Photo/Illutration Evacuees’ vehicles are parked on the playground of Fugeshi Elementary School in quake-hit Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2. (The Asahi Shimbun)

It was a little after 4 a.m. when the cold woke me in my car, where I had slept during my reporting trip to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, last weekend.

The car’s dashboard glowed in the predawn darkness, showing the outside temperature was 4 degrees. The temperature inside the car was 6 degrees. The steel-made car had chilled immediately without the engine running.

Even though I wore heavy socks and the hood of my down jacket was pulled over my head, I shivered from the core of my body. I crossed my arms over my chest and shut my eyes to try to keep from losing any more body heat.

An aftershock jolted the car, while the pouring rain kept drumming on the roof.

Confined to a tiny space alone and assailed by unnerving noises, I replayed in my mind the scenes I had come across during the previous day.

In central Wajima, the windows of damaged homes were covered with old cloths. The homeowners must be praying that the rain and snow would not blow in through the broken windows. Blue tarps, which are typically seen in disaster areas, were in short supply.

At daybreak, the playground of Fugeshi Elementary School started coming to life with people who had slept in their cars.

Mitsuru Urami, 59, and his family of three had been camping out in his vehicle since New Year’s Day. To save gasoline, he said he had been turning the heater on only once a day, at dawn.

I asked him why he was not at an evacuation shelter. He replied, “My mother is old. I worry about her catching a cold or something while living in a group.”

There is no end in sight. How many more wretched nights will there be? How long will the survivors have to endure their ordeal?

The kanji character “shin” in “jishin” (earthquake) is made up of two characters--one for “ame” (rain) and the other for “tatsu” (the dragon in the Chinese zodiac).

The rain at the beginning of the year of the dragon turned into a wintry mix. After I started heading back to Tokyo, the city of Wajima became blanketed with snow.

Aftershocks continue in the bitter cold and inclement weather. The survivors have been tormented by a merciless nature since the start of the new year and they desperately need help.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 9

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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