A letter from a friend in my town:

* * *

From my cousin in Sendai, Japan where she has lived for the past decade teaching English.

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends, 

First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to  have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even  more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend’s home. We share  supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs  and buckets.

Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in  lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an  earthquake strikes. People keep saying, “Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.”

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens  are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for  half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. 

But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not.  No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much  more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of  non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some  places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun.

People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scatteredwith stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled.

The mountains of Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea fromwhom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic,  no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others.  Last night my friend’s husband came in from the  country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world  right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I  felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,

best explanation I've found about the nuclear threat yet
sounds to me like the quake either damaged the pools or sloshed the water out of them. Either way, it's going to be damn hard to get this under control and it seems like a much more serious threat than a core meltdown which is contained.

BTW despite this horror scenario unfolding before our eyes it unfortunately pales before the damage already caused by the tsunami and the threat of a major (M8) aftershock which is more than likely.

 arighter2 wrote: 
oh, that's just fucking great.

 oldslabsides wrote:  Energy Secretary Steven Chu's assertion that US Nuclear Power is safe is laughable. The Diablo Canyon plant in California is less than a mile from an offshore fault line and has no safety plan for earthquakes. The NRC won a court battle saying it wasn't needed: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/california-nuclear-emergency-response_n_836751.html

 oldslabsides wrote: 
My sister got tired of me emailing her questions. I don't remember specifically addressing this to you, my jittery friend.

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
Refresh your browser and ZOOM WAY IN

 BlueHeronDruid wrote: 
so you're telling me about it, why?

A good site, but not for the anxiety prone. Be sure to refresh your browser to get the latest updates.

So, assuming the reactors that are involved melt down - and it's looking like they're gonna - how big an area of Japan is going to be uninhabitable for a few hundred thousand years?

To donna_birichina and hippiechick:

There's a new Miyazaki animated movie out now in Japan based on the classic children's story "The Borrowers" (Japanese title "Karigurashi no Arrietty"), which I've seen and highly recommend.

No need to wait for an English translation if you're in Japan; you might as well use your limited chance to see the movie now on the big screen, for which there's no substitute for a Miyazaki movie, and get the DVD later in English if you like. 

Also, when in Japan, in the Mitaka area of Tokyo don't miss the Ghibli Museum, which highlights Miyazaki's life works with Studio Ghibli.

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

Have fun!

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
You won't be disappointed. I promise!

 donna_birichina wrote: 

thanks- I popped it in my amazon basket for my next order.

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
Oh, it's a great movie! Just the right amount of danger and scariness for my little ones, with great messages (I can't believe I just typed that....) and really good English voice work by Emily Mortimer and Christian Bale. We watch more often than we probably should. One of the few things my boy (3) and my girl (6) can agree on.

 donna_birichina wrote: 

I didn't know they'd made a film about the moving castle.  My kids might enjoy that.  I have the book but it'll be a couple of years before junior is ready to read it.

 Lazy8 wrote: 
We're in no hurry, and we're willing to pay someone back for whatever they can find. Right now, our favorites are Ponyo and Totoro, although Sophie and Howl (and his moving castle) are family favorites as well.  PM coming!

 Lazy8 wrote: 
Maybe they could be "pen pals"?

 donna_birichina wrote:
My daughter is an anime fanatic and will be heading to Japan late this year for a study abroad gig. If you can wait a while I'm sure she could uncover anything there is to find.

She has friends in Japan too, so if there is something in particular you're looking for let me know.

I know this is a long shot, but it's worth a try....
My daughter is newly obsessed with the movies of Hayao Miyazaki. Some quick googling, and my own limited understanding of Japanese pop culture/marketing, tells me that there is a ton of kitch available related to his movies. (Keychains? Figurines? Rice bowls? It's gotta be there....)

What are the odds that there is an RPeep in Japan who would like to do some mail swapping: cool Miyazaki stuff in exchange for something (what in the world would it be?) that you can't get there?

Pornographic movie actor Shigeo Tokuda poses during the shooting of his latest film in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, April 13, 2009. With its rapidly aging population and long life expectancy, 75-year-old Shigeo Tokuda has become a popular figure in the country's porn industry. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 

Pornographic movie actor Shigeo Tokuda (L) performs with actress Yuri Kuroda during the shooting of his latest film in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, April 13, 2009. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

 

I think the American youth culture might find it difficult to accept a 75-year-old porn star, especially when seen in action.