Kevin Ryan in Tokyo

Category: Japan

  • Earthquake Day 15

    Really windy today, cool too, so that means the wind is blowing in the wrong direction. People have asked how we manage not to stress out here with all the doomsday scenarios. With typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, mudslides (rivers with steepest vertical drops), tsunami, forest fires, sandstorms (yes, we do have a place for that), blizzards, ice storms, and suffocating summer humidity, Japan is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
    We deal with it in two ways. Prepare and lower expectations. When I arrived here, I thought the maniacal attention to detail, obsession with insurance in every aspect of life, from double bagging groceries that are already wrapped in cellophane to my triple coverage on my job loss due to incapacitation, was unwarranted. But when you see redundant systems popping up all over, and those being tested by nature and man-made disasters like nuclear leaks and poison gas terrorists, you start to see why working a little harder, and taking more precautions than you think necessary is a prudent investment in your future.
    The lower expectations is demonstrated in the popular phrase “shou-ga-nai” which means “it can’t be helped”. Some rail against this as a form of laziness in Japan, but I see it as healthy. People are not as insistent on heroic measures for the infirm elderly, preferring a quiet dignified passing with the knowledge that the end would come soon anyway, and there is nothing to extend a quality life. This “letting go” allows people to focus on things they can prepare for.
    So we have a country that follows the AA motto without even thinking. (Serenity to accept the things I can’t change, strength to change things I can, wisdom to know the difference).
    This has all gotten mixed up with the book I am reading, David Brooks’ The Social Animal. It’s main thesis is that the rational conscious mind is build on top of the unconscious affective mind, and that we need to learn more about the foundations, which requires new tools to understand. He is persuasive in his arguments that the rational French Enlightenment is inferior to the British Enlightenment which makes room for emotion. He goes through a lot of scientific literature on the brain and neurology to make his point. He wraps it in a story of a couple that grow up in different situations, meet, fall in love, and become happy leaders.
    Japan has always paid a lot of attention to feelings, unconscious, and has been trying to balance that with the rational. Every culture seeks a balance. I see a lot of psychological capital wasted in the US with frustration, expectation, fear and loathing. I see that here too, but focusing on our relationships is not something, it is the only thing.
    Sadly, Japan’s remarkable economic rise has lead to a decay in this priority, and while we are all comfortable, many are adrift, lost in technology, materialism, or simply ignorance of the social aspect of living. Some see these disasters as a time to rectify those priorities. We will see a hit on economic health, but the fraying of the social fabric will cease as we knit together the country again. Japan is girding itself as we speak to repair the destruction and in the process learn to live better.
    Sorry to get all preachy there, but these are things that have been running around my brain. Back to the day-to-day.
    Our department decided to do a small graduation ceremony in a small hall on campus tomorrow, but without a party. Not as much pomp and circumstance, but more intimate. I am looking forward to it.
    We were scheduled for 2 blackouts today, but the 5 groups were subdivided, and our smaller group (5D) is exempt unless there is an emergency. People have been voluntarily reducing usage (we haven’t used our living room since the earthquake) so that these emergencies are not realized.
    Excerpt from US Embassy letter to expats in Japan:
    Availability of Potassium Iodide Tablets: As a precautionary measure, the U.S. Embassy is continuing to make potassium iodide (KI) tablets available to private U.S. citizens who have not been able to obtain it from their physician, employer, or other sources.   We do not a recommend that anyone should take KI at this time.
    Safety of Tap Water: …the water in Tokyo is safe for drinking.
    Julia is off to work today and tomorrow. Watching American Idol we realized an interesting progression in birthdays: Stephen Tyler March 24, Dexter the cat March 26, Julia March 28 and Anri March 30. Stevie Wonder sang for Stephen Tyler, Dexter gets a double portion of cat food. We will take Julia to an Outback after shopping tomorrow (Starbucks and Kindle for me). Anri will be in Portland for her birthday, with Chrissy and Jeff, who know how to have a good time.
    Julia will be a teen for only 3 more days, then will become an adult. She went to a ceremony at city hall for all those turning 20 this calendar year. But now she went to get her picture taken by a pro, and here are a couple of shots of the results. Last night she went out with friends to a drinking place. Precocious as always.
    Can you tell I am avoiding preparations for the new school year which starts next week?

  • Earthquake Day 14

    Short one today, only 9 minutes left before midnight. The specter of radiation escaping in the water has everyone worried. More than before. Bottled water is scarce again, and the government is pleading for people to remain calm. I underestimated the number of foreigners leaving. It is 8 times the normal rate of 20,000 a month for last year. I don’t know anyone that has left Japan because of this, but all my friends really consider this home, as they have been here at least 20 years (26 for me, and 33 for our longest-termer). We are starting up the new school year on Friday (the Fool’s day). We have hired 3 new part-timers. Wonder if they will show up.

    Chihiro Graduates from TokyoKevin on Vimeo. 

    Today we had a greatly curtailed graduation ceremony, with the 200 from our department only, and in a venue for 600 instead of 3,000. The ceremony was mercifully short, only 45 minutes instead of the bladder-busting marathon of 150 minutes (2.5 hours).

    Oddly, I found it much more intimate, relaxed and fun. The students were enjoying seeing each other and they didn’t have megaphoned cattle herders yelling at them for pictures and the like. We broke down into seminar classes, which are small, and said our goodbyes. I only had one student this year, a real firecracker, and she said, “Let’s hang out when I come down to Tokyo.” She lives about 100 km (60 miles) away from the Reactor, and lost her job because of the earthquake. She landed on her feet, though, and snagged one that paid better and had less hours, with more chance for advancement in the long run. Nimble pays.

    The other negative feeling is the energy situation. There simply isn’t enough electricity to go around. All of the non-essential escalators have been turned off. Lots of ad signs are being darkened, and the rolling blackouts are having a big effect on business. The scheduling of the blackouts is getting better, but people know things will change soon, but not for the better. The electric bill we now pay had a hike in the rate (I think it is 15%), and they are looking at using daylight savings time. Did you know there is a whole line of wind generators right next to the Fukushima nuclear site? They swayed in the earthquake, slowed, and automatically stopped. They a few minutes later automatically started up again (except for the one nearest the plant). That is not being advertised a lot here. Geothermal is another resource.
    Nuclear, though, is, overall, a very safe source of energy. Much safer than coal per btu. Kind of like airplanes and cars. But the focus in the near future will be on conservation. I teach all my classes in a computer lab. I wonder if I’ll have to start sharpening up the chalk and banging erasers [shudder].
    The steak at Outback’s defeated Julia, but she finished her dessert. Last day of being a teen. She is ready to move on. Making the application to Leeds is proving to be more difficult than expected. The university makes her do all the forms, then confirms with Leeds that she was accepted and then pays the tuition. So she has to read something very carefully, and with big consequences. That increases comprehension tremendously. She has chosen a very light schedule, which I think is wise. Best place to learn is outside class. She saw a video of a prof there, and could not understand a word of his accent. She is wondering what she got herself into…
    My sister Ginger took my daughter Anri to the airport in Denver, and put her on a plane to her cousins in Portland. Haven’t heard from them, so it looks like she made it.

  • Earthquake Day 13

    For now, some bits and babs.

    Woke up this morning and almost got shook out of bed by another earthquake. Late afternoon, another small shake. Learning to live with this daily wobble is difficult. The shake this morning put the kitchen door out of whack, so it won’t close. Have to get the sander out and shave down the door. Maybe that is what got Maki stuck in the bathroom while I was gone.
    Good news is that the radiation level in the water has dropped so babies can drink from the faucet (but only if they can reach it). We were supposed to have 3 hours blackout this afternoon, but that was cancelled (yeah!). But it is looking like these blackouts will continue for at least a year. Summer is going to be really sticky…will have to plan to be at school. The grid is being refined now for the blackout groups, with the number rising from 5 to 25 so they can manage to keep energy use up to capacity. So I guess we will be having, along with the daily weather forecast and radiation/pollen count, a blackout map.
    The slightly derogatory term for a foreigner here in Japan is “gaijin”. A little more formal, and a little more neutral, “gaikokujin” (outside-country-person). New term in the foreign community is for residents that left the country and are now coming back: flyjin. Your language lesson for the day.
    Had a good laugh when somebody told me my picture during the blackout made me look like Qaddafi. Green hat and scarf matched, and I am working on the putty face. Just wish I had somebody to dictate to (hmmm, students?…I’m getting some ideas here….).
    Our graduation was rescheduled, and now cancelled. I feel sorry for the students. Lines for gasoline and other products have disappeared. Only milk is hard to find. And bottled water. I bought in haste 12 days ago, and we served sparkling water to the cat by mistake. He wouldn’t drink it. The rest of the bottle we mixed with crystal light to make a weird soda-pop.

  • Earthquake Day 12

    I return from two exhausting yet productive days of meetings to prepare a conference for this summer. My travels took me to Kyushu, where it was surprisingly cold and rainy. This winter has been the coldest on record for average temperatures, and number of days below freezing. And no, I won’t make any jokes about global warming.

    I was glad to be rid of the pollen-infested air of Tokyo, and didn’t have to use sprays or eye drops. The sake (or as they call it here, “nihon-shu” or Japan liquor) was excellent with the dinner last night. We went on to another place over beer and shots and solved most of the world’s problems. Our group is devoted to bringing technology to language teaching here in Japan, and we are moving in a couple of directions, with teacher training and consulting, the conference, and I will edit a new book called TILT Recipes (Tech In Language Teaching). The Recipes is a continuation of a series of books I edited about 10 years ago.

    So I start heading back and bought souvenirs (usually food from the area you visit). I got spicy fish roe, the local ramen flavor, and some green tea. In the lobby of the airport I watch news about a water treatment plant next to where I used to live before I was married. Seems like the levels of cesium are too high for use with infants. People were warned to use bottled water for formula. We will also be sure to use some of our bottled water for little Dexter, our cat.
    I arrive home just in time to set up dinner, and Maki goes to visit her sister. It seems Maki’s sister lives between electric grid areas, so she does not have any blackouts. As I sit down the lights go out. The trusty Kindle with the silly headband lamp get me through the next three hours and the house slowly cools. And cool it does. Maki arrives back about 3 minutes after the lights, and I wonder how she does that. There are no blackouts in western Japan, where I just came from.
    Julia calls as she is leaving from work, as usual. Maki mentions that it is raining. I can hear Julia’s eyes batting as she asks me to pick her up in the car because she is sans umbrella. That was a good call, because the rain turns to snow, and covers the windshield and roof of the car. We make jokes about radioactive snow. But we pause to think that it may not be so funny.
    Still no milk, so we may switch to soy. Maki has baked soem bread. But as we sit down to recount the time I was away, I get the best story of the year. Yesterday, Maki is here with Julia and her sister. Maki goes to the bathroom. She gets trapped. The handle doesn’t work, so Yuki and Julia spend a half hour trying to get the door off the hinges. No go (well, Maki’s already went, but…). Julia calls 119 (our version of 911). The operator says, “Is it a fire or is it urgent?” Julia picks the latter. About 3 minutes later an ambulance arrives at the house, siren blaring. Followed by not one, but two, fire trucks. They spend the better part of an hour getting the door off. The firemen say this is pretty common. They don’t seem angry. The police then arrive, and Maki explains the situation, and they leave. She apologizes to the old next door neighbors for all the racket, and they give her a bag of cubed carrots (they got a new Popeil food processor). The new next door neighbors, she finds out, are used to that kind of racket. The father is retired from the head office of the national police agency (kind of like the FBI). She talks more with the neighbors than ever before. Nothing like a fire truck to bring together a neighborhood.

  • Earthquake Update Day 9

    Not much happened yesterday, so there was no Update Day 8.

    This morning we awoke to reports that Reactors 5&6 were under control. They are still working on 2 & 3, trying to get electricity to the pumps or water to the reactors. Work is proceeding slowly but surely.
    Weather has moderated, yesterday it got up to 70 degrees. Today should get to 65 degrees. It may rain, though. Because of the mild weather, electric usage is down and there have not been any power outages yesterday or today.
    Radiation levels look safe for now, except for some milk and spinach harvested just after the leak. Most Chernobyl victims got their radiation through eating tainted foods. Good to see people monitoring the radiation.
    Aftershocks continue, but at a much reduced frequency. See this map and wait for all 611 aftershocks (and counting) in the last week. Relief efforts are being organized, finally there is gasoline up in the north, and the roads are being repaired to allow access to the devastated areas. Even the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) is sending up trucks of supplies.
    The biggest news here in Japan is the backlash against the over-dramatization of the situation by the western media, Fox news in particular, along with the HuffPost. People have been seeing reports of panic, fleeing and the like, and not seeing that here on the ground. The US Government advises evacuation for people living 50 miles from the nuclear reactors, and has gone on to set up flights out of the country, and trains from Sendai to Tokyo, for US citizens. They advise us to leave the country, the only foreign government that is suggesting this. My friend’s daughter returned from Minneapolis yesterday on a flight only 1/3 occupied. She stretched out across the 5 middle seats. Other friends are returning from a teaching conference in New Orleans, and report similar occupancies.
    Meanwhile the cherry is about to blossom. Dad will remember that from 2 years ago. An utterly beautiful time of year here in Japan. I may get an early glimpse of that because I have a meeting for conference planning in Kyushu, the southernmost island tomorrow through Wednesday. Julia has work today, she takes information for insurance claims, and said yesterday was boring, not many accidents, as people were staying in. The train schedules are returning to normal, and there is bread and instant ramen back on the shelves, the only thing missing now is milk.