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goods were missing as well. Toilet paper had also been quickly snapped up and wascompletely sold out. 13th March, Sunday, more shops began to open up but many itemsbecame sold out. Most concerning is that gasoline supplies have dwindled due to delaysin transportation and logistics. There are long lines at gas stations, and some are closedbecause they have no gas to sell. Only yesterday (Friday) a major gasoline renery inChiba Prefecture reopened and began sending out tankers. Additionally the lack of fuel

has caused delays in trucking so grocery stores and other retailers have remainedunstocked for several days. As of today we are still having aftershocks.

In the wake of the earthquake, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) suffered heavydamage to their Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. We are about 190 miles awayfrom the nuclear site, but still we feel the affects of this man made disaster. Tepco and theJapanese government have been calling out to individuals and businesses to reduceenergy use, rolling black outs have been implemented in the Kanto area to assist withenergy conservation efforts. As a result, many businesses close earlier than normal, oroperate with less lighting. The trains run on electricity and the two train lines that stop inmy town were not running for a few days after the quake and have, since the middle of lastweek, returned to reduced service.

Finally in TV media, public stations have ceased showing regular scheduled content andcommercials. The majority of TV stations show non-stop news coverage, and only a fewdays ago some cheerful variety programming has returned, and it is displayed along side aphone number for disaster relief charities. Regular commercials have been replaced withpublic service announcements imploring views to be kind to one another and donate tocharities.

3. Some of my adult students live in the area of town that is close to the seashore. One

member ed his home, which is right on the beach, and stayed in an evacuation shelter for24 hours. He seems to be coping well, and he has not suffered any severe damage tohis home.

This region of Japan, Kanto, is the nexus of the nation. Many people from all parts moveto this area for work or education. Many of my coworkers have family in the North Eastregion of Japan and I have no doubt that someone I know has family members who aremissing or living in an emergency shelter due to this disaster.

I am employed as a contract worker at my town s board of education as an AssistantLanguage Teacher. I found my position by applying to the JET program. There are twoother Assistant Language Teachers in my town, they are on the same program as me.Both of them are Americans. In the wake of the news about the nuclear crisis 190 milesaway, the two of them decided to temporarily leave the area. They feared becomingcontaminated by radiation, as far as I know they both left for south western Japan. Both ofthem were very distressed about the situation. My town board of education has beennotied by the ofcials within the JET program that in relation to the nuclear crisis,foreigners may feel levels of fear which exceed those of Japanese people. Additionallysome of my Japanese coworkers expressed a desire to leave the area, some were joking,one was a little serious.

4. I feel that I am coping very well. I have decided to remain calm about the situation. Iintend to stay in Japan until the end of my contract. I know that the radiation is a hazard tohuman health, but I feel that I am a very good distance away from the Fukushima Daiichinuclear power plant so I don t need to worry about it. What worries me the most is another

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quake or a large tsunami. If my area were to suffer extensive damage from such adisaster, and I survived, then I would think about coming home early. In an aside, my townis very lucky to have had very little damage. In Chiba Prefecture 16 people were killed indamage from the 11th March quake, and nearby towns of Asahi and Kujukuri have beendeclared disaster areas. Asahi was hit very hard by the quake and tsunami. Majorattractions in Chiba, such as the Lotte Marines Baseball Stadium and Tokyo Disney Land

have also been damaged.

5. Yes, my family is indeed worried about me. All throughout this week I have been on thephone in the early morning and late evening talking about how I ought to come home rightnow. It is very emotionally draining, but I will stand by my decision to stay here for thetime being.

6. I happened to be in America during 9/11 (in Trenton) and Hurricane Katrina (inMichigan). Right now the state of Japan is very similar to both of these periods inAmerican history. A major disaster has just occurred in a region of the nation that is notvery far away. I would not describe the situation as scary, but It is very distressing to knowthat while some of us can sit inside of our homes and take shelter from the very last of theharsh Japanese winter, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are faring muchworse and are cut off from supplies, shelter and privacy, things that we take for granted.Not to mention families that have been broken up or lost in the devastation. There arepeople who are risking their lives to stop a nuclear power plant from going out of control,and there are Japan Self Defense Force members, Police and Fire Fighters risking theirlives in the disaster area right now.

7. My perspective on the level of damage comes from my own past experience. I havelived in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture for one year when I was an exchange student in

2001-2002. I have visited the port towns of Ishinomaki, Shiogama and Matsushima, bothof them were very quaint and beautiful spots. When I saw the damage that these placessuffered I was shocked. The places where I once walked have been reduced to absolutelylifeless, muddy, rubble infested debris elds that are less than festering scars on thelandscape. Comparing my experience of those places and what I see on the TV, I cantell you that the damage is very serious. Since I am able to write this message to you, Ican say that as a whole, Japan is not totally damaged. But I will repeat, North EasternJapan including the Prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima have sufferedunimaginable devastation.

8. The average American should know that Japan is in a state of crisis that our nation hasfaced in the very recent past. I ask the average American to think about how you felt, orwhere you where during the 3-Mile Island Crisis, 9/11 or during Hurricane Katrina. This ishow the Japanese people are feeling now. I think that Americans should respond withsympathy for our ally Japan. On a more individual level, I ask that average Americansshould remember that natural disasters can happen anywhere, and we ought to thinkabout how prepared we are to face such disasters and what can we do to get ready forthem. Our government is already responding by sending relief workers and supplies to aidthe Japanese efforts. If possible, even in this time of nancial hardship, please considerresponding with your own support by donating to a Japanese charity such as theJapanese Red Cross.

-Joshua McBride19th March 2011