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| Better to be a wino than a whiner. |
The day following
the earthquake brought several tremors. After discussing with several friends,
we facetiously declared the world to be at an end. As such, we wanted to greet Armageddon
in the most comfortable way possible, with several bottles of wine, a few unnecessarily
large steaks and surrounded by good friends and laughter. Our “final” dinner
was a great success and we all enjoyed the much needed, albeit quiet and
restrained, levity that only your truest friends can provide.
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| Trembling due to quake or stroke? |
Our lips now
dyed a dark crimson from wine and bovine blood, we ventured forth into the post
earthquake world. We decided to invoke the tradition of visiting the
statue of Hachiko, a staple of a Tokyo night out. Shibuya on a normal Saturday
is bustling with the young and the trendy preparing for a night of adventure. However,
we arrived to a Shibuya all but abandoned. For a time, we walked around the usually
vital, but now empty streets. Walking past the 109 shopping building and preparing to circle around to Shibuya's Center Street, we were awestruck by the ability to see more than several meters ahead, a rare occurance for this part of town on a Saturday night. It was disconcerting to say the least. It was around this time when our façade of
nonchalance began to crack. We decided to press on and have a few more drinks.
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| A disquieting sight . . . |
As our night
continued, we drifted to the home of one of our members. There, we spent the
rest of the evening playing cards and attempting to forget the disturbing sight
of Tokyo’s empty streets. Eventually, we all claimed a piece of furniture and
drifted to sleep still celebrating our successful faux end of the world.
We awoke the
next morning to news that nuclear reactors in Fukushima were in a critical
state and the potential for meltdown was high. We watched in stunned silence as
a hydrogen explosion destroyed the roof of a reactor housing. The true severity
of the situation realized, and our ability to hide our worry broken, we uttered
few words except the occasional translation (“radiation” is not a word you are likely to find in beginner Japanese textbooks). We sat
with our eyes glued to the screen or any nearby internet source. We combed through
any and all news sources for information. Were we being evacuated? Was there a
genuine risk of radiation exposure from the nuclear reactors? If yes, were we
far enough away from Fukushima to be somewhat protected? These questions were
on all our minds as we watched the unfolding drama. Vague answers being a
staple of Japanese culture, no conclusive information/instructions could or
would be issued by the news or government officials.
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