Back in Japan

Well, it appears I am now back in Tokyo! I arrived back, rather crumpled and stunned on saturday afternoon, after a marathon flight that stopped via Nagoya. Virgin have been basing their crew there as a safety measure. Neil met me at the bus and it was wonderful to be reunited with him after the stresses of the last few weeks. He cooked me a gorgeous dish of spag bol and we spent the weekend mooching around together. It's cold here, but the sun is still shining and the sky is blue. Apart from slightly quieter streets and less lights on at night time (to conserve energy) life appears to carry on as normal. The supermarkets are stocked full of food (apart from toilet paper which seems to have vanished after a mass panic-buying session......) and the wine shop was heaving on saturday night!

Apart from the "normality" of life in Tokyo, there is the obvious underlying fact that thousands of poor people's lives have been devastated in the North, a mere few hundred miles from where we are and it's so hard to fathom. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it and all the people who have lost everything. For many people this includes whole families.

I went to the Tokyo American Club yesterday and donated some items for the relief effort. They are delivering items to three villages that have been affected, a lot of which have many old people that need help. My offerings felt pathetic in the scheme of things, but anything is good at this point. If you live in Tokyo, you can donate items to the club until the end of the month on floor B1. They have a list of required items on their website. They are also accepting money donations through their website.

I have a friend, Caroline Pover, who lives in Japan but is currently travelling around England, giving talks on Japan as well as collecting items to be sent to Japan for the tsunami victims. You can check out her website to see what things are needed here. She is also asking school children to write letters to children who have survived the tsunami. As well as needing physical items, the people who have lost literally everything need emotional support and friendship too. To donate money, you can go to the Japanese Red Cross Society.