The Sadness in Japan

A Japan update.

I landed in Japan last evening about 5pm local time. Weather was clear and quite cool as we departed the terminal for the hotel bus. The ride to the hotel was fairly normal but when we arrived all the lights were off in the main entrance to the hotel, part of a "rolling blackout". This lasted for about 2 hours and the energy has been turned on ever since. Hot water is at a premium and food, although not scarce, is limited.

It is now 7:30 AM on the 18th of March (3:30PM on the 17th for you guys) and the sun is shining. The cold air is a good sign because it tells us that the winds are blowing from the northwest, taking any possible radiation out to sea. The wind is set to stop blowing, a result of a high pressure area moving in, and will most likely be light and variable soon after that happens. That may cause problems for the people trying to keep radiation, resulting from the deteriorating situation at the reactors about a hundred miles north, at safe levels. The weather is a crucial part of all of this, particularly the wind velocity and direction. As you watch this situation unfold pay attention not just to the progress, or lack of progress, at the reactors. Keep an eye on what they say about wind speed and direction. That will tell you a lot about what will happen next.

As a crew member there is genuine concern over the radiation blowoff from the reactors. We are briefed frequently about the situation but it is not hard to see that most countries are allowing their people to evacuate, forcing us to wonder what the heck we are still doing here. I have not gone for a walk yet, my usual custom, because they tell us to remain close to the hotel in the event of a rapid evac. That would only occur if things got really bad up north or the wind shifted precipitously from the northeast, blowing radiation particles from the reactors towards Tokyo. Our hotel is located between the reactor and Tokyo.

The Japanese people are almost "deer in the headlights" stunned. They work hard to function at their jobs, many glad to have a job to help defer some of the sadness and grief. They clean small areas when there is devastation all around in an effort to grasp some sense of the chasm between the reality that they have known for generations and their "new" reality. One of destruction, uncertainty and sadness.

As for me, well, this is a new one for me. In all the years of flying that I have done I have never seen nor been a part of such a monumental, almost supernatural disembowelment of large parts of a society such as the one that has just occurred in Japan. This could very well take generations to bring it back to the peaceful, quiet, productive society that it has been for over 1700 years.

I will going to Bangkok tonight. I suspect there are many folks here in Japan that wish they could be going with me. This is a darn shame.