To Blackout or Not To Blackout...

That has been the question today. Last night the announcement was made by Tepco that the Kanto region would move to scheduled electricity outages as of Monday, March 14. Within an hour or so of this official announcement, the list of 5 groups was read aloud on TV. So, naturally, I joined millions of other viewers in paying careful attention to learn which group my city was in in order to know when our power outage would occur.

That's when the fun started. During the television announcement, my city was put in Group 5. No problem! However, when I went to Tepco's website to find the official .pdf, so I could verify that I had, indeed, gotten the correct information, I was most confused to find that my city was also placed in Group 3. Huh?????? At this point, it was nearly midnight, and the blackout period was to begin from 6.20 in the morning. I finally went to bed with a vague idea of when the electricity blackout would occur.

Waking up early this morning to complete my electricity-requiring tasks, I navigated to Tepco's website to find a more detailed .pdf breaking down the outage locations by prefecture, then city, then area. I located my area in Group 2. Huh???????????? So first we are in Group 5, then we are in Group 3. Now, as of 7am this morning, I learn we're in Group 2, and we, along with Group 1, were the lucky ones who drew not just one, but two shifts-- one in the morning from 9.20 until 1pm, and then again from 6.20 until 10pm.

When I got to work, I found out the list had been published in the newspaper, and my coworker had diligently cut out the section and highlighted our city-- which was, indeed, broken up into 3 sections. So she also had no idea which group we were meant to be in. I showed her Tepco's website, and the .pdf, and explained that we are surely in Group 2 from this latest information.

What happened, though, is that one neighborhood in my city got put into Group 5, and one neighborhood got put into Group 3, but the rest are all in Group 2, hence the triple listing.

While I do appreciate that these are some very stressful times at Toden, particularly with the reactor situation (the representative on TV today seemed a bit frayed by 5pm today), the information was not necessarily made clear to people.

So this morning, after learning I was in Group 2 and we would have 2 outages per day, I got busy-- I double-checked that my light sources were in order, as I would be spending the evening in the dark, cooked some food that I could eat cold for my tea, and planned to complete my e-mail correspondence in the morning. Meanwhile I watched the numerous initial difficulties being experienced by Group 1, whose first scheduled time was 6.20 until 10.00. As 9.20 drew near, I kept NHK on to ensure there was no more information I required right away. 9.20 came... and went... and still we had power. Huh?????? The press conference then came on, announcing that the Group 2 people would continue to receive power, and the evening was yet to be determined. Hokay...

As the day progressed, and we were becoming increasingly curious about whether we could offer our evening classes at my school, we learned that Group 3, then 4 would still receive power, even after the explosion in Reactor 3. Then, around 3pm, we learned that Group 5, who was supposed to have an outage from 15.20 until 19.00, would receive power, but there was a "high possibility" they would have the outage from 17.00 until 19.00. There was still no news on the Group 1 or 2 evening shifts. The Group 5 outage was not confirmed almost until the time it started, and Group 2 did not learn about their evening outage being cancelled until it was almost time to begin. The 17.00 until 19.00 time is significant because Toden has identified the 6-7pm period as being a peak time, as households turn on heaters and lights, and begin cooking evening meals.

The theme being pushed today was conserving power. Indeed, a number of businesses closed early in order to save electricity, and the memo had been put out asking businesses to turn off neon/lighted signs, cooler lights and so forth, in addition to asking household consumers to minimize consumption.

Needless to say this was all a bit stressful for a lot of people, particularly in a country where detailed planning and organization are prevalent (if a train arrives even 1 minute late, the train company spends however long apologizing until the timetable can be righted again) . Although the Kanto region was not in the direct line of fire from the initial earthquake and tsunami, we are still continuing to experience aftershocks and secondary effects from the disaster. People are tired and concerned about daily basics-- buying food from the dwindling supplies, getting cash while the ATMs are still operational, finding batteries and light sources, and trying to get from Point A to B when the transportation services have been cancelled.

We are seeing more footage of the survivors from the North, and the common report is that there is no food, water, kerosene for heaters, or blankets. As we continue to have running water, electricity, and access to some sort of food, I don't mind in the least if we have shortages or limited selection here for a while if those supplies would be instead getting to the North shelters where they are most desperately needed.

Today was a beautiful early spring day in the Kanto region-- even at 8am, it was quite warm outside. The highlights of T+3 include:



Supermarket Queue : The dwindling food supply (I have not checked this evening to see if any deliveries were received), combined with the uncertainty of what will happen and the originally-planned power outage led to another first sight-- a queue outside the supermarket. Usually Life supermarket opens at 9.30am (9 on Sundays), but today it opened at 10. This queue started with a few people hanging about when I rode past at 9. By 9.45 it had stretched clear down the front of the supermarket and about 50 meters beyond.

Also, traffic jams. With the Tobu line and JR Musashino lines both having suspended service today, a lot of people were trying to drive to work. This led, naturally, to ridiculously crowded roads. Something to keep in mind is that the petrol supply is being rationed in the Tohoku, and there are petrol stations in the Kanto region which have closed, or run out of unleaded fuel.



People standing in front of the ticket gates at the station, almost appearing lost as they contemplate how they are going to get from Point A to B with the Tobu service suspended today due to the planned rolling blackouts. A lot of train services were suspended, or run on reduced numbers/hours due to energy conservation measures as well as the blackout timetable.


People reading the line information in front of the ticket gates.


The foreboding appearance of the station thoroughway at 7.10pm. Normally the left of the station should be filled with parked bicycles, all the businesses open, and a continual stream of commuters returning home from work. The Italian Tomato cafe was completely empty, as was the Family Mart. Beyond the station, the Doutor coffee, the McDonald's and the Tokyu department store had already closed for the evening, well before their usual time.