‘Store Shelves Empty in Tokyo’ [???]
March 14th, 2011Via: Reuters:
Commuters and residents of the Japanese capital faced confusion and uncertainty on Monday over the supply of food and energy after Friday’s devastating quake and tsunami which crippled a nuclear power plant.
Some store shelves were emptied and many train lines were shut down as Tokyo commuters returned to work after a weekend glued to horrific images of the extensive damage about 150 miles to the north.
In the largely residential Nerima district of Yokyo, staples like rice, bread and instant noodles were sold out. Lights were kept off on the produce shelves and meat refrigeration units to conserve electricity.
“About 40 to 50 people were lined up outside when we opened at 10. A day’s worth of food sold out in an hour. We had a second shipment delivered at midday and that sold out in an hour too,” said Toshiro Imai, a store manager in Tokyo.
“Part of the factory of one of our suppliers is damaged so stock is limited.”
i didn’t get a chance to look at any ordinary supermarkets today, but there is a lot of panic buying going on. staples and instant foods, snack foods, water, toilet paper, etc. the electricity thing and the trains, as well as the chance of large aftershocks and the nuclear situation are all adding up to a lot of unusual behavior. in Tokyo there is no serious damage, just electricity shortages and the loss of supply of any goods sourced from the devastated region up north. tomorrow i will cycle around to a few supermarkets to see how fcuked the suply chain is. this is the peak time of the year for hay fever, so i don’t really want to go on a 40 km cycle trip across the city, but the trains are too unpredictable, so i’ll stick with the bike for the time being.
Tokyo appears quite normal in this link.
http://www.japantrends.com/life-continues-in-tokyo/
just sayin…..
@tochigi
I would appreciate any information that you could provide on this situation.
Thanks very much for offering to do that.
American expat, Tokyo resident/worker for
quarter of a century, and business and
family man in Japan comments:
http://modernmarketingjapan.blogspot.com/
Scroll down to “Great Tokyo Food and Water Panic”
post. Fresh pictures and commentary from on-the-
ground resident.
FYI: He’s leaving Japan with his family. Why? Update here:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/82124.html
@tochigi- thank you for sharing your experience at this time. Sending you a big hug, bow, or handshake (whatever sign of affection is acceptable in your culture without offense).
@Eileen:
my culture? i’m from new zealand but i have lived in japan for the majority of my adult life. thank you for your kind thoughts.
@kevin:
chose the day the fallout began arriving to cycle 40km around tokyo. jeez. at least it’s pretty low level at this point.
the supermarkets were semi-normal in terms of what they were selling. a lot of items were sold out, but it hasn’t got completely ridiculous yet. bottled water, sanitary products, instant noodles, and in some cases rice were looking sparse.
some of the petrol stations i cycled past had very long queues–20 to 50 vehicles waiting. i heard from friends about 100 km north of tokyo that there is no petrol or kerosene (heating fuel).
the trains are supposed to be operating closer to normal from tomorrow in central tokyo and the inner suburbs, but nearly all minor lines on the outskirts of tokyo have been suspended indefinitely.
the big wild cards imho are the nuke plants and the wind direction over the next few days.
the people up north whose homes and towns have been wiped out by the tsunami are in temporary shelter (mainly school halls). there’s half a million of them and not enough food is getting through. it is snowing right now up there.
some of my friends have decided to leave tokyo and go to western japan, others are getting close to doing likewise. i am still monitoring and will see what happens over the next few days, but we will leave quickly if need be.
@tochigi
Thank you very much for taking the time to post your observations.