Earthquake 2011 - Update 2

Things are slowly edging back towards normal in Tokyo. The reactors are still a concern, as are the continued reports of radiation in the environment and in food products. Today it was announced that levels of iodine-131 in the Tokyo water supply were at 200 becqerels, which is twice the safe limit for infants. The recommended limit for adults is 300 becqerels, so of course there was a run on bottled water. From what I have read, for anyone other than very young children drining water with that level of radiation for a year would not be harmful, and likely the stress of thinking about the radiation is actually more harmful than the radiation levels themselves. It is believed that the increase in radiation levels in Tokyo are due to changes in wind patterns and that as soon as the winds move back to normal the levels will again drop. Iodine-131 has an 8-day half-life meaning it realatively quickly dissapates in the environment, which is good to know (or should I say hear).

But just to be safe Aya and I purchased our ration of bottle water and tea this evening to add to the 'emergency water supply' I already had stashed

Aya helping to scale the narrowest building I have seen yet in Tokyo. I checked and if I stretched my arms out fully I was wider than the house. Must suck to wake up.

Sunday we attempted to go to the museum to see the Boston Museum's collection of Japanese Art. That's right, I traveled all the way to Tokyo to see an exhibit from Boston, of Japanese Art. It was a nice day and something fun to do to refresh our minds. But unfortunately the museum closed 30 minutes earlier than usual due to the earthquake and energy conservation efforts, so we got there 2 minutes too late to get in. So instead we decided to go to an early dinner at an Izakaya that was featuring some early cherry blossoms.

Something about a yellow filter makes beer look even better than it already is.

Cheezu

A massive cherry arrangment in a private dining room

This place seemed like an old house with the way private rooms were everywhere. It was a really interesting place, and I am happy that we stumbled upon it.

Last week we celebrated the last day of Kombara-sans' appreticeship

Miyakoda-san demonstrating how he is going to crush the next earthquake that dares to interfer with his employees ability to work

Sometimes I dress up as a surgeon and try to impress people

Aya doesn't think that is funny

It is still eerily dark in many parts of Tokyo

Earthquake 2011 - Update 1

I know, I know...pretty weak to post an update 10 seconds after you post your first entry, but at least I am posting again. I will do my best to keep things updated but am making no promises.

Things are far from normal, even in Tokyo. They have instituted rolling blackouts to conserve energy, and to prevent more demand than they can supply which would likely cause more panic. This is resulting in all sorts of additional difficulty. Many trains are running on a limited basis, or not at all (especially if they run through an area that is blacked out) so getting to and from work can be difficult to say the least.

In order to conserve energy many large manufacturers (Toyota, Honda, Sony, etc.) are suspending production and even reducing hours at their corporate offices. Many large department stores are not opening, or limiting their hours to of operation to 5-6 hours during the middle of the day. And most all of the stores that are open as using at most 1/2 of their lights, and using heating & coolers as little as possible.

It feels strange for Tokyo to be this "dark" and have so few people out

I know this seems pretty well lit, but I will post this same picture when things are normal so you can see exactly how "dark" it is.

The typically bustling department store at the train station closed today at 3:00.

Likes like a scene just prior to a hurricane or snow storm in Charlotte...only this is the rice shelf. It has been this way for 3 days now.

The produce

Milk cooler

Not sure what happens when the sushi runs out, but I am sure it is not pretty

the bread shelf

the snack shelf. Not even any fish jerky.

Earthquake 2011

WE ARE ALL SAFE AND APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S CONCERN

Needless to say this has been one of the scariest experiences of my life. Being inside a building that is moving like that is not something I hope to ever experience again. Thankfully due to preparation and good engineering none of us were seriously hurt nor did we suffer serious damage. However, as you all know the same cannot be said for Northern Japan which faced the full force of the earthquakes followed almost immediately by the tsunami. The devastation is almost incomprehensible, and at this point we are far from truly understanding the scope of destruction. It will be some time before things get back to normal, and after something like this normal is a relative term anyway. Again we appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers, and ask that you continue to send them for the people who continue to suffer.

As most of you know Kinoto's wife, Yuri, is from Sendai. Luckily, her immediate family is safe but communication with them is limited, and one can only imagine the conditions they are faced with. Please keep the Sanpei's in your hearts and minds.

Below I have posted some pictures from our office after the earthquake. As you can see the damage in Tokyo is cosmetic compared to the North, and although the experience here was terrifying the worst of it ended in mere minutes.

When the flat files fell they forced Kinoto onto the fire escape which is located just below the Marlyn Monroe poster. At the time they fell he was opening the door to make sure was had an alternative exit should we need it.

This picture of Miyakoda-san's desk was actually taken 2 months ago, and the earthquake actually organized things for him.


Post quake posing. I wish I could claim I was this brave during the earthquake.

Everyone from the building waiting outside after the big quake. We experienced 4-5 more significant aftershocks within minutes of the big quake.

Aya straightening the bookshelf. Pretty sure homemade bookshelves made with cinderblocks and plywood rank pretty high on the "things not to do to prepare for an earthquake" list.

thank goodness for lens filters

It actually made for perfect post-quake photos