EARTHQUAKE

The main point of this post is to let you know that I am completely fine after yesterday's huge earthquake that took place off the coast of Japan.  If you haven't been watching the news, an 8.9 (the largest earthquake in recorded Japanese history) hit off the coast of Sendai prefecture at about 2:45pm yesterday afternoon.  The New York Times has a particularly good interactive graph to give you an idea of  Japanese geography and which areas were the most affected:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/newsgraphics/2011/0311-japan-earthquake-map/index.html

If you see where Tokyo is on the map, Yokohama (where I am) is about 30-40 miles to the west.  I'm not sure of the exact distance, but my best guess is we are several hundred miles from the epicenter. As such, the destruction in Yokohama seems pretty minimal, especially as compared to Sendai, Miyagi and Chiba prefectures, but I've seen pictures of damage to buildings and sidewalks in Yokohama.  We were watching the news last night and they showed a giant crack forming in the sidewalk outside of Yokohama Station... I'm glad I didn't have to see anything like that yesterday because I don't really have any mechanism for processing that.  Aside from a couple of very weak hurricanes that have hit New York when I was living there, I've never experienced any form of natural disaster before and therefore any related chaos and destruction afterward is completely outside of my scope of understanding.  

(Oh wait, there was also the great tornado of Westchester County that touched down when I was working my first job in 2006.  I left work early that day and crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge that connects Westchester and Rockland County over the Hudson River due to the threat of torrential rain and thunderstorms.  I recall the sky being an ominous shade of green, and I think it started raining heavily by the time I made it home.  It greatly affected the Saw Mill River Parkway which I used to get to the Tappan Zee every day (I was annoyed to have to be making a detour in the mornings afterward...), and the damage to the surrounding trees lingers to this day.  I guess I have a little more than minimal experience with natural disasters; a tornado in Westchester is fucking bizarre.  Probably the most interesting thing to happen to that place in decades.) 

But yesterday was surreal for sure.  I guess there is absolutely no way to know that anything of this magnitude (no pun intended) is coming your way, so I think about myself yesterday pouting about the fact that I still have to live through one more day of my dreaded reading class on Friday mornings and also that even though yesterday was the last official day of third quarter we HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH THE FIRST WEEK OF FOURTH QUARTER BEFORE WE CAN GET TO SPRING BREAK.  Very very serious concerns I had, as you can see.  The continuing coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake (and all of these aftershocks) and the images coming out of Sendai and elsewhere certainly puts your priorities in perspective.  However, there are two things I would've done differently yesterday morning, and they are in fact measures that I had contemplated rectifying before I stepped out the door (late and running for the train as usual):

1. NO HIGH HEELS

2. Packing my camera.

Fridays here at IUC have become what's referred to as きちんと金曜日 (Kichinto Kinyoubi); I feel like I have mentioned this at least once before, but in a role reversal to Casual Fridays, a few IUC students dress up a little on Fridays so as to switch out of our usual grubby grad student garb.  It's also become kind of a competition between girls and guys who dresses the best, though I think the female contingent is greatly disadvantages due to our limited participating numbers.  I can only look so fabulous, people.  And for whatever reason, people count it against me that I try look nice most days of the week (I disagree... you should take a good look at me on Monday morning) so that no matter how well I try to dress myself on Friday, the impact is somehow diminished.  Unfair!  If past performance of the guys during the week counts in their favor (always always t-shirts with you people), then I don't see how mine can't be a positive as well.  ::grumble::

ANYWAY, when I was getting dressed yesterday I thought for a second that I should switch out the boots I was planning to wear with flats or even sneakers since I'd been out running the night before and my ankle felt a little cranky.  But I was like "oh it's the last day of third quarter; I'll suck it up."  At the same time, I also wondered if I shouldn't bring my camera since you never know what kind of hijinks people (and as it turned out in this case, Mother Nature) will get up to on a Friday, but then summarily forgot that thought as my head was yelling "WILL YOU FUCKING LEAVE ALREADY, YOU'RE LATE" as I scrambled for my keys and sped out the door. As such, I don't have any photos of my own to provide with this post (though I may steal from elsewhere later), and will do what I can to paint as lively a picture for you.  Reading is good for you anyway.

After I suffered through my reading class (NEVARRR AGAAAAAIN), I was done for the day as the afternoon portion of this week has been reserved for individual evaluation sessions with our senseis; I don't go until next week as Aoki-sensei was out on a business trip to the Association of Asian Studies Conference at the University of Hawaii.  I'm still convinced he spent the day on the beach drinking mai tais, but that's just me displacing on him how I would exploit a free trip to Hawaii.  So basically I had 12 onward all to myself, and after eating lunch and wasting time on the internet (CORGIIIIIIIS, as you might have guessed), I had to go out to the bookstore to find a book I need for one my classes next quarter (I'm a little behind in getting it since I had to give my 4th quarter class schedule a complete overhaul for reasons that I am saving for another post).  From what I had heard, it was a fairly common review book used for the first level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam (who knows if I'll pass - I have my doubts - but I'm giving it my best shot), so I assumed I would find it at the first bookstore I went to.  Not so.  I went to 3 bookstores around Minato Mirai and Sakuragicho stations until I finally got one at Kinokuniya (and even the staff member I saddled with my task had to go into the backroom to get it).  By that time I'd been walking in my shoes for about 30-45 minutes, which was a painful prelude to what the rest of the day would be.  

I got a call from Speed that he and others had finished up eating lunch and were planning to make a run to the World Porters building to hit up the grocery/liquor store there to get some drinks and hang out outside for a little bit since the weather has steadily (with a few setbacks, THANK YOU SNOW LAST MONDAY) feeling more and more like spring and yesterday was a fairly nice afternoon.  So I went to meet them at the entrance of the mall I was in (Collete Mare) and watched Speed and Ii-san read the map to figure out where Kinokuniya was with the others that had realized I was already there.  Sharp tacks, those two.  

It was then back around toward World Porters, which is across a bridge from my school.  I realize a number of you aren't going to understand this distance, so I have provided a handy map here to give you an idea of where I was walking before, at the time of, and after the earthquake:

It's probably easiest to click on this picture so that you can zoom in; I tried to make it as large as possible, but I thin it's a bit hard to read.

 

Map Legend:

1. Tsutaya Bookstore

2. Kumazawa Bookstore

3. Kinokuniya Bookstore

4. World Porters/Liquor Store: Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

5. Akarenga:  "What was that?" "Aftershock."

6. Back to IUC

7. Queen's Square: Watching the world go by

8. Izakaya: Cheers

9. Not Home Yet... 

At this point in the story, I'm at bubble "4" on the map.  I realize names also won't make much of a difference to many of you, but by the time we got to World Porters, it was myself, Speed, Chris and Laura (Ii-san went back towards IUC), and we met up with both Haitham and KT at the liquor store.  Speed, Chris and Laura went to the bathroom, so I waited downstairs for Haitham and KT and welcomed them with "it's just me, in my natural habitat."  At least I was in familiar surroundings when the earthquake hit.

Eventually everyone else filtered back downstairs and we strolled around in the aisles admiring the selection (people seemed particularly taken with the beers, but that ain't my taste and I didn't really care) and eventually walked up to the cash register.  My current obsession thanks to Chris Bovjberg are these gentei (limited time) chu-his:

It tastes like alcoholic cherry soda.  I am a happy camper with one of these... or two of them as the day turned out.  However, just as Speed was about to pay for his beer, things started to feel a little weird.  I heard rattling and felt the ground moving a bit, but my immediate thought was that there was someone pushing around cases of beer and wine on a large cart, or perhaps a truck was driving around in an underground garage beneath us.  The intensity of the shakes picked up speed, though, and eventually all the bottles in the store were harmonizing to the tune of earthquake and that's when I realized that this was the real deal.  We'd actually experienced a smaller earthquake earlier in the week during our 発表会 (it's hard to translate this in non-awkward English, but like a presentation conference?  Presentation meeting?  It was essentially groups of students delivering presentations to each other), but it was a relatively small one and once it had passed, our sensei picked up right where he'd left off.  There have also been a number of smaller earthquakes here since September, but they're a part of daily life and actually I slept through every last one.  Never felt a damn thing.

Even with the realization it was an earthquake, we just kind of stood and watched the scene  unfold because it was pretty fascinating.  Well, all except for Laura who gave a yelp of "EARTHQUAKE OH MY GOD" and was out of there before we even knew she was gone.  We listened to the bottles rattle and it was only when they started crashing to the floor that we slowly started backing away.  The signs were swaying (even the heavy metal one that said WINE) a lot to show us just how much the earth was shaking.  At least in our limited experience with earthquakes, we assumed that this on would just pass and we could carry on with our booze buyin' as planned, but when the shaking stayed consistent, we started moving toward the door.  KT left her cans on the shelf of another store and being the little monkey I am, I did the exact same thing.  She took a couple of pictures of us afterward where we had left our cans and we got a good laugh out of it.

ETA: KT has uploaded said photos from her cell phone as well as a bunch of others and I've borrowed a couple of them.  Hopefully she doesn't mind... I've weaved them in chronologically.

Blissfully unaware...

Someone else pointed out that in America people would've been thinking WHAT CAN I LOOT at the point of most confusion; the Japanese, however, were being led out the door and we went as well without any freebies.

At this time, I want to point out how strange it was we were being led outside, especially since we were standing underneath a pedestrian overpass that led to the second floor of World Porters.  Chris (hailing from Berkeley) said he'd been taught to stay indoors as long as possible in an earthquake, and I checked the FEMA website last night and they recommended the same thing.  FEMA said over and over that most people are killed by falling debris outside of a building during an earthquake and that it's safest to seek refuge in the stablest area indoors rather than take your chances outside when shit starts raining down.  But at that time I just assumed the Japanese knew better than I would as to what to do, so we all milled around out of doors for a bit.  The earthquake lasted a good 10 minutes I would guess; I felt sick for a good long while afterward.  My mom asked me this morning what it felt like to be in an earthquake, and the best thing I can say is that it's like vertigo.  You feel yourself moving, but the area around you appears not to be moving with you.  Well, at least not in Yokohama's case since we were so far from the epicenter, but I bet it was far more intense out in northeast Japan.  If you've ever felt vertigo when you've had a little too much to drink, that's what it was like.  I also tend to yawn a lot with liquor-induced vertigo, which made me all the more confused later when I kept yawning and wanting to lie down.  I hadn't started drinking yet!

When we were standing outside, you could see the buildings themselves do a little dance out in the distance based on the shifts of light and reflections in the windows.  Minato Mirai itself is a very new area of Yokohama and I assume all of the buildings were constructed with the latest in earthquake-proofing technology (I'm sure there's a better way to say that, but it's all I can think of).  The NYT had an article about this today, and it's true that if there's a country in the world best prepared for the worst kind of earthquake, Japan is it.  You really don't get a choice out here.  Once the shakes subsided (but not entirely), people started going back in to World Porters, and being the stupid 20-somethings we are, we headed back to the liquor store to get our booze.  However, not long after we made our purchases, someone came on over the loud speaker to say that they were conducted building inspections and that everyone had to leave.   To their credit, there were some visible cracks in the walls, but again, with the chance of aftershocks, I still think it was completely stupid of them to boot us out onto the street to fend for ourselves. But being in Japan means doing what your superior tells you, so everyone faithfully went out into the street.

ETA: Haitham uploaded a photo of damage to the wall at World Porters.  

I've seen some other photos posted by people of more serious damage around Yokohama (Carly's got her blog post up about the what happened around her neighborhood and in her apartment here).  I took a walk around my area an hour ago to try and clear my head and also to pick up some food (tip: do not count on finding any bread whatsoever) and I didn't see anything in the sidewalks or building facades.  I didn't end up running due to the fact that there were a fair number of aftershocks this afternoon and I spent a good part of it feeling dizzy.  Embarrassingly, I fell into my closet door at one point I was so stricken with vertigo and lack of balance. 

We kept with our original plan and walked towards "5" on my map, which is Akarenga or a bunch of red brick buildings that were probably some kind of warehouse originally and are now malls.  Everything is a mall in Japan.  This is how I don't understand how Japan still languishes in a slowed economic climate: everyone seems like they're constantly shopping.  They are greater consumers than any American I know, and many of them (particularly the city dwellers) insist on brand name goods.  I just don't get it.  Someone up top is fucking up is my best guess.  Anyway, when we were crossing the street toward Akarenga is when (to my knowledge) the biggest aftershock hit.  We could feel ourselves rolling in the street and hurried across to get out of the way of traffic.  There were large groups of people also collected outside of Akarenga: some lying on the ground (I guess this is an earthquake tactic?), others crying, others like us without a damn clue what to do.  Eventually we just sat down and popped open our cans and started drinking.  I think it's fair to say that we really had no appreciation for the magnitude (I can't seem to avoid that word, huh?) of what was going on around us.  However, as we were sitting we noticed plumes of smoke coming up for 2 or 3 points on the city skyline and heard a number of sirens.  If it hadn't already occurred to us that this earthquake was outside the scope of what's considered "normal" in Japan, it certainly hit at this point.

ETA: From KT

 

It's also worth nothing a number of people were trying to get in touch with people by cell phone, but either the network was jammed or lines were down (or both) because no calls or text messages were getting through.  Those with iPhones, however, were able to connect to the internet and find out more about the earthquake, but at this point stories didn't completely jibe with each other and information was incomplete.  We were only just starting to get a better picture of what was going on elsewhere in Japan.  But continuing in our bubble, we also wondered what was going to happen to our plans that night.  As it happened, some other students had organized a night out with Ari-sensei as well as Senda-sensei and were looking forward to getting their turn to see our teachers with a little alcohol in them.  As we were sitting, we also saw a couple in their wedding garb loaded into a white convertible speeding away from Akarenga.  Though their day was ended at that point, people are sure to remember their wedding for years to come.

Clouds started rolling in, covering up the sun, and since we were by the water, the wind was fairly strong.  It got too cold to stay outside and we debated what to do until before 5pm when the nomikai with the senseis was supposed to start.  I wasn't originally amongst the invited list having never taken a class with Ari or Senda-sensei, but I was encouraged to crash and was trying to convince others to crash with me.  We eventually decided to head back towards school to get access to the internet and maybe other students (and so that KT could also get me some advil from her locker because my head was still spinning).  I and a couple of others tried to wait downstairs in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel (I think that's what it's called) that's a part of Pacifico Yokohama, but we were eventually told (rather brusquely, even by Japanese standards) that we couldn't be there.  KT, Laura and Haitham went upstairs to IUC, while Chris, Speed and I walked back to Queen's Square (#7) to sit and wait.  We kept drinking and talking, and Haitham came back down to wait with us.  The rest of the details of us sitting in Queen's Square aren't terribly interesting since we sat there over an hour without much to do.  People were milling around and trying to get into Minato Mirai Station to try and go home, but the trains were down in our area until this morning.  I imagine a lot of them got stranded there until 5 or 6 this morning. 

A couple of things worth emphasizing: eventually Haitham was able to connect to Al Jazeera to see footage of what was going on in Sendai, Miyagi and Chiba.  We'd heard there were tsunami warnings, but we finally saw the devastation going on in another part of the country, and needless to say it was intense.  I had no idea it would be that bad, and it was distressing to see houses and cars swept away by the storm.  The other thing happened when I was in the bathroom; apparently Ari-sensei along with Akizawa, Kushida and Tanaka-san from the administrative office came walking by and though Speed was calling out to Ari about tonight, she waved him off and kept moving.  I came out of the bathroom just as they were going by (I recognized them mostly because of Akizawa wearing one of the helmets from the school; even under the helmet he has very recognizable hair) and it was then we realized our plans for the night weren't going to go off as desired.  A bunch of IUC students also rolled by asking if we were going to come upstairs (Pacifico had set out some provisions and cots for the night), but we politely declined.  We wondered what the hell to do with ourselves since we were bored of sitting on the stairs and we also were running low on booze.  Since the trains were down and so were phone lines, we resolved to walk to Sakuragicho and find ourselves a bar to get food and drinks and hunker down for awhile to see if the trains would start up again.  Eventually Laura came out with a giant group of other IUC'ers (I was surprised at how many of them were still there that late on a Friday) and we walked down to Sakuragicho.  Speed also bought KT and I a cheeseburger at McDonald's for waiting for him earlier, which is funny because we all kind of ditched him at McDonald's and kept walking towards the next station.  Whoops.

We wound up at one of our usual haunts ("8" on the map) and we got lucky in that they had just enough tables open for the 14 of us to sit down and try to relax.  Aside from the crowd of people probably trying to do the same thing as us in getting a beer and hoping the trains would start up, there were also large crowds of either high school or college graduates sitting at the tables across from us.  The Japanese school year starts up in April, and March (I saw them in late February as well) is the time for graduation ceremonies.  The girls dress up in a specific kind of kimono (not sure what it's called) and get all done up to attend the ceremonies (boys not so much), and they were all gathered at this izakaya probably after the rest of their ceremony had been canceled.  We also heard a report of a part of the roof falling down at a graduation ceremony in Tokyo and that there were injuries; there are a couple of news reports to back this up on the internet now as well.  In any case, the earthquake likely made this day all the more memorable to those celebrating.

We were at this izakaya for quite some time, probably over 3 hours.  We had a fair amount to eat and a few drinks, but the night seemed to slow down when someone realized they could turn on the flat screen TV and watch the news.  Everyone sat trying to get a grasp on what was happening, and I think it's fair to say everyone was a bit stunned.  However, everyone burst out laughing due to the fact that most of the newscasters were wearing helmets in the studio, and particularly at the guy whose helmet was sliding off his head.  You'd think one of the grips would tell him to straighten that out.  Images of destroyed buildings, towns washed away by the tsunami, fires at an oil refinery, and fears of radiation leaks at the nuclear power plants in the region all flashed across the screen.  The death toll slowly climbed, as did the number of those missing.  I wasn't sure what to think because all of this information wasn't jibing at all with what I experienced in my narrow slice of the world, and I think I'm still processing.  Interest waned in the TV after awhile, and there was also a sudden outburst from the group of students when one of their senseis showed up at the party, and it eventually came time for us to figure out what the hell to do with ourselves.

ETA: More from KT from the izakaya.
 

 

Feeney's son was wearing one of the helmets provided from school.  He's clearly better prepared than any of the rest of us.

There were a number of options bandied about.  Some wanted to stick it out in the hope that trains would start again (particularly Speed since he lived the furthest away), but when it became clear that wasn't an option we needed to think about what else we could do.  Speed, Chris, Haitham and Ii-san also had plans to go hiking around Odawara this morning, but those were quickly dashed when they realized they wouldn't be getting home until way later, if at all.  There was talk of going to an all night karaoke joint so that everyone could catch and early train the following day, or of getting a taxi to Kikuna as Haitham, KT, Chris and Laura all lived in that area and that took Speed perhaps half the way back to Meguro.  I figured I could walk home from Sakuragicho since it's only a couple of miles, though I hated the thought of doing it in my fucking boots which had been strangling my feet all day.  I was happy to kick them off to sit on the tatami at the izakaya, but I realized I would have to put those suckers back on and hoof it back to Mitsuzawa.

It took us a long time to finally reach a consensus (I assumed it's because we were all in a bit of shock and no one was stepping up to be the leader, as you usually need in a situation like that), but we all settled on walking together back home.  Taxis were in short supply and traffic wasn't moving anyway; all night karaoke is fucking expensive and we were all too exhausted to enjoy ourselves; and the trains were dead.  So we got the checks (which were really really small, considering how long we were there), and headed out into the street.  Some of us wanted to get a snack for the road from Mos Burger, but a collective wail went up when we saw their windows were black and someone had put up a sign stating they had closed due to the earthquake.  As a secondary option, we went into a largely raided 7-11, bought some snacks and drinks, and started on our way back home.  The map above only shows our way back to Yokohama station, and along the way we saw many people in buildings and in Yokohama Station itself lying on the ground with blankets looking as though they were going to stay there until the following morning when they could finally go home.  That must've been a very rough night.  

Eventually we reached the area outside of Tanmachi Station where I and another kid Ko who happens to live in my building bid everyone a good night.  I gave them directions to where the Toyoko Line came back up from underground and then could just follow the tracks home.  Once back in my building I feared what might have fallen in my apartment, and I was very pleased to find that this place (despite generally being kind of cluttered because this is me we're talking about) was in decent order.  I also finally got a chance to take out my fucking plastic and paper recyclables that have been piling up here for over a month because I haven't been around (or mentally be around) on Friday nights to take them out to the street.  I came to my computer to find a ton of messages on Facebook and in my inbox inquiring as to where I was and if I was all right, which was heartwarming.  I'm thankful so many people were worried about me, and also that this usually worthless piece of procrastination I call the "internet" finally served a useful purpose in allowing me to reassure everyone I was fine.  During and after the earthquake it seems Facebook (and presumably Twitter too, but no one I know uses it) was the only reliable way to reach out to everyone since the phones were down.  It's worth the trade-off with how generally pointless (but amusing) Facebook itself is.

After sending off what felt like a million messages, I realized just how tired I was.  I had been yawning a lot earlier in the day, but once we were walking home I just wanted to keep moving because that's the only way to do it in heels.  If you stand for too long, the blood really starts to collect in your feet and you become aware of just how sore you are, and it's best just to keep going forward.  You can imagine my relief at prying those fucking things off the second I came home.  But after sitting down with my throbbing feet and staying up till around 12 or so I had had enough.  As recommended to me by my buddy Sam from UW, I switched my  positioning in my bed since usually I sleep under the heating unit, which is up high on my wall.  The aftershocks were still going (and still are, actually) and that is the last thing I want falling on me.  I was out for a good 10 hours before waking up.  I commented on this already on Facebok, but I woke up a bit dazed and had forgotten what exactly had happened and wonder why the hell I was upside down.  I then remembered everything and made my way to computer again to reassure everyone I was doing fine.  I've read that there were some fairly strong aftershocks that we felt here in Yokohama into this morning, but I swear I didn't feel a thing when I was asleep.  I seek refuge in my dreams and no fucking aftershock is going to deprive me of that.

And that brings us pretty much up to speed.  I can't believe how long this post is; I thought I could tell the story quickly, but as it usually is with me, once I got started I began to recall all these details I thought might be interesting and just kept on rambling.  But the point here is that I am completely fine and so is most of Yokohama.  Please save your thoughts and prayers for the most devastated areas of Japan because it seems really bad out there.  I keep checking the news and it never seems to get any better...

As for reflections on this whole experience, I think my main one is about how I completely underestimated what was going on around me.  A big part of that is believing that things like this just won't happen to you or anyone you know.  These are events that always seem half a world away, and in my case, I didn't even know that I was in the middle of something until much, much later.  I'm also a bit frustrated with how I continue to be as self-centered as I am with my continued worries about my damn feet, crashing a sensei drinking party, and then getting food because I was hungry.  I mean, even right now I've written a whole post about just my experiences in all of this.  In a lot of ways, it's the only way I understand the world, but it's a criticism you can lodge with just about everyone.  My little bubble remains unpopped by all of this, though I have learned a thing or two about earthquakes.  Though another earthquake is still not something you can really prepare for, hopefully I can react a little bit more intelligently than to stand watching bottles crash to the floor when the next one (and there will be a next one) hits.  For now, though, I think I'm going to go out for a run with my camera to see what's doing around my neighborhood.

Oh, and if anyone was worried, our beloved Maru is doing just fine:

http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/blog-entry-835.html

What kind of box is this?!

*      *     *     *     *

3/12 7:48pm

So things are far more serious than I even thought about 4 or 5 hours ago when I first made this blog post.  According to the Asahi as well as other news outlets, there's been an explosion at one of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.  At this time, they've expanded the evacuation zone around the power plants to 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) and fear a meltdown in the reactor.  I really  can't believe this is happening.  But to give you a better idea of where this is all taking place, I've borrowed this map from the BBC:

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12720219

 

Keeping my eye on the news is exhausting since it seems like no one has the full story of what's going on.  I'm left with a whole lot of speculation and fear.  That doesn't really help.  Some of the news channels have actually started showing other programs with a map of Japan and info about the earthquake in one of the corners.  I really don't know what to think.  

8:36pm 

I'm watching Prime Minister Kan's public announcement on the news right now, but he doesn't seem to be saying much of anything that we didn't know already.  Man he speaks so awkwardly.  He's just reinforcing the 20km evacuation measures around the power plant.  

8:40pm

I'm not sure who now is talking and taking questions about Fukushima, but he gave a lot of detailed information about what has happened since the explosion.  From what I can tell, he's saying that the containment vessel in the nuclear core has not been damaged by the explosion, but that they continue to take all measures necessary to protect against further radioactive leakage.  "There are no new risks," he says.  

8:55pm

I've been looking at this same image of a nuclear reactor all day.  This is the one thing I have never understood about Japanese television: they seem to mass produce these fancy cardboard displays complete with pieces to peel off to reveal more information.  Meanwhile in the US our TV screens light up with the most flashy in computer graphics and animation.  I don't know which one is more absurd.

9:01pm

All right, I've had enough of watching the news with a close, anxious eye.  It's making that eye twitch.  It seems like things are under control (at least based on what the government is officially saying) and I'm not going to get any more information from a bunch of talking heads speculating.  I'm going back to distracting myself with silly entertainments, and in the batter's box right now we have Mad Max.

*     *     *     *     *

Update: 3/13 2:33pm

I just got back from a run after basically being cooped up in my apartment since Friday night, save for a brief trip yesterday to go foraging for food.  I brought my camera with me thinking that I could record any damage done to my neighborhood, but quite honestly there is pretty much nothing to see.  If I hadn't known something big had happened on Friday, I would've noticed nothing.  In fact, in the pictures I'm about to post there are only a couple of cracks and there's a part of me that doubts that they weren't there before; I don't inspect every inch of concrete and pavement every time I go out for a run.  There were lots of other areas where I wondered if something hadn't been disturbed, but ultimately I determined that it wasn't worth getting my camera out.  As such, I just ended up taking a bunch of pictures of my neighborhood since it's a pretty perfect pre-spring day out there.  Unfortunately, though, Fuji again decided not to show his stupid face.  Boo.

But please, I'm sure that everyone at this point realizes there's no real threat in Yokohama, but let these pictures speak to the fact that pretty much everyone around me has gone on with their daily lives.  I am doing the same.

 

The trees are starting to bloom.  This is on my way to the station every morning and I look forward to when the blossoms are out on all the trees.

 

 

 

Probably the biggest crack I saw today.  It's on the path I use to run to Mitsusawa Park which is maybe a mile or two from my house.  This definitely wasn't there before (this area also looks like it was paved in the last year or two).  Still, I doubt I would've noticed if I hadn't been looking for this.

 

 

Everyone was out enjoying the sun today, including all these tennis players in Mitsuawa Park.

 

 

Took me the longest time until I realized there was an equestrian park in Mitsuzawa as well.

 

 

To me it looked like a crack had started to form next to the break in concrete on this well.  You can see it faintly on the left of the seam.  However, I can't guarantee this wasn't there already.

 

I can usually see Fuji-san from this spot and thought I might be able to get a view of him, but he decided to hide in the haze.  Jerk.

 

 

A view out onto Mitsuawa  

 

Giant cemetery.  Couldn't tell you if any of the tombstones had been disturbed.

 

 

I can see my school from here!! (kind of hard to point out, but if you see the tallest building near to the right that's Landmark Tower, and if you look further a bit to its left, there's a point sticking out from behind another building.  That's Pacifico.)

 

There aren't any big shrines or temples around my neighborhood, but there are a number of these smaller set-ups where you can throw in some money and make a prayer.  This one is a Shinto shrine and there's are two smaller Buddhist spots not far from my apartment.  I dunno, I always wonder why these were so small when there's a giant church in my neighborhood.

My classmate Kendra, though, seems to have some of the best pictures of what's happened in Yokohama.  I was a jerk and took a couple from her photo album on Facebook.  As you can tell, though, these seem to be extreme examples of damage in Yokohama.  

 

 Not sure exactly where these pictures are from, but I'm certain this must be around Kendra, which is quite a distance from Mitsuzawa.  You can see how the windows broke due to the shaking.

 

 

 Probably the most extreme example of damage I've seen in Yokohama.  The entire facade of this building fell off.  I've heard that some people have seen this image broadcast over the news.

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Oh hai, thur, this is another update: 3/15 1:12pm

In the last 24-48 hours there's been quite a few changes, though I still can't make heads or tails of this nuclear issue.  My instinct tells me not to worry, but the conflicting news reports I keep hearing from especially the international news (the sensationalism seems wholly irresponsible) and the Japanese press has my head in knots.  I want to pay attention and be as informed as possible, but it's just impossible given the circumstances.  I find it better to give myself a mental break and focus on something else because I'll just end up as worried sick as so many other people in Japan at the moment.  There are a number of IUC students that have or will flee the country, and I'm a bit baffled by it.  Seems wholly extreme to me, and I can't imagine what the expense must be to fly out of the country on such short notice.  I plan to stick it out in Yokohama as I can, and if there's an emergency, I can always go to Nagoya and stay with my host parents.  I've already cleared it with them, but I stress that this is my plan only IF it is necessary.  Yokohama is a considerable distance from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and as far as I know, this is all a very localized affair.

Aside from broader changes that affect Japan as a whole, the other thing for us IUC students is the fact that school has been canceled for this entire week.  It caught me off guard when we got an e-mail yesterday morning stating that our classes for Monday had been canceled due to cancellations in train service in accordance with the planned black-outs for the Kanto (Tokyo-Yokohama region) and Tohoku (Northeast Japan where Fukushima is).  They can't put it on the students and particularly the teachers who live in disparate directions to find a way to and from school.  I full expected to be going to school this week since it seemed like the brains of the IUC operation were aiming to keep the school up and running all through the weekend, probably to ground everyone in their daily routines and not send ripples of alarm through the student population by suddenly canceling school.  I know I seek refuge in my schedule, and I think this is part of the reason I wanted to keep going to school.  It's also a way just to see people and remind yourself that you're in this together and it's not just you against whatever Mother Nature throws at you.  There's a support system built into surrounding yourself with familiar faces.  Plus I stayed up late on Sunday night to get all my work done and dammit I was prepared for class on Monday morning.

So yesterday was a bit of a trip.  I got up yesterday a bit early because I still needed to go over my reading again for class (I needed to be able to define "deflation" for class and I'm not sure I even understand the concept in English), but also because it was White Day!  As you'll recall from this post, White Day is the companion to Valentine's Day here in Japan; women give chocolates to men on V-Day and men reciprocate a month later on March 14th.  In a flip on the gender roles, I received the very much desired Alfort cookies from my buddy Wilson:

Ugh, they're so good.  He also gave me a card with the "I Choo-Choo Choose You" valentine from the classic "I Love Lisa" episode of The Simpsons.  And the expectation is that you pay back the chocolates you got on Valentine's Day x3, so the pressure is on me to reciprocate.  Man, and I have the best card and everything made up, and yesterday morning I was looking forward to setting up our locker (one of the few perks of being at the end of the alphabet) to surprise him, but it was not to be.  However, I had set my alarm earlier yesterday morning so that I could try to beat him to school, print the card and do the prep work, so I jumped out of bed despite having stayed up late on Sunday night and got in the shower.  When I was toweling off my hair, however, I saw that Speed was asking over Skype how I was going to spend my day now that class was canceled and then realized my plans would have to wait for another day.  I'm still not going to tell you what I had planned!  I want there to be some form of surprise!

But anyway, it was about 7:20 in the morning, I was showered and sort of ready for my day (as ready as you can be on a Monday morning anyway) and I was like, "well... I COULD go back to bed... or I can get out there and compete with everyone else for supplies."  I thought my apartment came equipped with a flashlight, but I was wrong on that one.  With the threat of black-outs, I thought I should at least have some form of battery-operated illumination in here aside from my electronic dictionary and iPod.  I also had intended to go grocery shopping for the week on Monday and considering how scant food selections were on Saturday, I figured I should also try to fight the crowds to see what was left.  I packed my purse full of sturdy grocery bags, slapped on my war paint, and got my headphones on to do battle with the army of little Japanese ladies who were sure to be doing exactly as I was planning.

I should have seen it coming, but the subway platform at my home station was packed with people trying to get down toward Yokohama.  I couldn't even get on the first train that rolled in and had to wait for the next one.  I had also brought my camera, but as soon as I tried to turn it on to snap a picture of people pushing their way into the subway door, I got the alert that my battery was exhausted.  Dammit.  So I busted out my cellphone and took a lot of shitty photos yesterday, like this one:

People turn their backs to you and push their way into the train; I'm assuming their turn around so they don't have to see your face as you shove them further into the subway car.  They're referred to mannin densha (full trains) here, and commuter hell here is pretty intense.  The city subway wasn't quite this bad, but once I got to Yokohama it really did start to look like this:

Yokohama Station was truly insane.  When I came out of the ticket gates, I saw that half of them were roped off with station attendants monitoring a giant line of people waiting to get into the subway.  I didn't see how far the line extended, but it went up the stairs and around past the next staircase I used to get to ground level.  It was unbelievable.  Again, another shitty cell phone shot:

Huh, now that I'm looking at this photo I think that might have been Jillian climbing the stairs in front of me in the green jacket and patterned backpack.  I was so much in my own head that I didn't really stop to notice or say hello.  Where are my manners.  But you can see on the right-hand side of the staircase where people are lined up waiting to get on the train.  And it only got worse once I got into the station itself.

My first plan was to go to Daiei, a large grocery store near Yokohama Station that was supposedly open the earliest out of any of the places I wanted to hit.  I also passed the ドン・キホーテ (I don't know how to romanize this, but I assume it's from Don Quixote.  The store itself has nothing to do with Cervantes; it just has a whole lot of random stuff - including costumes - for cheap prices.  We usually go there to buy cheap booze) where more people were lined up (this is Japan... if there's a line to be had, the Japanese will make one):

 

Again, fuck my camera phone.  I have no idea what they were going to buy here, but there were plenty of Japanese people waiting.  I kept walking toward Daiei and then remembered that on Friday we saw some images outside of Yokohama Station where a huge crack had formed in the sidewalk.  At the time I thought, "huh, that looks familiar..." but didn't think much more of it.  Turns out it was in front of Daiei and this is what I saw:

 

I stood there with the rest of the jerks taking pictures because it was a really considerable crack that seemed to go around almost the entire front of the building.  I don't know that my pictures really capture it.  Needless to say, Daiei was closed; I wonder if its foundations are at all secure.

Scratching Daiei off my list, I moved on to Yodabashi Camera (a huge electronics chain) hoping I might find a flashlight and batteries.  But as I was walking from one side of the station to the other, I noticed these HUGE lines of people and I had no idea where they led.  I kept staring at them wondering what the hell they were doing; part of me thinks that a couple of people were just kind of standing somewhere and other Japanese people were like OOO A LINE and started piling in behind them.  Presumably the lines were for the different train lines, but it was absurd.  The lines for cabs were equally as insane.  

 

 

Where are you guys going?!?

 

 

I was walking as I took these, so sorry for the blurriness.  I eventually got down towards Yodobashi to stand in yet another line in front of the store.  

 

It was probably about 9 at this point and they were supposed to open at 9:30.  UGH, but I had the grossest dude standing behind me; I don't know if he was sick or not, but he kept snorting back his snot every 10-15 seconds and then sniffling in between.  I could feel the mucous smacking the back of his throat and I got nauseous thinking about it.  I don't know what it is about Japan (or Asia in general), but snorting and even picking your nose in public is not a rare occurrence.  I saw one guy yesterday picking his nose, then rubbing his nose and then RUBBING HIS FACE.  Maybe boogers have some anti-aging property I just don't know about.  I mean, this is the country of the nightingale-poop facial. 

Eventually, though, a guy came out and made announcements about which items they were sold out of already, and eventually with the help of my electronic dictionary I realized they were of course out of batteries and flashlights.  But I figured I might be able to find a battery-operated lamp or something and I'd already stood in the line for long enough that it was worth seeing what was in stock.  But then another dude came out and was like "Sorry, we will not be opening on time.  I don't know when we will be able to let you in" and I just said fuck it and moved on.    

Having seen for myself the disaster that the trains were in (they all shut down after about 1 or 2 and people were scrambling to get to where they were going before then), I walked from Yokohama up towards Tanmachi Station (probably a 10-15 minute walk) to hit up the large grocery store there.  I passed a bunch of other stores on the way, but it seemed like NO one was open.  I finally got to the store and they too were closed (their website said they should have been open at 9), and people were lined up around the block to get in.

 

As I walked towards the back of the line, I saw that everyone was all ready to go with their baskets in hand, and hilariously enough, a bunch or two of bananas.  The bananas were set up right next to the basket, so presumably everyone grabbed a bunch along with their baskets to make sure they had SOMETHING.  And I did the same ;-)

 

At the end of the line

I didn't actually have to wait long before they let us loose in the store.  I was getting irritated because the guy in front of me walked so fucking slow, and then stood there listening to someone making an announcement.  I saw that he was speaking into a microphone and that the announcement itself was being played in the store, so I pushed past him in a huff.  YOU'RE BLOCKING MY ACCESS TO FOOD JERK.  Once in the store, it was pretty crazy.  Honestly, I got swept up in the mass of humanity and started grabbing things indiscriminately I thought I might eat.  I have some fish cake thingy in my fridge right now... I really don't even know what it is, but I saw some little granny take it so I did too.  Eventually I got to the back of the store where there were crates of the much-in-demand-but-in-short-supply bread.  Honestly, there hasn't been a scrap of bread to be found in the country.  I didn't take pictures of the shelves, but others have and I'm borrowing for dramatic effect:

 

From Mike Dockery in Chiba Prefecture

  Laura in Yokohama

I let out an exultant cry (quietly though!  I have dignity, thank you) and grabbed two loaves without even thinking that I actually have to EAT all this bread.  I usually only eat a loaf a week for breakfast; what the hell am I going to do with two?  I did end up grabbing a lot of stuff I didn't need (ohhh but I did want that giant box of cookies), and I think the store was instituting a jishin waribiki (earthquake discount).  My total bill was so cheap!... well, cheap by Japanese standards.

Ugh, but once I had my stuff all bagged up, I remembered that I also needed to make the mile plus trek home with about 10-15 pounds of groceries.  It sucked, but I guess it was exercise.  

The rest of the day was spent cleaning my apartment trying to avoid paying attention to the news and then going out to hang out with people so as not to be alone under the threat of black-outs.  Sitting by myself in the dark is not how I like to spend my nights.  My apartment was a bit overdue for a good scrubbing, and I put my frustration with the coverage of this situation into scrubbing the floor and bathroom.  I'm going to try not to carry on about this for too long as I've already mentioned my disappointment with the international reporting on the earthquake and now the problem with Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Nothing sells the news faster than bad news, and that's exactly what I think CNN, Fox News (not that this is new for them), and the various newspapers and magazines (I can't believe I had to include my beloved New York Times in this, but I can't even look at their front page any more it makes me so angry).  Honestly, a lot of what I'm reading makes it sound like the media outlets WANT there to be a meltdown because that would justify their position while selling a shit ton more ad space.  It's callous, self-serving, and I will have no part of it.  The sensationalists and alarmists of the world just make my day so much more difficult because I don't want to be angry at them; even though I'm not emotional for the reasons they want, the end result is still the same.  I am trying to be as rational and calm in all of this as I can because that is the only way you can critically analyze the information put in front of you, and also make critical decisions when necessary.  I also see it as a bit of a slap to the face of those technicians and professionals that are working around the clock to avert disaster around Fukushima, putting their own lives at risk in order to protect our well being and way of life.  At this point, the only thing I want out of the news are the facts (yeah, I know, keeping dreaming) so that I can make informed decisions.  I don't want your opinions.  People are welcome to disagree with me so long as they recognize that I have just as much right to disagree with them.  But in the end, even if I am wrong (and yes, this is me admitting that I do make mistakes; take it now because I don't say it often), the last thing anyone needs to do is panic.  People need to be as calm and rational as possible to make as informed a decision as possible for their own safety and for the safety of those around them.  We are all in this together. 

Anyway, yesterday I headed up towards Myorenji to hang out with friends, make dinner, have some drinks and watch Arrested Development.  I also passed one of the Toyoko Line stations while it was closed and snapped a picture:

It is so weird to see stations empty like this.  I'm actually heading back that way in a little while to watch Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (SUCH a good movie), and I'm also hopeful I can convert people to the original Edgar Wright (and though they weren't involved in Scott Pilgrim, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Nick Frost) braintrust production, Spaced.  Anyone who likes Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz is defenseless against the appeal of Spaced.  Hell, anyone with a sense of humor is defenseless against the genius that is Spaced.  It's a fact.

I have a number of other thoughts on this whole experience, but they'll have to wait for another update or another post.  I've got other things to do.  Life goes on.

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