2011-03-13 :: Tokyo Update

Greetings from Tokyo! You might have heard of it lately. Thought I'd give you a little status update as of 2011-03-14 01:05:12 (Tokyo/東京). We have just been informed that people in Tokyo and surrounding areas will have two 3 hour power outages until sometime in April. The outages could effect basic services a little bit. In the grocery stores, the shelves are starting to thin out a bit and some stores are closing early to conserve power. People have been asked to stay home from work tomorrow if they can.

My friends here are a little bit on edge but they are hanging on. People are just concerned for the people up north who were really effected by the tsunami and the largest quake in Japanese history. Military personnel and rescue teams have been sent from 52 countries to assist in the search and rescue. The US has sent the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, to the area which they are talking a lot about on the television.

If you'd like a more accurate and less sensationalistic account of what is happening, I'd recommend NHK (English).

If you are going to donate money to help Japan, read this advice.

Here are some safe places to donate to.
If you know of any others, email them to us at tpv-usa@tpvhq.com or dave@tpvhq.comand we'll post them for you.