It appears I’m one of the closest foreigners to the March 11th earthquakes to talk about it and get media attention (I did an interview for BBC world news and several friends spotted me in Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe – one benefit of travelling and getting friends from around the world is they can tell you they’ve seen you when you’re on worldwide news!).
Japan is getting back on it’s feet in general, but the Sendai area is obviously still devastated. I have returned to the Fukushima area after a couple of weeks in Tokyo so I thought it’s about time I chip in and give my opinion and thoughts on the matter to the gaijin and tourists of Japan.
I was told Comiket would be busy. I went on the least busiest day of the year – 31st December. Comiket is the biggest manga convention in the world (I will explain more in my next post). It is broke into 3 day summer and 3 day winter events in a feeble attempt to make it less busy, has just doubled the yearly average of 400,000 people in attendance on each long weekend.
After a few days of small shocks (which as it turned out were warnings for the 6th Biggest earthquake ever recorded and Japans biggest). The 8.9 earthquake on the richter scale hit where I live and work.
Before I go on I’d like to send my condolences to those effected and involved.
In Japan, the Emperor says hello on 26th December (his birthday) and 2nd January (to send his wishes for the new year). He opens up the grounds of the Imperial Palace on these 2 days for the public to go along and get a glimpse inside (usually you can only visit the gardens of the Palace or get an official tour inside).
I went along on the 2nd Jan 2011 to have a look and this is what I was greeted with… Read the rest! \(^u^)/ →
