I went for a ride yesterday to see how Tokyo is doing three days after megaquake and took some photos.

The first pictures are of the area west of Shinjuku Station. The large electronics retail chain “Yodabashi Camera” has several high rise building located here which were open for business. The sign in the picture usually flashes red and blue with bright, seizure inducing strobe lights but today it is turned off. The other retailers in the area, equally stroboscopic on a normal day, were also switched off.

No lights but plenty of cameras and action

Yodabashi Shinjuku West Exit with all exterior lights switched off.

This is a picture of the South Exit of Shinjuku Station – Shinjuku is one of the busiest train stations in the world. On the average day about 4 Million people travel through it but today, with power shortages and sporadic train schedules, it’s a little quieter than usual but in Tokyo that still means busy.

Shinjuku Station South Exit

Down in Harajuku some retailers were closed,

Closed for how long?

and others were open for business as usual.

Just in case you need a high end watch at the last minute.

Here is the famous Laforet Shopping Department in Harajuku closed for the day.

Sorry no Lolita/Maid/Goth dress for you today.

Temporaly closure for today - we have decided to close Laforet Hrajuku today due to the confusion of traffic. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Most major intersections in a shopping district in Tokyo have at least one large screen blasting adverts all hours of the day, today they are all black.

Black screen of energy conservation, Harajuku.

Even the famous Shibuya Crossing was dark.

Shibuya Crossing switches off famous multistory screens to conserve energy.

As was the Bic Camera Screen on the other side of Shibuya station.

No flashing but still eye catching - Bic Camera in Shibuya with a black screen.

The total energy use today was 150.000 KW lower than usual for this time of year, a small change here and there makes a huge difference!

I went out today (2011/03/12) to re-up supplies and this is what I saw at the local supermarket about 10 minutes from Shinagawa Station. It’s a stark contrast to the supermarket in the station itself which was fully stocked and doing business as usual.

This shelf is usually bursting with Instant Ramen.

At first I though it was panic buying at its rawest but on closer inspection I realised it was only staples, junk food and/or edible-out-of-the-bag food that had been cherry picked clean off the shelves most probably by stranded commuters hiking home through the inner burbs.

Ramen vs Pasta - Ramen Wins.

The pasta on the right was barely touched and the shelves to the left of the gap were full from top shelf down with dry goods like flour, beans and so on.

Dry Goods - Untouched.

The bread shelf was similarly bare.

Only Crumbs Left Behind.

And the milk and tofu shelves weren’t far behind.

Only the Soy Milk remains.

Empty Tofu Shelf.

And most disturbing – all of the water was gone except for the luxury sparkling brands. I guess that sorts out what Japanese consumers really “value” when push comes to shove.

In Times of Need Sparkling Comes Low On the To Do List.

These images are quite chilling in their own way considering that it took less than 12 hours for most of the ready to eat food to fly off the shelves – and in Japan, the worlds largest net importer of agricultural goods, it might become increasingly difficult to restock items to previous levels indefinitely until the ports are up and running.

So with that in mind, if you are in Japan, stock up with at least 3 days of spare water and food, some warm clothes and a First Aid Kit while you still can because the ready to eat food disappeared really, really fast and that was just disgruntled people getting home from work on foot.

There are still tsunami warnings being issued and the apartment is shaking again from yet another aftershock as I type this so one cannot be too cautious at this time.

Keep safe and don’t run outside!

A very big thank you to everyone who sent me messages and expressions of concern via Facebook and e-mail. I am fine and at home in Shinagawa a full day after experiencing quite a large earthquake in my studio in downtown Harajuku, Tokyo.

I am writing this post for people not familiar with Japan to give some perspective of what is happening in Tokyo in relation to the earthquake and tsunami.

The area directly affected is North East of Tokyo in Miyagi Prefecture and the large city there is called Sendai with a population of one million. It is roughly a six hour drive by car and the flight distance is three hundred kilometres. Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear reactors are, is two hundred and thirty kilometres from Tokyo and has also been heavily affected. The magnitude of the earthquake at the epicenter has been stated to be between 8.8 and 9.0 and is the largest to ever hit Japan and the fifth largest in recorded history worldwide. Most of the horrific damage you might be seeing on TV or the Web was done by the massive tsunami that ensued. At its peak it is estimated to have reached 10 meters in height and it traveled tens of kilometers inland over farms and roads engulfing Sendai port, Sendai airport and parts of the city itself. Many other areas and cities all up and down the Pacific coast of Japan were also hit.

Japan as a whole is well prepared for this practically and psychologically. As one of the most seismically active areas in the world the building codes here are very, very stringent and people are well drilled in safety measures so Sendai is still standing and they are broadcasting from their studio up there. I can see cars driving on the streets in footage they are taking. World class engineering has saved millions of lives here. The areas hit are mostly rural coastal towns, a few of which have almost been wiped off the map and even the best engineering will find a ten meter wave of water a formidable opponent.

As for Tokyo we experienced the earthquake at an estimated magnitude of 6.3 to 6.8 – definitely the largest and scariest earthquake many of us have ever experienced. Buildings shook and swayed – as they are designed to do – some windows broke and a few fires broke out but nothing near the scale of damage in the North. I have read reports of collapsed buildings in Tokyo but I certainly didn’t see anything like that with my own eyes. In my studio a few things fell out of the cupboard and a glass broke in my sink but other than that no major damage. I took my speakers off their stands during the first minute of shaking and lay my second monitor flat before ducking under a table and riding out the rest of the shaking after it got really intense. I decided to evacuate the building shortly after the main event and headed over to my friend’s offices a few blocks over to see what their plan of action was and to see if they were okay.

Thankfully no one there was hurt but we were all clearly shocked and the mood was tense and uneasy. There were numerous aftershocks as we stood outside contemplating what had just happened and what to do next.

Tokyo is shaken up but not all that damaged at least cosmetically. The biggest, immediate repercussion was that shortly after the quake the cancellation of all train services and flights left thousands of commuters stranded in airports and train stations. Buses were running filled to capacity and there were long lines of people waiting to use pay phones because the cellular network was sporadic and practically useless and it was the only way they could reach family and friends. (If ever there was a case for free public WI-FI this is it, come on guys wake up.)

Thousands of people were left with nothing to do but walk home in the late winter cold or find shelter and food in the city, many simply stayed over in their offices.

I commute by bicycle so I was able to move around the city freely although traffic rapidly worsened as it grew darker. I stopped off to have dinner at a local restaurant on my way home and was surprised to find the place open, packed with people and humming with activity and I returned home after that without incident.

As for media I am getting my news from NHK terrestrial analog broadcasting in Japanese (TV), Aljazeera live stream and blog and NHK World in English (Internet) and community blogs like Reddit and Metafilter and of course Twitter. (See links below for access.)

Central Tokyo has, so far, maintained its electric, water and gas infrastructure but many are taking power saving measures and turning off their gas. Surrounding areas closer to Tokyo like Ibaraki are now having trouble delivering clean water in some places and people are being urged to stay alert and tuned in to current news. The Internet is working and has been critical in getting information out to loved ones abroad and for contacting friends within the city but, as with the any tragedy these days, scammers and con artists are already flocking to capitalize on the situation so be wary of where you donate and who you donate to.

Apparently there is a lot of disinformation, rumor and speculation in the Japanese blogosphere and now that the Fukushima Nuclear Plant has exploded many people are getting nervous about the radiation and some are even heading out of Tokyo.

Please get your info from as credible a source as possible and don’t believe everything you read or hear about what is happening here.

Regarding friends and family almost everyone I know is safe and accounted for except for an old friend who lives in Miyagi, Sendai and as of this writing there is no news of him.

Links:

Map of Japan Showing Epicenter.

Aljazeera Live Watch Now

NHK World English

Reddit

Metafilter

Wow, super cool, in every sense of the word. An unofficial video for my remix of Aural Imbalance’s track – Think Tank. The remix was also a featured download on the stellar music blog Little White Earbuds a while back and has appeared in a few of my live shows too.

Wonderful imagery and beautiful shots.