Earthquake

I didn't expect to be posting again on this blog any time soon. But then, I didn't expect a massive earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in northern Japan either. So many people I'd lost touch with have been contacting me, some after nearly 20 years, to offer their condolences and ask if we're all right. Yes, we are completely safe, and life here is going on almost as normal.

Osaka barely felt the quake, except for people on the top floors of tall buildings. I was in the car and didn't feel it at all. It was a huge shock to hear what was happening in the northeast of the country, and see the devastating images on TV. That first day, I think everyone in Japan who still had electricity was glued to the screen. It was unbearable to watch, but impossible to turn off. So many lives lost, so many communities demolished, so many people left with nothing but the clothes on their backs, congregating in schools and community centers without food, water, electricity, gas, or medical help. So many vulnerable people - especially the elderly, who form a disproportionately high percentage of the population in the rural areas that have been worst hit. So much to do, to try and get even the absolute basics to them amid shattered infrastructure and freezing weather.

Then came the first news the next afternoon that the Fukushima Daiichi reactor might be going into meltdown. And suddenly that became the only story for a large segment of the foreign media.

I can't write about all the sensationalized reporting that has resulted without getting angry, so all I'll do here is give a link to the Journalist Wall of Shame [UPDATE: link now fixed] project, where people who actually know the situation on the ground are posting particularly egregious examples.

Fortunately, after the initial shock Mum and Dad have been real troopers. Especially after hearing stories from other people who have to spend hours over Skype each day rejustifying their decision to stay in Japan to their frantic families, who are convinced from overseas reporting that Tokyo will soon be (or is already!) a radioactive ghost town, I'm very grateful for their support and trust.

Yes, the situation at the reactors is extremely bad. Yes, if it isn't brought under control it could result in serious radioactive contamination of the immediate area, and possibly over a wider region if the current efforts to replenish the water in the spent fuel pools fail (and as an aside, who on earth had the bright idea of storing highly dangerous radioactive fuel rods with no containment other than a flimsy roof? In an earthquake zone? Which is also vulnerable to tsunamis?). It's dramatic, and terrifying. But there's nothing whatsoever you, I, or the other hundreds of millions of people watching the TV, reading the paper, or surfing the Web can do about it at this point. There will be a time for debating nuclear energy policy, and whether a supposedly one in a million possibility of a catastrophic accident (Tokyo Electric Power's estimate before the quake) is an acceptable level of risk given the potentially horrendous consequences. But at this moment, that won't have any positive effect on the situation on the ground.

However, there are things we can do right now to help the half a million people who are eking out their existence in evacuation centers. Giving to the relief funds that are delivering basic supplies will actually save lives in the next few days. If you're reading this and you haven't already made a donation, please consider supporting one or more of the organizations actively helping get necessities to the evacuees. I am supporting Second Harvest Japan, as I know the director and several board members personally from when I worked in Tokyo, and can be confident any money or goods sent to them will have an immediate impact. Other ways of donating from different countries can be found in the link at the bottom of this post, taken from The Tokyo Post.

Kentaro is also safe and well in Shizuoka, although he felt the earthquake rather more strongly than we did. The only effect on him so far is that his hospital is having to curtail non-essential surgeries, due to a lack of some medical supplies that were being manufactured in quake-affected areas.

And the boys are thriving. At the moment Kei is off on a three-day soccer camp over the long weekend, and Dan is practicing hard for his next piano recital in May. Being older, Kei is more aware of the earthquake and its aftermath than Dan, but I'm grateful that neither seems to be badly affected by seeing the pictures on the news.

I'll try and keep posting updates for a while, now I'm back. In the meantime, here's that list of appeals.