Earthquake!: Part Two

Sometimes you really have to hand it to the Japanese. I always thought that the plentiful public washrooms were a sexual assault/molesting waiting to happen, but man, after an earthquake, they're like manna from God (non-edible manna to be sure, but something wonderful none-the-less). S., who had been unable to finish his business during the earthquake (you try peeing through violent shaking), was eager to find a washroom. So was I. When pregnant ladies need to pee, they need to pee. That taken care of, it was off to Meiji-Jingu Mae (S.'s meeting place) and Yoyogi (my dojo, where H. was). At this point, the cell phone network was swamped and down. I did my part, of course, to contribute to the jamming, by attempting to call and text my husband ad nauseam.

Oh boy, how the streets of Tokyo can get crowded when the trains aren't running. The areas around train stations were jammed with people. And people walk slowly. Far. Too. Slowly. But, I made it to Yoyogi and to my dojo where my husband and a sempai, K-san, were watching the news on our Kancho's TV. Relief! Well, relief to see my husband, and K-san of course. Relief to see that Tokyo was spared the worst of the damage. Not so much of a relief to see images of tsunami sweeping cars, boats and houses away, and buildings on fire. It was one of those "but for the grace of God..." moments.

We could have stayed at the dojo all night, but with aftershocks few and far between, and with the knowledge that we'd have to walk it in the morning anyway, we choose to head home on foot. This would definitely not have been possible had I been on my own. Roads in Tokyo are just impossible. Apparently, convenience stores were giving away free maps to help Tokyo-ites who didn't know the way home. Others were using their phones' GPS units. H. has lived in the area his whole life and has a car, meaning that he knows the roads. Another bit of luck running in our favour was that I am a comfort-over-fashion girl who works in a casual office, so I was wearing sneakers and comfy clothes. Actually, better than sneakers: hiking shoes. Boo yeah. Let me tell you, I did not envy the stylishness of the Tokyo ladies in stilettos last night at all.

Restaurants that stayed open did brisk business last night. So did karaoke places, manga cafes, convenience stores (was there an onigiri left in all of Tokyo??) and, one would assume, hotels. Places were really good about letting people use their washrooms, and we passed one home that had set up a table and chairs in their garage area and were serving tea and cookies to weary walkers. Nope, no pillaging for Tokyo.

As far as damage went, while we did stick to the main roads, we only saw two damaged buildings in four or five hours of walking. The damage was minimal - broken glass, a bit of concrete off the wall. Japan has strict building codes precisely for this reason. The codes can't prevent all damage, especially in an 8.9 mag earthquake, but they do go a long way towards minimizing damage and loss of life. Buildings are built to sway here. That's why being in a high-rise exaggerates earthquakes to the point where you exclaim "now THAT must have been at least a 7!" when in fact, it was but a 3.5. Tall buildings can sway several metres in either direction. It's scary, but better some swaying than a lot of collapsing. Concrete is also reinforced. In the photos from Sendai, you can see where concrete has fallen off the building, but the still-standing building is a criss-cross of steel wires. You still don't want to get stuck under falling concrete, but at least the building is less likely to tip over onto you.