You all know it. Japan suffered yesterday an impressive earthquake. This disaster has been transmitted almost live to the whole globe. We all have seen the damages in one of the richest countries in the World, and have felt once more how indefense and small we are when comparing to the nature.
Somehow, the devastating earthquake in Haiti impressed us, but did not scare those in the “First World” in the same way as this one. Haiti is a poor country (now even poorer) and it was “normal” that the damages of an earthquake were that great… but Japan? Japan is a rich country, and used to prevent earthquakes. They are famous for their seismic technology. And still, we are hearing of hundreds of fatalities and material damages in millions, nuclear power plants struggling to keep radiation under control…
Furthermore, those who have lived in Japan for some time in their lives are puzzled. When we hear these news, see the images, and read the stories in Internet from people we have met there or from the journalists, we can only wonder “What if I had been there?”.
In fact, that was part of the conversation with my mother yesterday. I told her she would have immediately known that I was alright, because I read tweets from Tokyo minutes after the earthquake took place… So, communication was possible in Tokyo. A different story would have been if the epicenter had been nearer to Tokyo area, though.
In fact, I was not specially scared during my stay in Tokyo. Maybe it helped that I only felt one earthquake while working on a 14th floor, and that before I realized what was going on, it stopped. Another relative big earthquake I heard about caught me deeply sleeping in the first floor of a new building (supposed to be prepared for big earthquakes) and did not notice it.
Anyway, the Japanese were really worried about this possibility.
When you registered in the local government, you got the “Disaster Survival Manual”, a book with complete instructions on what to do in case of earthquake and floods. Now, I consider I took too many risks. I did not read it as careful as I should, and did not find out where the evacuation area was. I did not follow the recommendations of having some food and water stored at home. I expected that if such a major disaster took place, I would either directly die, or be able to follow the well prepared Japanese to the meeting point and be taken care.
Also, in my office, when you were not a temporary worker, you got a disaster surviving kit. This kit consisted of a helmet, a lamp, and something else I do not recall. They were thinking of course in the Great Tokai, the big earthquake which was already 10 years late to its appointment with history, and which finally came yesterday. I was not afraid of not having such a kit for me (but I knew where my colleagues’ were, just in case).
One day I met the Risk Manager during a coffee break. He was in charge of being able to restore operations in case of such a disaster. In this case, he was not only duplicating the information systems as in many other companies. He was also responsible of having a clear view of who was able to cover someone else…
Having seen all this and the images of the tsunami originated in Senpai… I think it would have been a matter of luck to survive such an event originated in Tokyo Bay… and of money: new buildings in Japan were more expensive to live in because of the lower probability of collapse. But if it was in the afternoon, it would all have depended on where you were. If you were in an old building, near it or in the street, your chances were low. If you were in a new skyscraper working… lucky you.
In summary, these situations make me feel small, and even though technology and investment may help in minimizing the personal damages, it is absolutely impossible to be completely safe. Unfortunately.
Recently I got an email with a link to this website, with lots of posters which used to be in the metropolitan trains in Tokyo. Some of them are very Japanese, but some others could perfectly be applied to any other country.
My favourite ones are as follows (clic on the images to enlarge them):
Finally, after 5 days, I have recovered some kind of rhythm (even though I am on vacation) and I can start updating the blog again. 🙂
The flight went a bit better than I expected. My stomach recovered just on time, and I did not need to visit the lavatories too often. I enjoyed a couple of movies (Vicky Cristina Barcelona and the classic Shrek), some short series, I read a complete The Economist, and played some Sudoku and other games in the on-board entertaining system. By the way, I flew with Swissair this time and it was the best for this so far. Movies on demand, lots of games (you could even play Tetris against other people in the plane!), and lots of music CDs in it.
I sat next to a german guy, who after drinking one Campari, one bottle of wine, four beers and being disappointed for the lack of sake, opened up his laptop and started working. I do not know how he could do anything at all… but I guess it is still a good thing not to have Internet during the flights… Otherwise, companies should start considering implementing by default a feature like this one in Gmail to prevent people from sending e-mails, not being completely aware of what they are doing.
Since I landed in Spain, I have met a couple of friends, been to the office, and come to Alicante to enjoy a familiar weekend full of home dishes and lots of children (big family). I am also getting used to some of the differences between Japan and Spain. For example, my metro station is not prepared for people carrying (big) luggage, you need to be extra-careful with your belongings in public places (otherwise you get robbed) or how you are treated in the shops (this deserves a longer explanation in a separate post, I guess)…
I will be used to this in a few more days… (I hope)
The last weekend trip before leaving Japan was Hakone. Hakone is quite close to Tokyo, and it is a quite typical place for a weekend trip from Tokyo to enjoy the onsen on there, and get some fresh air. Of course, do not try to go there in autumn with the red leaves, unless you want to feel the crowd, and pay a lot for the accomodation.
The first thing you need here is the Hakone Freepass, which is basically a transport pass for the weekend for just 5000 yen, including the train (1 hour) from Tokyo. Quite cheap, especially when you realize of how it is organized everything there… Basically, you take a tour around the whole area (mountains and a lake) using different means of transport (train, bus, cablecar, ropeway and boat) so synchronized that you do not need to walk not even 100 metres in each connection… And people just love it.
I think by now you have discovered I did not really like it. I liked onsen (I always do), and I found quite interesting to see the smoky mountains and the sulfuric waters boiling in the ponds, due to the volcanic activity, as I had never been in a volcanic area before.
The lake was also a nice place, and the temples, the boat, and the cloudy-sunny day, also provided some nice shots…
… but it was not really a must from my point of view, apart from the although it is really popular due to its short distance to Tokyo… and probably due to the valuable black eggs, boilt in the hot ponds, which they say, give 7 years of longevity (I guess this is extra time) per unit… I got my 7 extra years, just in case. 😉
A bit of Japan among the posts about the trip to China. This is the famous Shibuya Crossing. Shibuya is one of the centers of Tokyo, and is a very common place to meet, as there are lots of restaurants, shops, and pubs and discos in that area. But one thing it is quite famous for is its crossing. There are 5 streets with heavy traffic getting to this point, and a lot of human traffic around. One of the particularities, is that the green light for the pedestrians is for all directions. So, all cars stop, and for a few seconds the street is for the people…
Another main characteristic of this place is the huge screens and all the advertisements surrounding this area. The screens have not also advertisements, but also some music clips.
And I wrote a few lines before, this was a common place to meet, and at least for me it is the case. There is a specific point in the square, where all kind of people gather. It is called Hachiko and it is a dog which everyday waited for his owner in front of his office, and after the death of him, remained going there everyday until it died after a couple of years.
That is the story (it can be improved, but this is not my point). My point is that it is such a common place to gather, that it is not strange to meet people you know there, which is especially surprising if we remember we are talking about one of the biggest cities in the world.