In a sign of the steady return of normality to this part of Japan, NHK was showing programs that weren’t news about the earthquake this morning. Tepco think they will avoid power cuts today, as well. Yesterday, Yuriko managed to buy some more milk for Mayuki, and I have three hours of lessons today. That’s a bit light for a Saturday, but none of the cancellations are due to the earthquake: there’s a sprained ankle, a painful back, a looming deadline, and a trip to the UK to do some research. Next week looks like it might be normal, so, since I’ve succeeded in finding a bit more freelancing work, I might be rather busy… I’ll cope.
According to Yuriko, the news has just shown someone from the WHO reassuring paranoid foreigners that there is no need to evacuate Tokyo, and that if you aren’t planning to visit the devastated area, you can still come on your holiday. As for the countries that are monitoring Japanese imports for radiation, he pointed out that the area around the nuclear power station was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami last week; there’s no way it’s shipping goods overseas.
So, as the paranoia level in the global press falls, and Tokyo gets back to normal, Yuriko and Mayuki are off for their planned weekend in Nagoya. We are now working on the assumption that they’ll be back on Tuesday, as originally planned. I’ll take the chance to have a break, also as originally planned, so I’m not planning to update this blog tomorrow unless something actually happens. There comes a point when “Everything is normal here” really does become boring.
Leave a Reply