japan:"heading south of tokyo"

...5th email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 15 march 2011 at 4:07am

"the past two days have been filled with many emotions.

the subways have been running, on limited schedules. the trains as well however no trains are running to the north. the airport is open but all if not most flights out of japan are sold out.

here in tokyo, we are having rolling black outs. power is out for three hours at a time based on neighborhoods or areas. in some areas there is still no power at all. my son gene lives in shibuya and it is one of the affected areas. he has no power or gas. every night he comes and stays with us. we are in the chiyoda area. we see him in the evening only. he has been going to his internship at adidas. he has told us that they may close the offices there because the german embassy is urging their citizens to leave japan.

we are proceeding with our plans to go on to kyoto tomorrow. at this point even if we wanted to leave japan we couldn't and it would be safer for us to travel south. as for gene, he does not want to go with us. he feels he has to honor his commitment here to adidas. they hired him and are sponsoring his visa for the next three months. if adidas does indeed close their offices, then he will plan his next move. he will receive his diploma for his bachelor degree, however it will be mailed. no graduation ceremony will take place.

daniel and i have been out to see as much of tokyo as we can. at least half of the shops and restaurants are now open. we see more people but nothing like what we were expecting. even the subways are half filled and this is during rush hour! gene tells us that there is a run on water, milk and toilet paper thru out the city (good thing i have those tissue packs!). we have been buying him supplies and food so that he will have a stock pile in case he needs anything.

the aftershocks just don't stop. they are now not as frequent, about one every half hour. they are mild (4.0) but every couple of hours, BAM...we'll get a strong one (6.5) and boy does it rattle your nerves!

and speaking of nerves...how about that nuclear plant?!!

it's about 150 miles north of us and as you have all heard not in good shape. 4 of the 6 reactors have caught fire. we hear thru the news, that is gene tells us because ALL channels are in japanese language, that iodine pills may be distributed to all residents in tokyo. Mmmm sounds...not so tasty.

hey gene just called, his power and gas are back up and running, that's good news. as i sign off, we have another aftershock...argh"!!

stella