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Post by James Fujita on Mar 11, 2011 14:27:21 GMT -8
First of all, the Fujita family in Aoyama, Tokyo, is safe and doing okay. I got an e-mail late last night, just a little bit after the earthquake struck northern Japan. The news today has been interesting. The Tokyo subway system was stopped for six hours after the quake. Reports of giant taxi lines show how incredibly dependent the city is on its trains and subway systems. Still, the shut-down seems to be mostly due to power outages, precautions and concerns about the nuclear power plants. Fortunately, the plants seem to be safe, and most trains are up and running again. The bullet train also stopped. Quite a bit of news from Australia as some Australian lawmakers were stuck on the bullet train for several hours. When Japan shut down the nuclear plants, that affected the Shinkansen as well. There are also reports that a train or trains were "unaccounted for" or missing (depending on Fox or CNN, how recent the report is) in Miyagi Prefecture where the tsunami struck. Since the tsunami reportedly washed away "everything in its path" as the cliche goes, one might suppose that trains wouldn't stand up, either...  [EDIT: I apologize if some of these links don't work; news updates move quickly and older releases may be removed... ] Still, Japan is a resilient country. If any nation can withstand an earthquake, even an earthquake of magnitude 8.9, it is Japan. There's a Japanese saying "shikata ga nai" meaning "it can't be helped." It demonstrates Japanese stoicism in the face of problems and disaster. While the previous 12 hours can't have been easy, especially for the northern areas, I'm hopeful that Japan can pick itself up and dust itself off and continue onwards. |
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Post by tonyw79sfv on Mar 11, 2011 21:33:35 GMT -8
My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Japan. Despite the casualties, Japan, like Chile, is one of the most prepared countries for such disasters; however, nature is just so powerful, we can't do much to stop its natural processes. I was watching KTLA yesterday when they broke into the news rebroadcasting CNN World, which in turn was rebroadcasting NHK World, and one of the most awe inspiring things I ever saw was live newscopter shots of the sea encroaching Miyagi prefecture. I heard about the Shinkansens being stopped as is the Tokyo Subway, even 230 miles away. The very nuclear power plants that provide power to such complex transportation infrastructure are in danger. YouTube has setup a page called CitizenTube, collecting all the powerful images of the last day. One of interest is to our community is a shot of the JR trains swaying from the quake; I'm not aware of the station, maybe James you can identify. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8RaNF-ag8 (video is 1080p HD) |
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Post by James Fujita on Mar 11, 2011 23:54:12 GMT -8
I didn't immediately recognize the station (福島), but I did recognize the kanji 島, shima. As a Japanese-American rail transit fan, I also recognized the kanji for station: 駅 (eki). Eki is a great kanji to learn  (I hope these kanji will show up on your computers.) So I used a little Google trick, and cut and paste all of the kanji into Google... and it is Fukushima Station. Fukushima is a prefecture of Japan a bit further north (closer to the epicenter) than Tokyo. I believe that is also where the power plant they are worried about is located. EDIT: The YouTube videos are interesting to watch. Amateur videos can tell more than TV news. It looks like a nerve-wracking situation, and yet people are not panicking (for the most part). Another good video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCAhnEgOagk&feature=channel_video_title, which shows people at JR Kannai Station in Yokohama, waiting for the earthquake to pass, and leaving in a mostly orderly fashion. I could be wrong, but some of the people look like they reflexively "tap" their Suica cards at the gate, which appear to be in emergency exit "always open" mode. |
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Post by trackman on Mar 12, 2011 9:21:56 GMT -8
Watched it.
I didn't see any tapping going on. I did see folks grab for something stable... which is an instinctive trait that, if not already known, it is certainly learned by tain riders.
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Post by James Fujita on Mar 12, 2011 12:39:59 GMT -8
*shrug* there was a sound effect there right when the one woman passed through which made me think of it. that and the Suica vending machine anyways, what I thought was most important, most interesting about this video was it demonstrates how to react in these situations. there are station employees telling people "head this way, please" and so forth, but in this video and others, you get the sense that people know what they are supposed to do. it's very encouraging and I can only hope Los Angeles reacts as well when our San Andreas or Newport-Inglewood moment comes. = in other quake-related news, I got an update from the family. one of my cousins bicycled home from work after the quake and another walked from his job in Ueno Park to Aoyama Itchome. I'm not sure of the exact distance, but looking at Google Maps, I'd guess it's about four miles or so. it took him two hours. apparently, by the time he got home the Ginza Line (which is how you would normally get there) was back up and running. he wasn't too happy but my uncle suggested that it was good exercise! ;D |
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Post by James Fujita on Mar 13, 2011 1:34:36 GMT -8
Incidentally, I've been to Sendai before, back when the Tohoku Shinkansen first opened.
The trains looked just like the original bullet-nosed bullet trains, except they had a green instead of a blue stripe.
I don't remember exactly what our family did when we got there. We pretty much went up there and came back, but I think we might have stayed overnight. I think there was a museum up there.
But I do remember what our reaction to the place was. it was pretty much "this is it? where is this?"
I feel bad for still thinking that now.
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 14, 2011 7:33:46 GMT -8
It is amazing how calmly most people at that station reacted to the quake, especially the station agents. in other quake-related news, I got an update from the family. one of my cousins bicycled home from work after the quake and another walked from his job in Ueno Park to Aoyama Itchome. I'm not sure of the exact distance, but looking at Google Maps, I'd guess it's about four miles or so. it took him two hours. Best wishes to your family. These examples point to an often-overlooked benefit of smart land use policy. When you locate jobs near where people live, or at least have mass-transit corridors between jobs and residences, then in an emergency people can get home relatively quickly. Conversely, when everybody travels great distances on the freeway to get to work, a disaster can be greatly multiplied. I currently work 32 miles from home (Monrovia, living in Long Beach), with no direct transit route. Walking that would take me a full day. My best hope would be to walk to Pasadena and take the Gold Line: Sierra Madre Villa station is 5.2 miles away from my work. |
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Post by James Fujita on Mar 14, 2011 13:55:48 GMT -8
Thank you for that, MetroCenter.
Over the last few days I've gotten messages from people at work, people in my anime club and of course people on the various transit boards I frequent saying that they were glad my family is okay. It's been an odd feeling weekend, but I really appreciate the sentiment.
I figure telling what I know or what I've heard is good to reduce the anguish of both the listener and the person telling it. At least, I hope so.
One interesting update I recently received from the family is that apparently Aoyama has not been affected by the rolling blackouts which have been mandated across Tokyo.
These blackouts are the main reason why Tokyo Metro, JR, etc. haven't been able to get back up to full service in Tokyo. With so many electric rail lines in the city, they just haven't had the power to run them as often as they normally would....
While disasters are never a good thing, I do remember that the Northridge earthquake really helped push Metrolink forward (the whole Antelope Valley Line, for example).
This disaster could bring forth a conversation on nuclear, wind and solar power.... the tracks and tunnels would seem to be more stable than their power source.
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Post by James Fujita on Mar 15, 2011 17:26:49 GMT -8
Tokyo Transit news from my Uncle Jiro: * Tokyo subways at 70 percent of normal, but suburbs running as low as 20 percent. * Bicycle shops are running out of bicycles * the family car, a Honda Fit, is fully gassed-up just in case * he says food shortages are due to traffic problems; delivery trucks can't get through. He notes that people can get food, although: "I am wondering why many house wives rush to buy such foods." He also thanks the United Nations and other rescue groups who are up north helping people there. = In other news, here's a news item from the Web: Nippon Sharyo says the earthquake won't affect their deliveries to Taipei |
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