Going back to my Tokyo Japan Life
I just arrived back in Tokyo after my annual vacation. My favorite city greeted me with a magnitude 5.0 quake minutes after landing. Some of the other newly arrived passengers immediately started searching for the next flight back; but not me. I still think this is the safest city in the world, and certainly the most civilized.
Read here: Leaving my Tokyo Japan Life
There have been a lot of changes here due to the quake; power outages, shortages of certain items in the stores, and transportation difficulties. In my late night walks, I noted with sadness where once the city gleamed like a bucket of jewels, there is now dimness in the streets.
In an effort to save power, many of the city’s fabled sections have chosen to go dim to contribute to the welfare of the rest of the country. The subway stations now use one-half to one-third the numbers of lights as before, the neon illuminated advertising signs are now turned off, and the escalators are mostly running in the “UP” direction. We have been notified of “Rolling Blackouts” which are used to ration the amount of power consumed.
To my great good fortune, I live in one of the few areas of the city that hasn’t experienced the blackouts yet. My apartment was fresh and clean and the refrigerator had continued to run during my vacation. I visited the store yesterday and most items had been restocked. The notable missing items are fresh fruits and vegetables. Many restaurants are closed, either due to not being able to keep supplies on hand or power problems. However, there is still no shortage of places to eat and the prices have remained stable. The most notable shortage is of bottled water. Many believe that the water is not safe; even though every test shows no problems.
Luckily, the Tokyo Japan Life (TJL) team was already in the habit of avoiding the drinking of water. Supplies of beer and wine appear to be holding up to our increased demand. This crisis has only increased my admiration of the Japanese people. I am certain that Tokyo will re-emerge as the city of the future in all of her “Blade Runner” glory very soon.
I’m glad that Tokyo or Japan is already coping up with the accident that happened. I’m optimistic that they will be a strong and lively city again sooner. I sure will visit this place one day when everything is alright already.