Spoke Too Soon

[a_cubed]

So much for lemons. I think there are very limited supplies getting through and we’re not finding them, mostly. Part of the problem is that whole milk just doesn’t work (it sends my skin nuts and Tomoko is very wary of high-fat things as she doesn’t want to gain too much weight just now – an easy thing to do at present and as I know from bitter experience, it’s much easier to put it on than take it off). Our local supermarket hasn’t had any at all available since we bought 1L a few days ago and the other store we went to today in Asakusa had a modest supply, but only of full fat.

The situation at Fukushima is now improving rather than variable. The worst impact seems to have been a rise in the Iodine-138 levels in Tokyo drinking water to the point where it’s contraindicated for regular consumption by babies under one year. There’s no problem for Pregnant women, though. This news, of course, led to lots of idiots rushing out and panic buying bottled water, leading to those with new-borns having difficulty getting it (resupply being still disrupted, and bottled water was a sensible purchase i the first few days when things were a little uncertain). I despair of my fellow uhman beings’ lack of ability to understand any semblance of risk, sometimes. Those flying long haul to get away from the “radiation danger” in Tokyo have, of course, exposed themselve to an extra dose of radiation far in excess of what I have been exposed to here in Tokyo. Being a 50k+ flyer for years, of course, my exposure on a yearly basis is fairly high due to plane travel, but then I’m aware that it’s not at harmful doses.

Tomoko heard a joke about a smoker standing outside their office building puffing away and discussing their concerns about the Fukushima plant radioactivity…

The serious widespread impact of the earthquake and tsunami, after the 10,000+ (probably more like 20-25,000 in the end ) directly killed, is likely to be the rolling power cuts during what is predicted (through long range forecasting, which isn’t that accurate, it must be said) to be a quite hot summer again. Coping with 30+ degrees overnight without air conditioning is not fun, and for the elderly particularly could easily be fatal.

Current Mood:  calm

Current Music: Much Ado About Nothing soundtrack

Originally published at blog.a-cubed.info

Comments

Essential food supplies?

[https://profiles.google.com/Clare.M.So (from livejournal.com)]

What are the items that are considered essential in a Japan supermarket? I guess milk, yogurt, eggs, noodles and tofu are in the list. It's hard to explain to foreigners how the food supply is limited other than showing empty shelves in the store.

Re: Essential food supplies?

[a-cubed.livejournal.com]

Interesting question. The things which ran out due to hoarding and/or quick turnover without re-stock were instant ramen (pot noodle but slightly better), bread (as much that it's set out daily than anything else, I think), bottled water and other bottled drinks, natto (again, it's on a short delivery lopp like milk). Rice tends to be bought in very large sacks but is a taple of the diet for most people. Butter and cheese aren't anywhere near as much of the diet here as in ther UK, I think. There's been butter and some cheese available throughout, I think. Egss have generally been available. On the day itself the Economist reporters in Tokyo reported that things like crisps (chips) ran out at comvenienve stores. They found that an odd "hoarding" item, but certainly I was quite hungry the day of the quake and due to the repeated adrenalin rushes I needed food to buffer the sugar spikes, plus poeple may just have wanted something "comfort-food" like that could be eaten without any preparation.