and lost weight. Yet, she was feeling validated by the other residents after sharing her experience with them. The rowhouse residents commented: ”I feel lonely, as if I’ve lost my own family,” ”I wish I could die without bothering my family as she did,” ”I want to live as fully as she did.”