Greetings from Downtown Tokyo: An ATS Member Reports

Hi Silent!

Holy Moly! You've got real nerves of steel!

I prey everything goes well for you! Be careful, OK? You seem so calm about it.

I saw a documentary and they showed the difference between a small and big earthquake on small and big buildings. Essentially, when the EQ is small, the big building will be damaged but not the small one. So in big EQ, big buildings are OK while small ones are reduced to rubble.
The example was given using a short an a long spring, each with a ball on the top, mounted on a chariot.

I agree with a previous poster that it

Hey friend! keep it safe, enjoy the ride as I know you do, and relax, best of wishes, and keep at it!
I`ve also experienced some heavy earthquakes in my lifetime, and yes one can actually loose the feeling of terror one feels in an earthquake and exchange it for one of excitement and a bit of a fright!

We are the experiences we survive, we are the things we live and not the things we own, what better way to live life at its fullest by breaking new grounds in this Empire of the Senses that existence is!

I´m sure you definitively know when to scram if things get too hairy!
keep em coming my friend, Godspeed!

Thanks again for the interest and good vibes, people.

I'm going to head to the Shibuya district to see if I can pick up some good photos or info for you. I hope to post back again with something that will make this thread worth your time.

Current Geiger reading: 16.72 CPT: Well within safe range.

Hi Silent Thunder glad to hear you're doing okay and are safe.

I was wondering if you could describe how you feel the Japanese media has been reporting the disaster? I would be very interested on a first hand account.

Thanks and be safe.

reply to post by silent thunder


Thank you so much for your contribution to ATS. You mentioned the lack of looting. This I believe is because of the Japanese peoples code of honor. Their code of honor may also be why they do not admit to actual damages, deaths, or why they are choosie about which aid to accept. Be safe and thanks again .

I must say silent thunder, you're living quite the experience right now. Live it up and soak it all in, find the beauty of Japan it once had, and don't let it burn out.

Shibuya, they hold car races there. Rally Cross, X games stuff.

Hey buddy, I've seen you on here for a long time now. I remember you from your interesting avatar! I see you are a very calm one in an emergency! I tend to be that way myself, and have been thru a few hurricanes, living here in Florida it's as much of a "natural" occurrence as EQ's are in your area. Keep a straight head, and please don't take any unnecessary chances. I'm so happy to hear you have a geiger counter, keep us updated! Do you also have the potassium iodine pills, along with your champagne and kobe beef? I'll be thinking of you! Take care!

xxxx
Prax

I have a really good idea. Why don't you pick up and go home on the next flight? Since you are leaving soon anyways. Then your apartment could go to some folks that don't have a home? And if you have the spare cash, you could donate your leftover belongings you can't carry. You would carry a lifetime of good karma from this. And make some really happy and appretiative folks.

In fact, anyone that does not live permanantly in Japan could do the same. It isn't a lot, but every bit helps.

Thanks for the continued replies. I will keep trying to address the points brought up here as much as possible so please be patient.

Here are some photos from the trip to Shibuya.

It was not easy finding "dramatic" pictures in Tokyo, because by and large there seems to be pretty little drama at the moment. To anyone who knows the city, what would be most striking would be the small number of people on the streets, the vast number of closed stores, and the dim lights. Not exactly the stuff of alluring photography. But I've done what I can to find some points of possible interest.

Geiger reading as of this post: 014.99 CPM. Nice low happy numbers.

1） Below: A sign near the elevator politely and humbly asks people to cooperate with the dimming of the lights to save electricity. Such signs seem to be all around:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8e7bc0366f4b.jpg[/atsimg]

2) Below: Hiroyuki-san, my indefatigable driver. He is quite nervous about radiation, but I'm not sure his cotton mask is ultimately going to be all that helpful in the event. I can tell he's worried I'll make him drive to Fukushima.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/289e555227ec.jpg[/atsimg]


3) Below:Shibuya crossing viewed from the pedestrian overpass from Shibuya Station about an hour ago. (Any potential skeptics note the tastefully subtle "Silent Thunder" scrap of paper in the lower right corner.) If you know Tokyo at all, you will probably be aware from looking at this picture that the three huge video billboards that usually run 25 hours a day are black and silent. I've been coming to Tokyo regularly for almost 20 years and I've NEVER seen the big billibards in Shibuya go dead. It would be like Times Square shutting down the Coca-Cola ad, or Vegas turning off all the neon. Sobering in its absense.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d95b87eddc44.jpg[/atsimg]

4) Below: Voulnteers ask for money in Shibuya. They were really putting their hearts into it, almost screaming. "Even if you have only one yen, it would be fine!" shouts the young man in the middle, over and over.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1156b9faa0f0.jpg[/atsimg]

5) Below: Another group of less-conventional but no less enthusiastic volunteers busking for relief money.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/df17a3d8cf86.jpg[/atsimg]

6) Below: ...but at least the Zen Mall is open. What is the sound of one hand shopping?
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/52087f0ec663.jpg[/atsimg]

7) Below: As the sun turned its worried face from a subdued, nervous Shibuya, the moon deigned to make a cameo appearance. High above frail man's flickering lights and stalled construction projects, her impassive coldness remains somehow eternally comforting in its ancient universiality.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6200c26573ec.jpg[/atsimg]


More to follow...

Hi,

A really fascinating perspective of the situations.
Please keep it coming.

One thing, are you Bruce Wayne?

Glad to see that you are alright, Silent Thunder.

Good thread and it helps to have eyes on the ground as to the true extent of this disaster!

Good to hear some level-headed and reliable info on the situation there..
Gives me a better idea what to expect when arrive early next week.. 2nd son booked me a flight and on my way downriver now to get to airport..
1st son busy getting and shipping additional medical supplies for me..
Also good pics.. Strange seeing the billboards blacked out never thought would see that.. Thanks and stay safe..

hi silent, can you get to a bunker or figure out where this bunker in tokyo is to...
www.youtube.com...

Thank you very much for posting your experiences in Tokyo. It is humbling to learn how another culture handles such tragedy contrasted to my own cultures' 'free for all' mentality.

Safe travels.

Silent Thunder, it's nice to have such a calm articulate thread in the midst of what could be overwhelming adversity. With the twenty some odd years you've spent around the east Asian influences, you have obviously picked up on the peaceful nature of their cultures. I for one appreciate the ongoing updates of life on the ground. I hope you stay safe and stay vigilant in your travels of the area and get the hell out if need be! Thank you, and please offer my blessing to those you meet and let them know we have them in our prayers.
Greetings from Twohawks in New York!

reply to post by silent thunder

well bro, it was nice knowing ya
might as well go out in style huh???
at least the apocalypse will be
captured in pics.
lol

Thank you so much for the reporting you are doing, be safe and keep bringing us facts from the ground.

reply to post by silent thunder


Great thread, Japanese are very civilized during such unrests. Keep posting.

Awesome reporting, thank you for sharing your experience in Tokyo. It's people like you that make this place great!
Stay safe and it'll all work itself out !

Hope you stay safe. I got to ask though...I got relatives there, and even though the geiger readings seem safe, but what about long periods of exposure to such level of radiation?

I mean it's not lethal immediately, but I would suppose that being exposed to it for extended periods of time can cause cancer or other diseases?