This day had been marked on our dairies for some weeks already. It is the date that we had to go sign the loan agreement with the bank in preparation for the purchase of the house that we were going to close the next week.
It was a deceptive kind of morning. The skies were blue and it looked like a beautiful day. Till we stepped out of the house - it was cold! Tomo and I spent the morning together in the bank. After the signing finished, it was close to noon and he mentioned that he would be having a meeting in my office building. Coincidentally. So we decided to have lunch together, and then go in to my building together. Over lunch, he mentioned that after his meeting at my building, he will head out to Chiba to check a project.
1.50pm. - I put on my computer and know that Tomo is somewhere downstairs, his meeting starts at 2pm. I check emails. It is a quiet day. I start surfing the internet for current affairs and financial news.
2.46pm.- The building very slowly starts rocking. I continue looking at the computer screen. I was thinking, hmmm, again? Just a quake only 2 days ago. The slow rocking goes on and on. This is definitely not a short one. And then, the building starts to shake more violently. The blinds in my room start swinging and hitting the walls on the side. I look up. This is not good. The shaking gets more violent. 2 files I had standing up on my room floor fall over. Wow, never experienced such a strong earthquake in my little more than 10 years here. I look out my room and see that the secretaries are outside looking scared. I decided to go out and join them. Nothing like company in misery. I get past my room door when my colleague whose room is right next to mine comes out too. The violent shaking continues. My colleague, a Japanese, tells me she is scared - this is the worst earthquake she has experienced. We chat a bit more about earthquakes in the past. All this whilst the building is still shaking strongly. That is how long the earthquake was going on for. Then we noticed that we were not alone. A secretary was under her table in the desk over which we were hovering chatting. She looks terrified and is in tears. At that moment, we hear from behind the office wall - things cracking/breaking! We are a little horrified. An announcement comes over the PA system - "Do not panic. This is an earthquake resistant building". Yeah, right! We go over to the big window nearby and see Sanno Park Tower, a neighbouring building that has a lot of glass. In the reflection of that glass, we see our building and other buildings swaying. I also see a lot of people have come out from their buildings and are standing on the street. I then see my room door close, caused by the shaking. The quake then slowly dies down. We all go back to our seats to try and get back to work.
Before 3pm.- I go in to my room and try to send a message to ask my nanny how she is (the quake 2 days ago had her very frightened; that was her first quake since arriving in Japan a couple of months back). I see that the message does not go through. I go back to my computer screen. I am looking at it no more than 3 seconds, when the building starts swaying again. Not violently though. I grab my coat, wallet and phone. I head out my door. Everyone comes out from their rooms again. I see a partner holding his cellphone and I go over to get more info. He tells me that the quake is from Miyagi and the magnitude is about 8. He is quite concerned as he is from Sendai (in Miyagi) and his family is still there. We discuss whether it is safer to stay in the building (which is relatively brand new and supposed to have the latest earthquake technology) or to leave. No one really knows. Then the quake dies down. My colleague, the one whose room is next to mine, confidently announces - the earthquake is over, it is safe, don't worry, we should just stay in the building. The moment she says that, a violent jolt comes on and shakes the building violently once more.
After 3pm.- This is it, I am not staying in the building, quake-resistant or not. A couple of us foreigners decide to leave together. We get out of our main security door. I notice that the hallway looks entirely different. The security guards must have come up already and shut some doors (which I never knew existed) so that the lifts are completely out of sight and inaccessible. The newly-created passageway leads only to the staircase. I also notice that plaster has fallen off some parts. We make our way down. Halfway-down, another violent jolt comes and throws us around. I felt like a drunk making my way down the stairs.
I reach ground level. I look around and notice cracks in the wall. Some people are gathered outside directly under the building. The security guard is yelling asking them to get indoors. We suppose that indoors is better than outdoors directly under a building that has lots of glass, but being away from it all is probably the best. We could not think of a good location. Then suddenly, we remember Hie JinJa (a famous shrine) that is nearby. It is on high ground and there are no tall buildings around it. We make our way there. We pick up some people along the way - including a Japanese colleague from another floor and a stranger. That stranger is a Canadian businessman although he has been in Tokyo for quite some years already. He is new to our area and was not quite sure what to do or where to go.
The shrine has a big courtyard. We all feel quite safe there. We got acquainted with a Japanese guy there that has a TV function on this cellphone. We learn that there were massive tsunamis of 10m at Miyagi and saw live images of cars and houses being swept away by the tsunamis. We could not believe what we were seeing. It was also a terrible, almost guilty, feeling - here we were in the safety of a shrine being scared and there in another part of Japan, people were having very real fears and were fighting for their lives. I try calling Tomo and the nanny, but no calls could go through. Phone lines are down. After some time, we go back to the office.
4.30pm.- It is almost 2 hours after the first quake hit. I have just returned to the office.When we were outdoors at the shrine, we could not feel any more shakes. When I get back into my room and sit down, I immediately realize that the quake is still going on. I can still feel the building swaying. And to confirm it, my blinds are still swinging from side to side hitting the walls, although gently. I could not believe it. This is some quake. I try calling Tomo again on the cellphone. Can't reach him. I try the land line. Absolutely not working. I figure he would probably know I am safe, somehow. I figured out I would stay in the office till about 6pm then take the train home. I start going on the internet again to find out more about the quake. At that very moment, my phone rings. It is Tomo. His first question was "are you OK?". His second question was "where are you?". Then he said, come down now, we will walk home together. I said, "what???". He said the trains have stopped. I figure they will start running in an hour or so. He says no, he does not think that will happen. I tell my colleagues I have a crazy husband who overeacts and insists that we have to walk home. To Yokohoma from the middle of Tokyo. I tell my secretary and colleagues that I am not busy today and will leave now as my husband is waiting downstairs. I figured out it will be a long walk and made a quick trip to the toilet first.
Slightly after 4.40pm.- We start our walk from outside my building. That is when I took the photo above. We were indeed walking from the middle of Tokyo to Yokohama. I still think my husband is mad. But he is determined. It felt quite surreal. Ever since we came to Japan together more than 10 years ago, we have always talked about what to do when the BIG ONE happens. It was now actually happening.
Even though this is not the Big One, it showed us that we actually had a lousy plan. The plan was to meet at a halfway point between his office and my office and then we walk home together. Now, with this experience, that plan is insane. Why waste time to meet at a halfway point? We should just each walk in the direction of home.
As we walked, he told me he managed to talk to our nanny 3 times soon after the first quake struck. 3 times! How did he do that when the phone lines were down? Viber. And that was how he managed to get me also. Phone lines are down, but not internet lines. (I then noticed that my phone showed he called me like 17 times from the first quake, on Viber, but for some reason, my phone did not ring.) The kids are fine and with the nanny. In terms of timing, the quake - if it had to happen - happened at a good time for us. The nanny had just arrived at our station when the quake came. So she was not stuck when the trains stopped and could pick up the boys when the kindie bus came along. Also when the quake came, Tomo had just finished his meeting and was walking just outside my building. Any later and he would be on his way to Chiba or in Chiba, which is on the opposite side of Tokyo from Yokohama. When the quake happened, although he was outdoors, he could feel it quite strongly. He and his colleague had to grab hold on a lamp post to steady themselves. This is quite unusual as regular quakes are usually not felt when one is out and about. He told me that from the street level, he could see all the buildings swaying but the Bank of China building was not swaying, it was jolting violently. He said everyone on the street was pointing out at the building. Hmmm.. Bank of China may move soon, no? He also said another building that is being constructed nearby, had 2 cranes on the top. And at least one of the cranes kept moving up and down, almost tipping over a few times. That would have been disastrous if it tipped over and crashed onto street level.
A few minutes into our walk, we walked past Starbucks. Starbucks had set out a table outside and was giving away coffee and little bites. Absolutely free.
We walked down Aoyama-Dori. Past Omote-Sando. It was like a river of people, with each tributary feeding more people into the main flow. We jumped into a convenience store to buy some snacks and drinks for the long walk. The shelves were already pretty much wiped out. I was amazed by the number of people walking home. Tomo was absolutely right, there was no hope that the trains would be running anytime soon. Each station entrance we passed was cordoned off and we overheard the station officers telling enquiring people that it is not known when the lines would start but probably unlikely in the next few hours.
As we neared Shibuya, the sun starts to set. It starts becoming cold. There was also the wind chill factor, it was a windy day. I am glad I have the rights shoes and coat on me. I felt very comfortable. As we hit the Shibuya junction, the pedestrian walkway stops and instead we have to go up a bridge. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people from all directions trying to get up the bridge. But in typical Japanese style, which I really appreciated, there was no pushing or shoving even though there was a bottleneck at the entrance of the bridge. Everyone knew the rules, alternate lines. For e.g., 5 lines are squeezing to get into 2 lines up the bridge, the rules are 1 person from line 1 to go, then 1 person from line 2, then 1 person from line 3 .... Very orderly. We see that there is a long Q for the buses at Shibuya. For all of 1 second, we considered whether we should get on a bus. We continued walking, walking, walking. I am surprised at the brisk pace of the crowd. We were only slightly slower than breaking out into a run. I think it is because everyone knew it was going to be a long walk, everyone wanted to be home soon, and it was cold. I wonder if this crowd would be thinning soon or is everyone actually going to walk as far as us?
Along the way, I was telling Tomo this is actually the best time to go buy our bicycles. We have been wanting to get ourselves bikes for a long time but never got down to it. Unfortunately, we did not walk past any bicycle shop.
We keep walking, walking, walking. And yet, we are still in Tokyo. The sun has set. It is dark. We see more shops giving out warm drinks for free. My friend encountered some people handing out Kits Kats to the walkers, but I unfortunately did not encounter that. We see office workers still wearing the office-issued earthquake hard hats walking. I see a pregnant woman. I see a mother pushing a stroller. That must be tough, with everyone trying to overtake her.
We walked past bus-stops. We walked past buses. We noticed that not one bus we walked past overtook us. Ever. I later heard from my Kit Kat friend that her husband drove. It was a nightmare of a jam. In 2 hours, he moved only 50 metres. He was so close to just abandoning the car and joining the hordes walking.
After Shibuya, I could feel my muscles getting sore. I now know which muscles I use most when walking. In the stretch between Shibuya and Yoga, we had old buildings on our left and the shuto expressway over our heads on the right. And a large part of the expressway was undergoing reinforcement works (even from before the quake). Scaffolding was everywhere. It was a little unnerving. What if another big one hits now?
As we neared towards Futako-Tamagawa, we debated whether we should stop for a bite. We figured out it would be rather late by the time we reach home and in any event, we were getting hungry with the walking. But we feared that once we stopped, that walking momentum would be difficult to get back into and the muscles would actually feel more achy when we started again. We decided to stop anyway. Decided to do a quick one. Went into a little local place. Very smoky. We placed our orders and noticed that they had a TV. Of course, all programming was focused on the quake. Saw the images of the cars and houses in the tsunami again. Unbelievable. Saw a walkway at Yokohama station splitting up. And even after it split up, the footage continued showing the two sides moving against each other with a gap in the middle. Wow. It was there that we learnt that there were actually 3 earthquakes i.e. 3 different epicentres. That is quite something. I had thought it was just 1 quake with lots of aftershocks. The first quake was at Sendai. That started the whole chain reaction. The second one was at Iabaraki. I think this is the one that sent me running down my building. I am not quite sure where I was for the third one, either at the shrine or starting my walk home.
*Later, within 24 hours of the first quake, there would be another 2 major quakes at Nagano and then Niigata - which caused avalanches. In the week since, many others have come up, including epicentres at Chiba, Tokyo Bay and Shizuoka. Can you imagine how many shakes we have been having for the last week? No wonder the Japanese, and particularly the foreigners, are all so shaken up. Our TVs beep every time an earthquake is coming, and there has been a lot of beeping this past week. Such a chain reaction is very unusual.*
We finish our dinner and start walking again. Dinner and a little detour to the bus station to check whether there are any buses our way took slightly less than an hour. We are at about the halfway point now. As we leave Futako-Tamagawa and cross the bridge over the river, we have left Tokyo behind us. The crowd has not really thinned. People are still walking. At this stage, I see that most of the walkers are men though. I am one of the very few female walkers. From here on, the road is not flat. There are some ups and downs. I am thinking one good thing about walking is I can see details of places more clearly compared to when we zoom past in a car.
Apart from the free beverages and snacks, there are also quite a few signs from offices welcoming walkers to go in to use their toilet facilities. I do believe in humanity.
As we continued walking, we could see that the train lines were still not open. We did see some trains moving very slowly. They were testing out the tracks. We heard some people saying that some lines have announced that they would not open that night. We imagined a lot of our colleagues sleeping in the office.
The funny thing is, after having kids, Tomo and I never had so much time alone together to just talk. Without interruption. But in the circumstances, knowing that this was no ordinary quake and this was no ordinary day, our conversation was focused on the quake, the victims ... We were pretty sure that if this quake had hit Tokyo directly, this walk would not be the same. Would this walk even be possible? And at that time, we were not aware of the problems just starting at the nuclear plant in Fukushima.
And then, we actually did it. We made it home! Reached home at 11.10pm. The whole journey took 6.5 hours. Taking into account dinner, we walked for about 6 hours.
The nanny was so glad to see us. As were the kids. The nanny still had not been able to make contact with her husband. (Tomo helped and finally, she could contact him. He was fine and he walked home from Tokyo too.) As the train lines were still not open and driving her home would be a nightmare given the jams, she stayed overnight. We were all glued on the TV that night together and finally went to bed at 3am.
