After the earthquake, I heard that food supplies were getting dangerously low in Tokyo. The possibility of a mag 7 Earthquake to hit Tokyo is still 40% (reduced from 70%). Many people are worried and started to panic buy staple foods such as bread, rice and instant noodles. Never thought I would see people line up for batteries, toilet paper and rice in modern day Japan.
Evil dealers were even buying up batteries who tried to sell them for extortionate prices on Amazon Japan before they got reported.
After checking to see if our house was still in one piece, we headed to our local shopping area in Musashikoyama in Meguro Tokyo. At the Family Mart convenience store all bread and cakes were gone.
These photos taken on 2011/03/15 at about 21:00.
Earlier on in the evening on the way home - first signs that things are not completely normal. Some vending machines turned off due to the rolling blackouts.
Shops at the stations seemed to operate as normal filled with drinks and snacks.
Cafes are operating as normal too.
Udon noodles available for noms at the station.
Back in Family Mart. While the bread shelves were empty, there is food to eat and is restocked everyday. Folks do not need to worry about starving in Tokyo - unless you just have to eat convenience store bread everyday.
Instant soup type foods available for noms.
Plenty of drinks but no milk. Milk, bread, rice, noodles, gasoline, batteries, toilet paper are the main items that folks are buying tons of. Most supermarkets do refill stock in the morning and there is a limit on how many of these items one can buy. Folks should go to the supermarkets early to get these items and expect to queue up for a bit.
Patches of empty shelves but still stuff available to eat.
The most important food for young boys is of the health type and there is plenty available.
Plenty of vegetable and fruits available.
Dinner for the night is Okura and Tororo on soba noodles - 400 yen.
Fujisoba running with minimal lights to save electricity.
Was about 21:30 in the evening. The burger place in business as usual.
Ringerhut also operating business with reduced lights. This is the Nagasaki Chanpon noodle place.
Doutor is the coffee place. Never go in there though as the sandwiches they sell taste of tobacco - they allow customers to smoke where the food is being prepared.
Tenya is the tempura place still operating as usual.
Mc Donalds operating business with a reduced menu due to the lack of stock.
Dont know why but I felt like some Mc Dees this afternoon. Wifey is insisting that I wear that mask while outdoors ^^;
Other folks enjoying their Mc Dees in the afternoon.
Lots of folks have been buying much more rice than they need which is resulting in the lack of rice everywhere. We spotted a queue of folks queuing up leading us to find a small place selling rice - this shop seemed to have plenty of it! Its located in a small road leading off the Palm shopping arcade in Musashikoyama.
But there was quite a bit of queuing to get the rice.
Bread is available but by lunch time not much left.
By lunch time, all toilet paper is gone.
All toilet paper gone from this pharmacy too. Never thought I'd see the day where people would panic buy toilet paper. But the most notable thing was that dispute the current situation in Japan - there was no looting anywhere. But I guess trying to buy everything up is kinda as bad as looting in a way ^^;
Despite the current news of something very bad happening at the nuclear plants happening up North, folks are going about in a orderly manner trying to get back into the rhythm of a normal life.
More posts regarding the quake listed up below.
