It’s been just over 3 days since the big quake struck Japan just east of Sendai. Since then the magnitude has been upgraded to 9.0 and the death toll continues to rise to much more horrific numbers.
Rescue efforts are underway and thousands have been saved from the wreckage and even one elder man who was floating on his roof after being washed out to sea with his wife who is now missing. Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated while tens of thousands have lost their home and some, their entire town. The main concerns now focus of course on finding survivors and the control of the Dainichi nuclear reactors. Problems with the reactors continue to mount with another cooling system failure resulting in yet another blast. Radiation fears are increasing as the evacuation zones around the plant are increasing.
Further away in the Kanto region where we are, it pretty much is impossible to return to a normal life. While damage is nothing compared to the north east, many found it very difficult, both mentally and physically to return to work Monday. With aftershocks still jolting Japan (some with magnitudes over 6.0), the tragedy weights heavily on the minds of everyone here (and worldwide for that matter). Transit is still not near full capacity which has caused severe delays and wait times at many stations across Tokyo. It was pretty normal to find 150+ people waiting in the taxi line with no taxis in site as well as lineups of over 500 meters just to get into some stations. At this point I could not see how people could get to work let alone get home afterwards (again).
With the shock of the events Friday, many shops were still closed Monday and most supermarkets were sold out of dry foods and bread and meat and fish. My wife and I finally ventured out of Kiminomori today to do some shopping since we had pretty much run out of food. When we got to the bigger supermarkets in town we were met with scenes like the above picture that I snapped with my phone. In this case it was the Ramen (instant noodles) section which was completely cleaned out. The bread sections and even the natto (fermented beans) sections mirrored this empty look. We were however able to get some meat and fish and lots of snacks and other foods and drinks. I don’t expect these shortages to last as they seem to simply be caused by the sudden unexpected chain of events followed by fear among people causing them to buy 3-4 times the amount of food they usually do… just in case.
What was most surprising was when we first drove out to town there was a lot of stand still traffic, at least that’s what I thought until I realized these were cars lined up on the road to get into gas stations! I’d say 75% of gas stations were closed and of the two I saw on the way to the super market, each had lines of probably 40-50 cars out on the road waiting to get in there to get gas (apparently only high octane was left at this point). Luckily I had filled up the day before the quake and my little R2 Kei car is has great mileage on a tank of gas.
The good thing is Japan is moving ahead. A nation this advanced will not stand still and even a day after the quake I already began seeing logistical movement from big shipping and carrier companies like Sagawa Transport and Yamato UPS making deliveries and going on their day to day routes. For businesses like TSG, if anything, there are delays but operations are still fully functional. Japan Post which we use most often is still taking EMS shipments for delivery and our Osaka office which handles the bulk of our shipping has said there are delays at some manufacturers and brands but we are still filling orders.
On another note I have to wish all the best to Stew (sup067) who has decided that the best thing for his family is to relocate temporarily to Singapore at another branch of his day job (yes believe it or not golf is not his full time job though he has most of us surprised in thinking that it is) (^_^). Stew is taking off tomorrow morning from Narita and I hope to see him back here soon though I am sure he will still be a strong presence on our site.
As for here in Chiba, we now have to deal with rolling blackouts. There is a shortage due to 25% over capacity for electricity usage and Tokyo Electric has decided to force rotating blackouts through out the suburbs and countryside ranging from a few hours at a time and for some regions once or twice a day. Rumor has it, this may last until April. Tokyo being the financial hub and business center of Japan is not affected by these black outs but it was wonderful to see on today’s news that most huge buildings in Japan made efforts to turn off all their lights and minimize electrical usage to help out. It was a very different sight as what is usually a ultra bright lit up city at night, Tokyo looked dark in many places. Seems a fair trade off as dark unoccupied business buildings will in turn give many families in need light and warmth through these tough times.
Tell all your friends, family and coworkers everywhere around the world to buy as many Japanese products as possible, everything from cars to electronics to food to clothing. Buy it all up, so that money goes back to Japan to help keep its economy flush with cash for when the country gets back to normalcy. Don’t give too much money to the charity organizations, that money will get chopped up and dispersed to areas around the globe where the organizations need help, and not enough of it will go to Japan itself. By buying all Japanese products everywhere, not only will you be supporting the Japanese economy for the future, you will, in the short-term, be helping your own ailing local economy from the USA to Europe. It’s a win-win situation as far as that is concerned.
Buy as many Japanese products as you can, with purpose!!
Prayers and best wishes to those in Japan.