One week after the 9.0 earthquake and four days after the 6.4 that had me nearly soil myself, I am finally removing myself from panic mode.  The main reason for this is I’ve stopped buying into the majority of news sites that are relying on fear mongering and sensationalizing absolutely everything.  Things are still confusing with different sites and articles saying different things, but for every site that says I will be growing a third arm shortly, there is a counter argument link that makes it clear I’ll be perfectly fine.

I had my big freakout day this past Thursday, the day after a 6.4 quake hit with an epicenter about 50 miles away from me.  All day I was googling horrible stories and reports of rising radiation.  I even checked if there was a possibility of Mt. Fuji erupting.  It is possible but not worth worrying about stuff I can’t control.  The last time it erupted was in 1707, which was preceded by an earthquake 49 days prior.  So, if Fuji does erupt I am definitely high tailing it out of the country.  Otherwise I think I’ll be fine. Continue reading →

I went to the supermarket yesterday to create my survival kit.  Yes, I bought into all the news yesterday for a good part of the day but I’m much better now.  However, this picture shows, that even as far away as Kofu is, there are some scared people.  There is pretty much no bread to be found.  While this looks bad I was able to buy some donuts and I bought two big jugs of water.  I imagine however the closer you creep to the North and East, the worse it gets.

The ramen aisle at Ogino, the Japanese equivalent of Wal-Mart or Jewel-Osco.  Still some available, but also clear that there has been a rush on them.  At first I was super confused because I don’t understand how to eat ramen with no heat and electricity, until I realized that portable gas heaters with cans of gas are pretty popular here.  I kind of want one now so I’m not forced to just chew on hard dried noodles if something bad happens. Continue reading →

Depending on what websites you frequent, the prognosis for Japan ranges from cautious optimism to dire straits. I know the media sensationalizes most things regardless, but it is currently very frustrating when I’m using the news to determine my future safety.

In regards to the fear of radiation leaks there are many different sources saying different things. Obviously the area near the nuclear plants is being evacuated but now there are reports of overall increased levels of radiation in Chiba and Tokyo, which is only about 80 miles away. Some news sources are reporting radiation near Tokyo is 10 times normal, though some say it is still a safe amount for human health. Continue reading →

I picked a hell of a year to be in Japan for a year.  The biggest Earthquake in Japan’s recorded history and the 5th biggest in the world on record.  And to think I was looking forward to feeling my “first earthquake”.  I was dumb.  In fact, literally the day before the 9.0 quake, henceforth known as "The Big One", I commented to my Mom that I was disappointed I didn’t feel the 7.3 quake that occurred two days before the big one.  Here’s what happened the day of and the past couple of days.

On Friday I was in a car headed north to a wedding.  Suddenly it seemed to be very windy, kind of that feeling of being in a tunnel and something passes by very quickly and moves you.  After a few seconds we realized that it wasn’t the wind and every car was stopped.  We turned the radio down and noticed the car rocking.  This lasted for several seconds and then the train of cars started moving again.

At this point I was ecstatic.  “My first earthquake!”, I thought.  It was pretty cool until we got to the hotel where the wedding was being held.  Thus the downward spiral starts.  Continue reading →