In March 2011, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan hit the northeastern coast. Roger Lowther records his claustrophobia-inducing experience of being in the Tokyo subway when the earthquake struck. In the chaos that followed, he helped to deliver aid and solace. to those whose lives had been wrecked—victims of the subsequent disasters of the tsunami and nuclear plant meltdowns.
Even in the devastation, beauty emerged: Broken shards of china became jewelry. Bits of sea glass refracted light into colors. Silent, suffering people began to sing. My favorite story recounts how Lowther and other musicians played in a dark room lit only by flashlights which flew "like dozens of fireflies" on the walls. The stories are metaphors of the deeper beauty and truth of Christ and his sacrifice.
As he saw the pain, loss, and despair, the author discovered that beauty not only had a role to play in healing. It was essential. And music had the power to comfort when words were inadequate. Aroma of Beauty is a well-written, profound book of hope. It will resonate with anyone who has suffered.
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![Aroma of Beauty: in the wake of the 2011 tsunami in Japan by [Roger W. Lowther, Makoto Fujimura]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QZQdb91cL._SY346_.jpg)
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“Necessary” Things: Hope and Healing, Creation and Community, Art and Beauty
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2021
Makoto Fujimura’s foreword and Roger Lowther’s introduction alone are worth the price of Aroma of Beauty, a nuanced fusion of narrative, history, memoir, poetry, and philosophy infused with faith. Lowther takes readers from the Tokyo subway and city, 250 miles north to Fukushima, devastated by tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear explosions March 11-16, 2011. With gripping honesty, he relives his thoughts and experiences as he reacted to, processed, and participated in ongoing relief efforts over subsequent months and years.More than simple chronicle, this collection incorporates parallel accounts of his wife’s experiences while they were apart, their observations of how both Japanese and expat residents responded to the crises, and marvelous circumstances of provision beyond what they could have designed or planned.Throughout, Lowther weaves overarching themes showing how beauty and art minister to people in such extremes of loss and need. A classically trained pianist and organist as well as a missionary and longtime resident of Japan, Lowther reveals his own journey of discovery, insights about music and culture which his career had not revealed, until these events.“Where is God in our broken world?” This question echoes in utterances and experiences of Lowther and many he met during relief trips, concerts, and fellowship with those in affected areas. While destruction, loss, exile, and grief often lead to despair, these stories move beyond suffering to sacrifice, wonder, and redemption. Collectively, they affirm answers found through personal reflection and conversation, mirrored as well in diverse writings and words, from Japanese theologian Kazoh Kitamori, to John Calvin, from physician Takashi Nagai, to 1597 martyr Paul Miki, to biblical texts.As Japan commemorates the tenth anniversary of this catastrophe, Lowther revisits sites, senses, and human and divine encounters which transformed Fukushima, its residents, the Japanese nation, and Lowther’s own awareness of both the fragility and resiliency of human life, faith, and art.
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2021
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