Arrival in Japan...Waking up to news of strong (6.7) earthquake in Hokkaido

After a relatively uneventful flight, with some sleep, some diary writing and 2 movies I've arrived in Tokyo this morning. I had to wait until they brought my bike, which I was very happy about, especially since I had to wait another day in 2009 as they didn't manage to put my bike on the plane then. Being the last person to hang around the conveyor belt waiting for luggage a strange feeling set in but thankfully a friendly airport staff looked at me and said "bike", to which I happily answered "yes, thats me".

I've had to transfer the bike from its cardboard box into its 'official' travelling luggage (you can't take bike onto trains in Japan unless they're packed into a bag), I was on my way. The humidity and temperature hit me immediately as it was somewhere around 30C and high humidity. 

I was obviously very much in the way of most train passengers trying to board the early morning (just post-rush-hour) train but there was little I could do. I managed to go to Kashiwa (north of Tokyo) where I would be staying for the night, before continuing onto Hokkaido in the morning - so I thought...

News of the earthquake spread quickly and both Japanese friends and my Japan-landlord Jeffrey told me that Hokkaido was hit by a big quake. More loss of life, just after typhoon Jebi hit, more disruption to an already very busy emergency response teams across the country, including the army. Below is a picture of Hokkaido and the red circle is where the earthquake originated but then spread across the whole island. The blue circle was my to be my first stop, Hakodate.

It seems that Japan is getting it this summer, a strong typhoon sweeping across south and central Japan and now a 6.7 earthquake in Hokkaido, its largest northern island. I've kept on checking whether I could find info online on trains going to Hokkaido but it wasn't until I reached Kashiwa Station and enquired about going to Hokkaido tomorrow that the reality actually hit home. There was no electricity for 3 million people, houses had collapsed and all train and flight services were cancelled.

quick reality check.

Somewhat taken aback by these events I went to Starbucks to contemplate what to do. Its the same Starbucks I go to pretty much every time I'm in Japan to think, write, work and for the first time did I feel like I had actually arrived in Japan. I took out my note book and wrote some thoughts down before heading to my favourite Ramen spot. Turns out they didn't know me anymore and my Ramen order came with meat, oh well, I've got to tell them again :)

"Niku tabenai" (I don't eat meat)

Big taboo, just noticed that I left my chop sticks in the food. Thats a big "No, No" in Japan as it resembles funeral rites/ rituals (read all about using chopsticks here). Either way, I felt thoroughly "at home" now with some good Ramen in my belly. Back to Starbucks for a final coffee before heading to my home away from home. 

I picked ups some ingredients for dinner to make some salad and eat fish, before getting home and pretty much crashing on the futon. I was actually exhausted. I put my alarm clock on for an hour, knowing I didn't want to waste my time sleeping now and then not being able to sleep later.

There's one final thing to do now to conclude my first day in Japan - go for a soak. I arranged to meet with a friend for 'onsen' (Japanese hot spring/ public bath), which is really relaxing as it's got sauna, various small (hot) pools, jacuzzi and an outside 'thermal spa' pool. This will conclude all activities for today.