Grief and Sorrow in Japan

Nothing that I can write will ever come close to the sorrow I feel for the people of Japan. The only thing I could think of doing here today was to express my sorrow in a way in which the Japanese people will understand my empathy for their pain.

The two calligraphy characters above are the Japanese symbols for "Aitou", which is the English translation for Condolence, Regret, Tribute, Sorrow and Sympathy.

Japan is one of the miracles to have come out of the 20th Century. In just one century, Japan went from a feudal warlord culture to a brutal tyranny, and emerged from the massive destruction of the world's first atomic bombs to become a world leader in economics and technology.

With all of the world, I join in offering my hopes for a speedy recovery to a nation bowed in sorrow.