musician

Did our risk-taking pay off?

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I’ve written a note about how disturbing the loud noise that a neighbor kid made by shooting hoops on the street was, and dropped the note to the kid’s crazy family for four times. Nevertheless, he started it again and this time I consulted my partner as to what to do. He said he would visit the family to complain face to face and went out in the evening.

I began to be worried when he hadn’t come back after a while. I went out to see what happened but a hush fell over the crazy family’s house and there was no sign of my partner. An ominous feeling seized me. Did they come to blows and was he killed? Is he lying dead inside the house? Or, is he being carried away by the family’s car to be buried? I came back to my apartment after searching for him in the neighborhood and thought I could save him if I called the police right now. When I was about to make the call, he returned, safe and sound. According to him, the crazy family told him that they didn’t care that they let their kid play on a public road as if in their own yard, or that the noise annoyed the neighborhood. Because they had no concept of morality or legality, he left. Then, the kid’s father followed him cursing out loud. As the man acted like a crazy animal, my partner ignored him and detoured back after losing him. My partner could have been killed or imprisoned for assault by countering, for such a frivolous matter like this.

The noise of a bouncing ball stopped the next day, the day after and the day following. Did our risk-taking pay off? I have the feeling that the noise will return sooner or later…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

move out of this inconvenient life

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Since radiation leaked from the nuclear power plant and I refrained from going out, I’ve been consequently able to speed up my packing for a move to my new apartment. My strong wish to move out of this inconvenient life impelled me to pack eagerly without lingering.

But as the temperature has risen, the scheduled blackout hasn’t been carried out these days. Also, the amount of radioactive materials in water supply has declined drastically. I was beginning to feel that I could slow down packing when a kid of the crazy neighbor family resumed shooting hoops on the street. The family set up the basket facing the street so that the kid plays on the busy street between crammed houses. That’s why I call them crazy. The noise he makes by bouncing a ball is loud and extremely annoying. I’ve complained about the noise by a note several times. He stops playing each time, but starts again a couple of weeks later.

I was about to regain a comfortable life here and the noise began to disrupt my life. This must be another sign to move out quickly…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

the lessons : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

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Episode from An Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods
 
Audiobook: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.
Apple Books, Google Play, Audible 43 available distributors in total.
Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.
Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

the exploded nuclear power plant

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The contaminated water by radiation has been drained into the ocean from the exploded nuclear power plant. I consider that means I’d better not eat my favorite sushi. Even if seafood from waters there is safe, I don’t feel like eating it. Since the heat doesn’t dissipate radiation, I suspect safety of cooked seafood as well.

I usually get prepared foods at a supermarket for my meals and they often contain grilled salmon or fried fish. The labels describe the ingredients but not the detailed areas of the sources. Should I get prepared foods that don’t include seafood generally? But what about cooked vegetables, then? Their sources aren’t available for prepared foods. That leads me to get produce and seafood which source is clearly labeled and cook it by myself. It would be a new burden for me who doesn’t cook so much. I might as well eat prepared foods that may have ingredients with radioactive materials in them as cook safe food.

Either way, I’ve lost a worry-free, convenient life I had enjoyed until the earthquake…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

A dark and quiet floor of the supermarket with empty shelves

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After I had stayed inside my apartment for days to avoid radiation since the accident of the nuclear power plant, I had a need for shopping and went outside.

As the TV said, there were many empty shelves at the supermarket. Merchandise has been scarce everywhere around Tokyo since the earthquake because people bought up groceries, some of the vegetables got contaminated by radiation, some factories stopped operations and distribution was disrupted. On top of that, a shortage of electricity made the store turn off the signboard, about half of its lights inside and the music.

A dark and quiet floor of the supermarket with empty shelves was such a bleak sight. Shopping used to be great fun for me but now it just depressed me. Other shoppers also looked down. They walked somewhat unsteadily and bumped me probably because they were worn out from aftershocks, scheduled blackouts and a nuclear scare. Most of all, lack of discounted or sale goods deprived me of fun to shop. The store hours have been shortened that is so inconvenient.

It seems like a long time ago when the store shelves overflowed with merchandise and I often picked up and put back to the shelf what had literally tumbled down from it. I wonder how long it will take the shopping to return to what it used to be. Or, will it never be the same again forever…?

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

a new fear has arisen day after day

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The water supply got contaminated by a radioactive material which amount was above the intake limit for babies. A few days earlier, a dangerous level of radiation for overall intake had been detected on spinach from the areas near the exploded nuclear power plant.

Since the earthquake hit Japan, a new fear has arisen day after day. This time, the TV news showed a long line of people at stores, who came to buy bottled waters. The water in my town was also contaminated over the intake limit for babies temporarily, but now the amount of a radioactive material has dropped and the water is drinkable. I look up the readings of radiation for the area I live in on the Internet everyday and fluctuate between hope and despair.　Aftershocks and scheduled blackouts still continue. Worries and fuss that I had regularly had about a move to my new place seem so trivial now. Just surviving is fortunate enough. Being able to use electricity and water supply is fully grateful. For the first time, I found myself longing for cherry blossoms to bloom soon…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

my mean big sister : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

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Episode from An Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods
 
Audiobook: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.
Apple Books, Google Play, Audible 43 available distributors in total.
Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.
Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

nuclear scare

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Things have been getting even worse since the earthquake itself. Adding to the continual aftershocks, daily blackouts and a shortage of food, now we have a nuclear scare. Right after I saw a roof of the nuclear power plant blown off on TV, I looked up the accident of Chernobyl on the Internet to see how far radiation spread. The most affected areas were shown in deep red on the map and they were spotted not only on the site but also miles away from it. The distance between Chernobyl and the furthest reddened area was about the same as the one between the power plant that exploded this time and my apartment.

 　　Of course a type of the accident, the weather, the wind direction and geography were all different, and I wasn’t sure whether or not the place I live in is far and safe enough. I had to decide if I should evacuate now or going outside was more dangerous. None of this would have happened to me if I had finished moving to my new place sooner without packing so slowly. But now, it’s useless to talk about what I should have done. After all, I decided to stay here because it was far away from the mandatory evacuation area that the Japanese government declared.

 　　I spent a few days without taking a single step outside my apartment, nor opening the windows, nor turning on the fan. Staying indoors, I learned about the structure and the mechanism of a nuclear power plant. Until the earthquake, I had heard a hundred times the power company say the plant was completely safe even in case of a big earthquake, and I had felt doubtful about it each time. I got furious thinking how they dared build something so dangerous and boast its safety. I know on the other hand, I had enjoyed a convenient life by receiving benefit of the power plant…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

The earthquake in Japan : next day

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Aftershocks continued throughout the next day of the earthquake. Because of lack of sleep, I spent the whole day with muddy-headed and of course, with fear. The situation developed on the third day when the power company abruptly began to talk about scheduled blackouts. They said they would make a formal announcement later. As they did so late at night, it was the next morning that I heard about it. They had also announced that the first blackout would start early in the morning and the water supply might stop as well.

 　　That sent me in a panic mode. To me, the news and the blackout came almost simultaneously. I rushed to prepare for it in a great hurry, shutting down my computers, securing water in plastic bottles and bundling up to stay in the cold room. I had never imagined a power outage was such a frightening thing. On top of that, the scheduled blackout will be carried out everyday from now on, with each of it three hours long, day and night.

 　　The TV news showed empty shelves of food and batteries at stores because people had hoarded them to stock up. Out of the window, I see a lengthy line of cars toward the gas station all day long. The worst time wasn’t in the shaking of the earthquake. Things are getting worse and worse afterward…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

The earthquake in Japan 14:46/11/03/2011 part2

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Right after the earthquake hit Japan, the first worry I had was a fire. I looked around the outside of my apartment and there was no fire or collapsed house except for some damages of the roofs on neighbor houses.

 　　The electricity, gas and water didn’t go off. I turned on the TV and the news said the seismic center was 100 miles away from where I lived. Considering the strong shaking I had just experienced and the total mess in my apartment, it was too horrific just to imagine how nearby areas to the seismic center were.

 　　Big and small aftershocks kept coming perpetually and it was as if I were on a boat. I lost a sense of the solid ground and felt seasick. Most Japanese metropolitan commuters use the train system, but all the trains stopped running. Suburban commuters couldn’t go home and thousands of them stayed overnight at their offices downtown Tokyo, waiting for the train system to resume service.

 　　I was fortunate to have been working at home. I managed to clear the mess of fallen things in my place and secure the space to sleep by night, but couldn’t sleep because continual aftershocks kept coming at least every 10 minutes. I can consider myself lucky I survived the earthquake unscathed, and also unlucky I encountered a massive earthquake that was said to occur in Japan once in a thousand years…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total