Japan's biggest earthquake in Japan............and we were there....

So, probably everyone knows about the 8.9 earthquake that shook Japan yesterday afternoon. In the almost two years I live in Tokyo, this has been by far the worst and apparently Japan's worst in 140 years, since they begun recording them.

I wrote my experience of the moment of the quake for Argentinian newspaper La Nacion. Here is the transcript (it's on Spanish only, sorry!)


"El sismo se sintió súper fuerte en Tokio. Yo estaba en casa con mi hijo de 2 años y de repente, a eso de las 14.50 hora local de Japón, se empezó a mover todo. Fue muy fuerte y duró mucho, como dos minutos fuerte y otros cinco un poco más leve. Cuando paró un poquito empecé a preparar la mochila que tenés que tener lista en caso de evacuación, con un poco de agua y comida, una radio a dinamo, etc, y agarré a mi hijo para irnos afuera. No se cayó nada dentro de mi departamento, pero las puertas anti-fuego del edificio se habían accionado todas. El portero estaba muy asustado pero vino a decirnos que según la radio no había que evacuar, pero como yo estaba tan nerviosa preferí irme para el parque cercano a casa donde es el punto de encuentro en caso de catástrofes. En la puerta de calle ya estábamos reunidos casi todos los vecinos del edificio, con nuestros hijos y nos fuimos al parque y ahí se sintió otro temblor fuerte, tanto que un taxista se bajó del taxi que se movía horizontalmente con mucha fuerza. Los cables de electricidad (en Japón son aéreos por los terremotos) se movían un montón, lo mismo que los árboles. En el parque Arisugawa, donde nos reunimos, hay una estatua ecuestre de bronce pesadísima que se movía un montón. Estuvimos en el parque como dos horas y luego fuimos a casa de una amiga que vi en el parque, que vive cerca y en planta baja. Ahí nos quedamos otro par de horas, sintiendo varios temblores leves más. Dicen que hoy hubo más de 40 temblores en Japón. Todo el transporte público se cortó y el tráfico es un caos. Mi esposo tuvo que volverse caminando de la oficina una hora y media a pie y le prestó una de nuestras bicicletas a un colega que vive a 50 kilómetros de Tokio porque no funciona ningún tren. Hace dos años que vivo en Tokio y, en general, los japoneses ni se mosquean cuando hay un temblor. Esta es la primera vez que los veo súper asustados. Pero eso sí, súper bien preparados. Por ejemplo, enseguida la gente se puso el casco anti terremotos y veías muchos nenes con la protección para la cabeza. Y la gente súper ordenada. Vi por la calle mucha gente con bolsitas con comida y botellitas de agua, comprando mucho como para pasar la noche o un par de días, pero ninguna escena de histeria ni pánico. Ahora vamos a intentar dormir un poco, pero hay un temblor leve cada 30 minutos más o menos, así que calculo que va a ser una noche larga."


Right now, we are closely following the news on the issues at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Apparently the latest news say that the radioactive leak has been small and there is no immediate risk for Tokyo. It's surreal times. There are still tremors as I write this. In all honesty, I just want to be out of Japan as soon as possible. We are living in a month's time to Belgium, anyway. But I cannot wait. We are even looking into available flights out of the country..... I just hope things stabilise and the tremors end. My thoughts go to all the afected people, people in the refuges and the ones who have lost family members or friends. It's a horrible experience and we in Tokyo got it relatively easy.

You've been in Tokyo for too long when you..... (part I)

1. Instinctively keep to the left when walking on the street/ riding an escalator/ riding a bike (and continue doing so in Belgium....)
2. Forget to lock the bike when doing the shopping and leave it unlocked for hours at a time
3. Cannot imagine stepping outside during the summer without a parasol or enormous cotton hat
4. Know the Hibiya line like the palm of your hand.
5. Know which is the right exit -and can find it- in Shinjuku station.
6. Own at least one brow-sweat-mopping-towel-thingy (and are not afraid of using it)
7. TOTO toilets hold no secrets for you.
8. Manage to eat soba without spraying your clothes with sauce.
9. Don't worry when the delivery guys have been while you were out, as you know they'll be back tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after that, until they find you)
10. You feel bad about leaving minuscule crumbs on the floor after you've had a pic-nic

Morning detours: Shimokitazawa

So today I went to Shimokitazawa, or "Shimokita",as it is known among le cool Tokyo. It is apparently very popular with students for its second hand clothes shops and variety of little cafes and bars and generally relaxed vibe.

To get there, I took the Keio Inokashira line from Shibuya. It's just one stop on the express train, so very easy to get to. I took the North/ South exit which immediately pours into an array of narrow streets crisscrossing the whole neighbourhood.

Most shops open only at 11:00 and some even later. I arrived around 10:30, so I walked around the area for a bit. There are plenty of nice cafes and bars that surely must come to life at night. There is the ubiquitous Starbucks as well, but in general the feeling is of being in a small cute town "à la Japonaise".

Shopping-wise, besides the big Daimaru Peacock supermarket in front of the station, which harbours a UNIQLO and a big bookshop, and the MUJI close to the West exit, the main attraction in Shimokita are the second hand clothes shops and a variety of bazaar like shops, much like the OUTLET but with a country: romantic style. I was looking for a vintage posters shop, which a friend had recommended, but could not find it and at 12:30 I called it a day and decide to head back to pick up Bibu from daycare.

Should definitely be back with Mr M to check it out in the evening. One of these days....

One year on

On a day like today, exactly one year ago, Bibu and I took a plane to join Mr M here in Tokyo. A couple of days before that, I went to Rock Werchter and saw The Killers live, which remains as 'my best rock festival experience' so far. It was a lovely sunny day, we ate mosselen with fries and a glass (or two) of champagne, as you do.

Three days later, I arrived with 13-month-old, barely walking Bibu to a very hot and humid Tokyo. Hot and humid, just like it is now. Among my first impressions of living in Tokyo were the incredible amounts of insects that take over the city in the summer: the constant background noise of the cicadas, the gigantic cockroaches, the   enormous stag-beetles, mosquitoes and spiders....

The first few weeks were spent roaming around the neighbourhood, getting to know the supermarkets and trying to make some sense of the labels in Japanese. We arrived into an empty apartment building, everybody was at their home countries and there was virtually nobody to talk with, bar some small talk here and there with other mums in the park. Bibu slept quite a lot, a bit in the morning and a bit in the afternoon, so our trips outside were short and not too far away from the house. For the first couple of months, I didn't dare to go outside before 4:30pm, it was too hot. I remember one afternoon that we went walking up to Roppongi Hills and that seemed like so far away (it only takes me 15 minutes now). Yep, we've come a long way.

It's also been over a year that I am not working, as in "not working in an office". Although I am a little bit more organised today, have a cleaning lady that comes once a week and Bibu goes every morning to school, I still feel like this housewife thing is definitely more tiring and boring than the office stuff. Being with Bibu and getting to see him grow up before my eyes, not missing any step, is really the best part of it. The rest seems like a constant cycle of washing up/ loading and unloading washing machines and dishwashers/ picking up toys from the ground, vacuuming crumbs/ cooking/ shopping for food/ thinking about what to cook/ preparing lunch boxes, etc. Did I do all these things before, while I was working? It seems I did, and still went to work and had Bibu and had a social life. So what is it now that it feels like my day is filled with these chores? Poor time management, probably. Also, I spend loads of time with the PC. We might not have a TV set, but still we spend lots of time in front of a screen, wasting time most of the time.

But hey, a year ago, I had no clue about Japanese. Now I can manage to tell taxi-drivers where I want to go, where they need to turn and where to stop. I even understand when some smiley old grandma asks me how old Bibu is. I am yet to tackle small talk or a more elevated exchange with shop assistants than "thank you" and "I don't need a bag", but well, Super Sensei constantly praises my progress and I dont' think it's only because of my cookie bribery tactics (although they must help, hehe)

One year on, one year to go. Never in my wildest dreams thought I would be living in Japan, but I am. This time last year was "the end of the world as I knew it". The not working situation, the being far away from my Brussels friends and family and twice as far away and half a day ahead of my family in Argentina makes it a bit hard, but getting to see our Bibu grow up from wobbly walker to non-stop-trilingual boy is a privilege and joy not many people have. I clink my glass to myself and drink to another great year in the Land of the Rising Sun.