In Japan, Life is Anything But Normal

Surviving in post-earthquake Japan is about getting used to nerve-racking aftershocks, trying to block out the devastation left behind from the disaster and feeling skittish about reports of radiation leakage, says one Japanese resident.

Rick Cogley is from Pittsburg and moved to Japan and now runs a computer firm. His sister, Karen, lives in Dale City and says she is thankful Rick has survived the strongest earthquake on record in Japan. But living in the earthquake and tsunami – ravaged country has its challenges.

Rick Cogley says the trains that much of the country relies on for travel are slowly getting back to normal, but commutes times are much longer than average.

More to the Story: See a collection of photos taken by Rick Cogley as he travels around post-earthquake Japan. Read the entire story he shared with PotomacLocal.com.

He also says daily supplies and rations are scarce, and those who travel to big box stores to buy them are out of luck.

“Sunday, we all stayed home, and pretty much rested and slept. Everyone was pretty tired. My wife went food shopping and made the very smart decision to go to a small mom-and-pop shop to get things, rather than try for the big inexpensive supermarkets. My daughter and I were walking the dog, and found milk in a drug store, so we bought several 1-liter bottles. We did see considerable minor structural damage to the roads around my neighborhood in Totsuka. Any seams between concrete, around manholes, or between tar patches, had opened up a quarter- or half-inch or so,” stated Cogley in an email to PotomacLocal.com.

Many companies are telling their workers to stay home because of the threat of radiation from the troubled Fukushima-1 nuclear reactor.

So far, more than 250,000 people have been evacuated from the town in which it sits.

The country’s rolling blackouts that have been mandated to save energy is also making difficult to go back to work, he said.

Cogley has also been unable to avoid sickness.

“On top of all that, and while I hate to grouse in a situation where so many are living in absolutely devastating circumstances from the tsunami afflicted areas just north of here, I managed to get myself an ear infection. Luckily the docs are working, somehow, like the rest of us. I could get antibiotics and pain meds to deal with it, so I can keep working, and supporting our clients. The record-high pollen levels are not helping matters either, as I am sure most of Japan can attest,” stated Cogley.