Found them!

We got a message today from Akino's mum. Her sisters and all the cousins have been located. The house has been destroyed and that will make things a little difficult for a while, but everybody is well and in good spirits.

I'll let you know more as we hear.

Earthquake in Japan - Update

A couple of days ago we heard from one of Akino's cousins. He was away from home when the tsunami struck. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to get in touch with the family either, so at this stage they are still listed as missing.

Obviously I have been watching the news from Japan with great interest. There are around 500,000 people in evacuation centres and refuge camps at present and yesterday it began to snow. There are probably in excess of 10,000 people dead. Despite this, all the news seems to be centred on a nuclear reactor that so far has harmed perhaps 2 people (there are 2 maintenance workers missing).

I've spoken to a number of people in Tokyo over the past few days. It appears that the situation there is very difficult. Everyday items such as rice, toilet paper, eggs, milk and so on are difficult to obtain. Bottled water sells out as soon as it gets to the shelves. Many of the expats that I know in Tokyo have already left. Some of the Japanese that are there have left also, mainly for Osaka. The French government issues travel advice several days ago advising French nationals to leave Tokyo and yesterday the Australian government did the same.

If any of the readers are in Japan, please post a comment with your thoughts or impressions.

Earthquake in Japan

Thank you to all the folks that have asked after Akino's family in Japan. I can tell you that we have heard from all the immediate family (mum, dad and Shun) and they are all fine. Tokyo is quite chaotic at present and many of the supermarkets and shops have run out or are running low on food, but I have no doubt it will all be sorted in a few days.

There are members of the wider family that we are not sure about. There is an Aunty that lives in Kamaishi and another that lives in Aomori. We have not been able to contact either of them, but goth areas have been quite badly affected. Communications are very bad and it will likely be a few days before we hear more about it.

For those of you that know Eddy (Hideo), I can tell you that he is safe and well although he had a bit of fun getting home. At the time the earthquake hit, he was driving back to his office in Yokohama from a customer visit in Kawasaki. It's usually about 20-30 minutes drive. He left Kawasaki at 16:00 and arrived at his office at a little before 4:00am!! Of course there were no trains to get home to Saitama, so he spent the night at the office and eventually got home late on Saturday.

If I hear any more, I'll be sure to let you know.