To the Land of Light and Back to Darkness Again

No energy crisis in Las Vegas. ( Green Valley Ranch Hotel foyer )

I’m back from three days in Las Vegas, where the lights are on twenty-four-hours a day, the air is fresh and clean, and folks seem to know very little about the situation in Japan. On my first  day there, I had commented, “It’s so bright here! Tokyo is dark these days..”  My friend’s response was, “Why?”, but it was hard to give a succinct reply.  I was in town for a wedding, and was reluctant  to spoil the mood. So instead of elaborating, I decided to drop the subject altogether and  throw myself into the wedding preparations, meeting a myriad of new people (I had flown in from Japan knowing only the bride, her sister, and her younger brother. I also came without a date, so was determined to be sociable and make friends as I went along. All this was much easier than imagined) , and celebrating whole-heartedly along with everyone else. When asked, “Where are you from?”  I’d say, “Japan.”  Only a few folks asked, “Wow….is everything okay there?”  The rest of the folks simply thanked me for coming such a long distance, and we’d move on to other topics. Weddings are no place to discuss death, destruction, debris or deep debt, and I respected that unwritten rule for the extent of my stay. Back in the hotel in the evenings, I opened up facebook rather than turning on the TV, and the only newspaper I saw was local…..the Friday headline was a story of two cops busted for using the patrol car to go sightseeing outside their district while on-duty. So thoughts of Tohoku were duly subjugated and not allowed to surface for a while as I  shopped, ate out, tried the casinos, and got manicured, pedicured, washed and styled for the wedding. For the record, it truly was the best wedding ever, and I’ve no regrets about taking a break from all those “d-words”.

The extended vacation lasted until I arrived back in Narita on Sunday. The return flight had been packed full of cheery young people–employees of a Japanese home furnishings chain store called “Nitori”….seven hundred of them had been abroad touring American style malls and super-stores (they were particularly impressed with Walmart), and were on their way back to report their “findings”. They were fairly fluent in English, had been sight-seeing and shopping as well as “working”, and were in high spirits. No glum faces or mask-wearers among them, so the festive mood continued throughout the flight. The only reminder that we were returning to the darkness and tension of Japan was the passing of a “collection bag” during the flight, for the victims of the quake and tsunami. In twenty-five years of frequent flying I’ve never been asked to donate to anything, and I dumped in a liberal amount of change, both yen and American coins.

Landing in Narita, the mood was instantly subdued…and overly warm. I won’t say “hot” YET….as I know it’ll get much worse than this. The airport is (for those of us with already dubious eyesight) uncomfortably dim, uncomfortably warm, and far too quiet and orderly. “It’s been quiet since the quake,” said the attendant who checked my baggage on the flight out. On the train ride home, I whipped out my iPhone and began catching up on the past week’s events via my favorite on-line newspapers and Twitter. No major events–not politically correct to say “earth-shaking events” here– or changes; instead, signs of progress here and there, and discussions of further obstacles to be overcome.  New findings on what actually happened at the Fukushima plant during the week of the quake continue to surface (in bits and pieces) as the situation is analyzed, critiqued, and slowly made public. The government continues to tread water rather than achieving a steady crawl stroke, and ordinary folks from Hokkaido to Kyuushuu express anger, frustration, and disgust with the status quo. I’ll try to give a brief update on some of the news highlights, whether positive, negative, or simply human interest with no judgement implied.

Nearly 90,000 Tohoku residents are still in shelters. The rainy season is in full swing, and the basements of the Fukushima reactors are still in danger of overflowing; by the end of June, all the storage areas of the nuclear plant will be completely full of radioactive water. The new plan is now to “de-contaminate” the water, and recycle it to continue cooling the reactors. Surrounding areas are still dealing with (or rather, stymied by) the issue of radioactive sludge; there are no guidelines in place to follow, so the sludge blocks continue to pile up as local officials discuss what on earth to do with the stuff. We see it on the news nightly.

We also get a new addition to the nightly news these days: a prediction of how much of the country’s available energy supply will be used the following day, based on the weather forecast. Like the iPhone battery image showing how much juice is left, we see “the country’s battery” on the TV screen.  High temperatures predicted for the following day mean very little juice left over, since air conditioning will be in used heavily in public spaces and in homes. The screen also predicts peak hours of energy use, and viewers are urged to plan their energy use accordingly. The goal is for each household to reduce energy consumption by at least 15% this summer, and to use a minimum of energy during peak hours. Businessmen are already working early-morning shifts to take advantage of the cool morning air, and some businesses will shut down entirely during the hottest weeks in August.

This week, according to NHK’s “national energy reserve battery” indicator, we’ve been using 80% of the nation’s available electricity. This is quite alarming, since the days have been cool and rainy, and no-one is yet using air conditioners in their homes. I dread the advent of July, when the daily battle will begin: to give in to the coolers, or to sweat it out. Unless we are very, very careful, it looks like we may–for the first time–have no choice. Since only 14 out of 54 of Japan’s nuclear power plants are actually functioning at this time (the remainder have either been damaged by the quake and tsunami, or are temporarily shut down for safety inspections), it does not seem possible that the nation’s energy demand will be met. More rolling blackouts seem unavoidable, even with people using resources sparingly and public spaces dark and warm.

I dread the advent of July and August, but the shut-down of most of the nation’s nuclear plants can only be seen as a good thing, and long overdue. It happened nation-wide, in a chain reaction, after Prime Minister Kan “requested” the shut-down of the Hamaoka plant, situated directly atop a dangerous fault. Suddenly, local government officials across the country decided to follow suit, shutting down their own nuclear operations until new safety standards can be agreed upon, and until the plants have passed strict inspections.  The Japanese public is okay with this. More than okay, according to TV and newspaper polls, which show steadily waning support for nuclear energy, and an increasing willingness to explore alternatives. This past Saturday, the 11th, was marked by anti-nuclear protests in 140 different sites across Japan, including a large-scale march (20,000 people) in Shinjuku. It’s all peaceful and orderly, of course, but still highly emotional . In Koriyama ( a central city in Fukushima Prefecture), 200 protesters marched, bearing signs reading, “Return our Hometowns!”. One woman’s surgical mask read, “I can hardly take a deep breath.”

Yasuteru Yamada of the "Suicide Corps" (photo by Choi Seungdo, Asahi Shinbun)

And speaking of protests and protestors….this week’s Asahi Shinbum announced that the government is seriously considering the offer of the “Suicide Corps”, a group of elderly men who have volunteered to step in and work long hours cleaning up the Fukushima reactors. Their leader,  Yasuteru Yamada, was also a leader of the 1960 student movements at Tokyo University–a former hippie/activist who now wants to save the country for future generations, rather than leaving them with a “negative legacy”.  He and his group of volunteers range in age from late 60’s to 82;  having already led long and productive lives, they are unafraid of the risks of radiation exposure, and propose to work for longer stretches of time than the younger workers currently tackling work on a rotating schedule of short shifts. The older men have a sense of mission, and have finally been acknowledged by Japan’s trade minister Banri Kaieda , who told Yamada, “We want to make preparations so that you can work on the site before your enthusiasm burns out.” Yamada and his group have not yet set foot inside the Fukushima plant, but they’re already on the fast track toward becoming big-time heros.

The Prime Minister, however, can’t seem to make anyone happy. Surviving a no-confidence vote last week, he then used to occasion to announce his intention to resign…..sometime. Sometime? Yes, that’s right. The opposition party is furious, and want him out immediately. His own party is befuddled, not knowing how to respond when asked exactly when “sometime” might be (he has revealed nothing, even to his own party), and shelter victims in Tohoku are, according to NHK polls, upset and “disgusted” with the situation. Personally, I was ready to wash my hands of him for good and start praying for a miracle (there are no other popular or capable candidates), when tonight’s news set me wondering.  “The Prime Minister is full of energy and spirit!” announced the NHK translator, “..and shows no signs of stepping down soon.” A grinning (literally, grinning) Kan was seen laughing into the camera, proclaiming, “You must be tired of seeing my face! Really! Are you really? Do you hate seeing my face?”  The reporter went on to say that Kan is now in league with the billionaire Korean owner of Softbank, Masayoshi Son, and the two have great plans for a natural energy bill. According to tonight’s report (the reports change on a daily basis), Kan has no intention of leaving office until his dream bill is successfully passed, and the future of natural energy in Japan is secured. He is literally laughing in the face of opposition (either that, or he’s lost his sanity completely. I must say, he looked almost unhinged as he cackled into the microphone). WELL. This is a new development, and I can’t write the Prime Minister off just yet. Anything could happen from here on in, and I want a front row seat. There’s more to tell, but I need my beauty sleep. More to come next week, and thank you again for reading.

Jaw-Dropping News, and Praise for Mickey

Stranded visitors at  Tokyo Disneyland

When Wednesday’s International Herald Tribune front page declared, “Disaster Overturns Japan’s Nuclear Program!” , my jaw dropped in wonder and surprise. I had not expected so much so fast, especially when the news thus far had been couched in polite and indefinite terminology. The English language newspapers had earlier reported that Prime Minister Naoto Kan had “requested” that operations be suspended at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant (in Shizuoka prefecture, where experts predict a 90 percent chance of a major quake of around magnitude 8 within the next thirty years) , and that the Chubu Electric Power Company was “considering” the request. Yet in spite of the verb choice “requested” rather than “ordered”, news reports seemed to take Kan’s words seriously, and were giving them a lot of press attention. Then….low and behold, the Wednesday headline, and an announcement that the Chubu Electric Power Company (known as CEPCO) had “agreed” to Kan’s “request” , and would begin preparations to decommission two reactors and suspend operations at the remaining three, despite an anticipated deficit between supply and demand during the summer months. “Although it is a request, it carries the weight close to an order,” was the English translation of a senior official at CEPCO, who probably had more to say, but restrained himself admirably.

Follow-up articles added more details, describing the CEPCO officials as “scratching their heads and rolling their eyes” as they reluctantly considered Kan’s “request with the weight close to an order”.  After all,  the Prime Minister and his predecessors had been in their camp for decades, and despite the horrific damages (the extent of which will not be known in full for years to come), apparently CEPCO assumed that the Hamaoka plant would continue to retain its “protected status” for years to come. As Martin Fackler of the Asahi Shinbun reports, ” While the plant has faced years of lawsuits seeking its suspension because of its precarious location, compliant courts have consistently ruled in the industry’s favor. ”  Katsuhiko Ishibashi, a seismologist and nuclear safety expert at Kobe University, recently stated that nuclear power plants have long been treated as  “sacred territory”, supported and protected by the cooperative efforts of the government, the industry itself, and its regulators. Prime Minister Kan’s “abrupt” (in CEPCO officials’ words) request came as a slap in the face to an industry which has long been “entrenched and coddled” ( Martin Fackler’s words) by the government up until the very day of the quake.

And then, as CEPCO officials had feared, came the Domino Effect: yesterday’s paper (only three days later) reported that “Municipalities in Japan that are home to nuclear power plants are now so nervous about potential accidents that 42 of the 54 reactors in the country could be offline during the peak electricity demand period this sumer.” (Asahi Shinbun).  Forty-two out of fifty-four?!  And the process is beginning already: Fukui prefecture, with 13 nuclear plants, has already suspended operations at six while they are under inspection, and will halt three others in July.  Fourteen reactors across the country have been shut down for inspections this week, with six more scheduled for inspection in July; fifteen plants in the Tohoku area have already been shut down due to damages from the quake and tsunami. Local government officials from North to South, East to West,  are now expressing concerns about the safety of the nuclear power plants that they have lived in close proximity to for decades; the Prime Minister’s sudden decision to take a stand against the Hamaoka plant has been the catalyst for a chain reaction that has all the possibilities for a revolutionary new beginning.

It is important to note that the concept of a new beginning is only a “possibility” at present.  Japan’s eggs have all been in one basket up until this point, and as Micheal Austin, director of Japan studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington stated in Wednesday’s Herald Tribune, “The old way of doing things has broken down, but there is not yet a new way to take its place.” Japan is now universally wary of nuclear power, and has taken to first steps toward changing its energy policy, but the process of investigating, financing, and implementing a new major policy has not yet begun. Prime Minister Kan intends to “start from scratch”, which is both exciting and and terrifying (as is anything which carries the potential of large-scale failure).  The excitement is country-wide, as families follow the NHK nightly news , which has been extended since the quake, to focus specifically on the challenges faced by the Tohoku region.  This week’s special programming featured in-depth presentations of different sources of alternative energy: Thursday featured wind power in Denmark, and Friday featured geo-thermal power in New Zealand. I was astonished to learn that there is not a single nuclear reactor in the entire country of New Zealand, and also that Japan’s geo-thermal resources are ranked third in the world, yet are almost completely untapped!  Anti-nuclear protesters have been marching in Tokyo for the past two weekends (I must check Twitter, and see if they’re about today), and people are talking about solar panels and investigating the power of volcanic hot springs. Most exciting of all, while the government is strapped financially and TEPCO’s resources are being stretched to the breaking point, the wealthy entrepeneurs of Japan are stepping up to bat!  Whew!  About time!  Masayoshi Sun ( founder of Softbank, and officially the richest man in the country) has promised to donate $12 million to start a research foundation for renewable energy, stating that continued reliance on nuclear power would be, “…a sin against out children, grandchildren, and future generations.” Strong words,  but the country is ready to hear them. As Nassrine Azimi wrote in Wednesday’s NY Times editorial, “The Fukushima disaster has become an existential moment for Japan. None of its energy options are easy-but at least the country will face the challenge with the gravity it deserves.”

Lastly, a brief update on the situation in Fukushima, and a story from Tokyo’s Disneyland, which the government would do well to use as a model for future disaster preparedness programs.

The news this week from Fukushima prefecture was bleaker than ever. Residents from Kawauchi village (within the 20 kilometer radius of the evacuation zone) were allowed to return home for a two hour visit on Tuesday, leading to frustration and sadness, rather than relief.  Abandoned cows running wild had broken into sheds and caused havoc, household pets were dead, and residents- dressed in bulky white radiation protective gear equipped with walkie-talkies and dosimeters- scrambled to clean their houses, and to find items of clothing and photo albums before the time limit ran out and the bus left to return to the shelter where they have been setting up housekeeping.

The timeline for the shutdown of the reactors at Fukushima is being revised, after a chilling discovery that spent fuel rods have melted down and apparently burned a hole in the bottom of the Number One reactor, causing unknown amounts of radioactive water to leak…presumably into the ocean, though TEPCO claims to be “unclear” about where the water is actually going. It is likely that there are leaks in two other reactors as well, though the high radiation level makes it difficult for workers to check the site and make a proper assessment.

Students in the Shoyo Middle School, in Date City ( 60 kilometers northwest of the crippled power plant) attend class wearing masks, caps, and long sleeve shirts; a recent measure of the school’s radiation level revealed that “their exposure to radiation is on pace to equal annual limits for workers in the nuclear power industry” (Bloomberg News, Thursday).  Female faculty and students are banned from wearing skirts due to “radiation concerns”.  Elementary and Nursery Schools in Date are continuing to scrape off the top level of soil on their playgrounds, and covering it temporarily with plastic sheets.

TEPCO has unveiled a plan to eventually cover the entire crippled power plant with polyester sheeting, creating a giant “canopy” supported by steel beams to prevent further leakage of radiation. It will be an eyesore, and a shameful sight.

But now, let’s move South, to Tokyo’s Disneyland (which is actually located in Chiba prefecture, the southernmost coastal area to sustain major damage from the quake and tsunami).  In the days following March 11th, NHK viewers were horrified at the videos broadcast from the the wildly popular theme park, which showed the sidewalks cracking open and great yawning gulfs appearing before the eyes of terrified families. As they backed away in horror, water began gushing up through the cracks, and within hours, much of the park was flooded.  But that’s not the real story…

The real story is how the Disney staff responded to the disaster, and it’s one worth telling. According to my friend Junko (she is in the know about theme parks), Disney holds rotating disaster preparations drills every two days,  so that every area of the vast grounds is constantly reminded to stay alert and keep in practice.  Disney has always taken the potential for natural disaster seriously, and felt a deep responsibility toward its staggeringly high number of visitors; they proved their capability and efficiency on March 11th, and those who happened to be in Mickey’s Kingdom on that day will not forget the swift response and kindness of the Disney staff.

One of my English students, a fourth grader named Mayu, happened to be there. It was a school day, but her parents had taken her out of class for a day trip that was a family celebration for her older sister who had just gotten into the high school of her choice. When the quake hit, of course the smallest children panicked, and screams and cries rang out through the park as people struggled to keep their balance and take in what was happening.  Disney staff in the stores and shops remained calm, and rushed to comfort children as they took cover;  as the trembling subsided,  staff began emptying the shelves of stuffed animals and trinkets to help calm howling babies and mothers with jangled nerves. It had begun to rain, and raincoats were immediately given out free of charge to children. When the supply ran out, Hello Kitty gift bags were used, with holes cut out for the arms.  Visitors (over 30,000 at Disney Sea) were then rounded up into a safe, dry, central area, given food and “disposable heaters” to stay warm, and encouraged to remain within the park for their own safety. Near midnight, when trains began running again, visitors were allowed to leave, but many spent the night camped out on the grounds. Disney attendants cooked and served breakfast for them the next morning.  I asked Mayu, “Did you sleep at Disneyland? Did you stay at a hotel?”, but she wasn’t able to say, and I didn’t want to press the issue. “Well…it was like a hotel…” she said hesitantly, but did not want to talk further. The following day, Disney opened up its hotels for free, as did other area resorts, and kept them open that week for the use of local residents as well.  In the end, the Disney complex was able to report no deaths or significant injuries, and to know that years of disaster preparation training had paid off.  They prepared for the absolute worst, met disaster cooly and efficiently, and provided a model for the rest of the nation.  Mayu does not want to talk about her experience, and probably will not for some time.  I think of the fear she must have experienced, and breathe a sigh of relief that she and her family made it back to Hadano safe and sound.  Though I’ve never been a big Disney fan, and have not once visited Disneyland in all my years here, I may now be one of Mickey’s biggest fans. Nice going, Disney.

Empty hospitals, Stylish goods, Cosplayers protest, and More!

Empty hospitals??  That’s a good thing, right?  Not in Fukushima, it seems. Last night’s NHK news broadcast showed an elderly woman, critically ill and already unconscious, being turned away from the hospital in her own neighborhood. Although the  Minamisoma hospital  had  empty beds aplenty, the reason was a new government regulation preventing new patients from being admitted. The woman (only a brief glimpse of bare feet sticking out from a sheet) was rushed to a hospital in a nearby city, hopefully in time, as TV viewers wondered what on earth was happening.

The situation, as it turns out, is this: Minamisoma and other cities now prevented from admitting new patients are within the “Emergency Preparedness Zone”. This is the grey area just outside of the evacuation zone, where radiation levels register higher than normal, but not yet high enough to warrant a full-scale evacuation.  All residents within this zone must be prepared to evacuate at the drop of a hat should further troubles develop at the Fukushima Plant, and ill patients cannot be rushed out of the city without proper care and preparations. Thus the new regulation: medications may be distributed and health consultations are allowed, but no patient may actually be admitted for fear of an evacuation that may or may not occur. Naturally, hospitals in neighboring cities are now flooded with elderly patients (many unhappy to be far from their own neighborhoods), and doctors are up in arms, calling this a “humanitarian issue”. The regulation is particularly distressing to residents since it came from the central

Prepare for disaster with Hello Kitty!

government, without consultation with local officials or community members. City officials are justifiably frustrated and distressed, calling for greater co-operation between the central government and individual prefectures, and urging the Prime Minister and his officials to use “imagination and compassion” in their decision-making.

Meanwhile, back in Tokyo….people are preparing for the next big quake. Because it’s Tokyo, they are doing so with style. A blog called “Tokyo Trends” reports that Hello Kitty silver emergency bags (seen in the above photo) are now sold out in on-line shops. At 10,000 yen per bag (approximately a hundred dollars), that seems astonishing. The contents consist of a handkerchief, a “pouch”, a small blanket, an earthquake hood, an alarm buzzer, and the backpack itself. Considering that all of these items are easily found in the home of any elementary school student, I was amazed to know that anyone would pay that amount of money simply to have the Hello Kitty logo on their matching earthquake goods. Not to mention the impracticality of the contents!  No flashlight? No tinned biscuits? Not even a box of Hello Kitty band-aids? Oooo…kay….Let’s move on to the next item: the answer to unfashionable earthquake hoods and helmets.

The traditional earthquake hood looks rather like a couch cushion tied onto the head. In fact, they do double-duty as chair cushions in elementary school (where space is at a premium), as they can be easily removed and thrown onto the head in a matter of seconds. During the second world war, even adults wore these for safety, but these days it’s mostly children. Helmets are for adults. Yes, but who in the fashion-conscious heart of Tokyo wants to be seen in a helmet? Apparently, a Danish company called Yakkay has found the answer: a helmet, concealed by a dapper little overhat that somehow clips on and is interchangeable. “Japan Pulse” claims these hats are not only worn by cyclists in the city, but by train commuters as well!  Apparently not out my way, but I will be on the lookout from here on in.

And now for the protest!  It is nine o clock in the evening here, and my Twitter feed says that thousands marched through the streets of Tokyo today, protesting Japan’s continuing reliance on nuclear power. This was confirmed by the e-publication “Tokyo Times”, and I expect to see something in tomorrow’s Asahi Shinbun pages. Maybe. The tweets were unclear as to exactly how many people, but there was agreement that it was in the thousands….which is impressive to me, since I’ve never seen crowds that large here apart from fireworks festivals, and have never witnessed a single protest in twelve years. No farmers from Fukushima this time, and no cows, but plenty of “cosplayers” (young people dressed as their favorite Anime characters), chanting, “Genpatsu, yamerou!”, or “Stop Nuclear Power Plants!!” Someone had tweeted, “Old boy at the back annoying the cops,” so I guess there were older folks, too, and apparently plenty of police. Adept at organization, the police neatly divided the protesters into groups, watched for any signs of unruliness (there were none), and that was that. Everyone went home, and there was nothing more to tweet about.  Still, that’s pretty exciting stuff for Tokyo.

And now….back again to Fukushima Prefecture and the troubled reactors. Yesterday’s Asahi Shinbun reported that fewer workers are willing to brave the radiation risk inside the plant, and that former workers (who had worked under dangerous conditions shortly after the disaster on the 11th) are refusing to return to their jobs. According to the article, “..many workers have been begged by their families not to work at the plant again,” and no wonder. The “Fukushima 50”, who were lauded both at home and abroad, are probably among those who refuse to return, and who can blame them? They have paid their dues. As of this posting, there are 1,312 workers at the plant, most employed by sub-contractors hired by TEPCO. The reactors, they say, are still filled with “radioactive rubble” caused by hydrogen explosions, and daily exposure to excessive radiation is unavoidable. Suffering from hyperventilation and abnormal heartbeats caused by living with stress and fear on a daily basis, they are urged by colleagues to “keep quiet” within the earshot of their TEPCO employers. TEPCO officials, attempting to salvage the remains of their bedraggled reputations, are taking measures to improve the workers’  living environments by constructing temporary dorms and showers. I had to read that twice, as you probably did, too. No dorms or showers until this point??……

Other news, in a nutshell: operations at the Hamaoka Nuclear Plant (one of the topics of my last post) have been halted by the central government!  Suddenly and completely, and I was truly surprised, given the company’s determination to not only continue operations, but to re-start a reactor which had been closed for inspections. The shut-down is only temporary, to give the company time to construct a massive breakwater and take long-term precautions against future disasters, but still it’s a small victory, and a bit of breathing space.

The Prime Minister has also taken a firm stance against TEPCO, stating that full responsibility for clean-up and compensation rests with the company, rather than the government, and professing “no sympathy” for the universally reviled TEPCO officials.  TEPCO, while promising to do its utmost, still begs for mercy, crying, “Don’t break us!” In reality, the government will end up footing part of the bill, though how much, and by what means remains to be seen. In the meantime, farmers from Fukushima go uncompensated, and their future remains uncertain.

In a rather alarming short article found in the Tokyo Times, I learned that Red Cross Japan has been sitting on a huge amount of aid money, earmarked as “compensation” for Tohoku residents. I have been fund-raising for Red Cross since the aftermath of the quake, and urging others to do so as well, so THAT news gave me a jolt. In their defense, Red Cross officials say that distributing the money fairly is a delicate process, and that many factors (including the results of searches for lost family members) have prevented them from getting the money out in a timely fashion. The truth of that can hardly be denied, and I am trusting that the money will find its way to the victims as soon as possible.

And so, Japan’s Golden Week comes to an end tomorrow. Many young people spent the holidays in Ishinomaki or Kesennuma, paying a good sum of money to be allowed to help with the clean-up and re-construction, and living like shelter residents themselves for a few days. Others travelled and enjoyed life as usual, in spite of dire news predictions that the average citizen would spend Golden Week at home, behaving frugally. I chose to stay at home, behaving semi-frugally, and taking one day trip to the Hakone mountains. Expecting few other tourists, my family and I were unprepared to do battle with the crowds squeezed onto the train platforms! We had planned to meet friends on the Hakone-Yumoto platform and board the train together, but that proved impossible, since we were unable to see each other or move in any direction but toward the train doors. We ended up on the same train, but in different cars, and finally met up at our destination (which was worth the stress of the train ride).  It will be some time before families in Tohoku are able to travel for pleasure, and I must remember to appreciate my own good fortune. And  I will continue to blog in the evenings. The news is chock-full of drama–no end in sight– and it seems important to reach out and grab at stories, in an effort to make sense of them and to make sure that they get told at least once again before life moves on. Again, I thank you for reading those same stories and for keeping Japan in your thoughts and prayers.