Should be flying to Japan on Thursday...thoughts?
 

Hi guys,

I am supposed to be flying to Osaka on Thursday, and heading to Fukuoka via Kyoto, Kobe and Hiroshima, before spending about 2 weeks in Tokyo, Yokohama and the surrounding areas. I was due to be in Japan on holiday for a month.

I have of course been reading with great sadness about the natural disasters happening in Japan in recent days. I am however struggling to decide where the obviously sensationalist, fear-mongering newspaper articles meet the reality of the situation, with particular regards to the nuclear fallout risk, food/water contamination and food shortages.

My question is, how bad is it in Tokyo? And, if in my situation, would you fly to Osaka this week? There is a possibility I could cancel my trip and reschedule to October, by which time things will hopefully have settled down...

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated as I am genuinely unsure of what to do.

Many thanks for your time :)

MidnightSun

I'll ask again, what sensationalist fear-mongering articles are you reading? Can you post links?

You'll be fine.

The people in the Kansai area and West are unaffected and it's business as usual for them.

It is safe if it is not summer. (July-September)
It is predicted that it becomes a cruel power shortage now in the summer of this year though it is a power shortage due to the earthquake now.

The radioactive concentration observed in Tokyo is a maxima and 0.361μSv/h(03/15/2011).
Usual Tokyo is 0.045μSv/h. Yesterday's Tokyo 0.045μSv/h.
Usual Rome City 0.25μSv/h.(There are a lot of buildings of granite)

Possibility that Jong-il Kim launches nuclear missile due to hysteria.
There is a possibility that all people who are doing the cooling work become Greenpeace(NGO), too.
There are various possibilities. Do not relax your guard.

I'll be heading for Japan one day after you, don't worry too much.

From what I've heard the west is doing fine, of course it's smart to keep the news close in these times, just to be sure :)

lol! well said :)
The first one still scares me... that guy is fickle and unpredictable!

@OP; I live right next to Osaka, it's as though nothing has happened to Japan here, save a few donation boxes and the news.

That's a good point. Will the full power supply of the country be restored before summer hits in force?
It could be a nasty situation for the elderly and the frail if they can't have their air conditioners running.

Present maximum output of Tokyo Electric Power Company 3550kw
Average demand in winter 5000kw
Average demand in summer 5000-6000kw
Electric energy that is scheduled to be restored by summer 600kw:(

The core of Tokyo that has been excluded from the power failure(rolling blackout) area is scheduled to enter the power failure region in summer, too.

I worry about it. Refuge people who live will become painful summer, too.

I am scheduled to stop air-conditioning, and to decrease "Meat of the belly with an intense self-insistence".

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies.

@ MMM: there were various articles in UK newspapers citing "toxic clouds" hanging above Tokyo, and the Fukushima nuclear issue being "another Chernobyl", and "spewing vast amounts of deadly radiation into the air". Unfortunately I cannot find these articles online. Such articles I believe are used to sell papers, as oppose to report the truth.

I am very glad to hear that Osaka and further west is ok.

I was also concerned by the current status of Tokyo, for example: are trains operational, are blackouts still occuring and is food scarce on shelves?

Sadly the Live BBC coverage of the Japan situation stopped 2 days ago to be replaced by the Libya crisis, and so it is now more difficult to find accurate information about the current situation.

Regards

MidnightSun

My bud in Tokyo has no rolling blackouts where he lives and there's plenty of food on the shelves in stores, don't worry.