Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Earthquake Aftermath - Hoarding, Salaryman family in deep shit, real fast

First I can just start off with saying that if you're looking for real helpful advice on the situation currently in Japan, this is probably not the best place to go. Instead, I would recommend you to head over to some of my links on the blogroll on the left side, personally I've found quite a few helpful tips in there, primarily Japanprobe, but also fellow Swede Martin and his blog Kurashi as well as Japan Now&Then. Not that I have any aversion to spreading information, but these guys and gals are doing quite a good job of it (and probably many more that I just haven't come across).

The Salaryman family are now entering the 5th day post the earthquake and things are quite calm apart from some minor (and slightly bigger) aftershocks and the hovering nuclear power plant issue in Fukushima (but still, after reading up on above sources and their links, I feel quite calm of the situation since we're 300kms away from plants).

One thing that has been quite the annoyance in recent days is the hoarding that people are setting out on. On our excursion to the supermarket the other day, they were very well stocked in most areas, plenty of food to go around, fresh vegetables and fruit, bottled water, canned foods and most importantly, the My Boom Chili oil mix. However, the most aggressive target of hoarding showed to be toilet papers and diapers... Even though we hit the supermarket at opening hours, the shelves were completely cleaned out and the supplies at home running dangerously low...

It seems like the Japanese people prioritize their toilet habits first, but leaving us who had other priorities in the shitter, so to speak. This is no joke anymore, toilet paper is now being used carefully and in moderation (no more binges!) and if we can't scavenge or loot any soon, things will get really shitty really soon... Earthquakes are no joke...

11 comments:

aimlesswanderer said...

Is it time to go to the cheapskate neighbors with offers to trade rice for nappies?

Start researching reusable nappies... as long as you have lots of water and detergent.

Evacomics said...

It's true! My supermarket had also run out of toilet papers! Luckily I bought 4 rolls just before the quake! I'm leaving here temporary on Friday 18th...

jlpt2kyu said...

just go indian style. better for the environment too!

TheOctopus said...

My office is closed this week (everyone "working" from home), but I needed to go in to put an Important Piece Of Hardware (which I had to stop leaping to its death on Friday) into a more stable position, and was delighted to discover a decent-sized cache of toilet paper which no-one will miss for the forseeable future.

I'm holding it (the toilet paper) back for now as I accidentally overstocked on tissues in the middle of last week, and as I am speculating it will soon become a valuable bartering tool, or at least something I can throw to distract any mobs coming after my cache of pot noodles.

Corinne said...

Do you want me to send you some?? I feel like we're living in luxury down here in kansai, no shaking, wiping our arses without fear or worry...
Seriously though, send me an email and I can send you shitter necessities!
corinnesuya(at)live(dot)com(dot)au

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chris said...

Toilet paper looting...Man, I wanna be the "Muscle" and beat up old people while you turn a blind eye in the name of a clean ass.

This can work...The Bad Guy from Mad Max but lookin for toilet paper instead of oil.

Sign me up.

Why the fuck are Tokyo people hoarding?
Is the supply route from the south about to be bombed by the allies? I don't fucking get it??

F. said...

your left hand, good man, left hand...

Michiko said...

This reminds me of when I was cleaning out my moms house after she passed away, I found bags and bags of torn-up folded rags and towels. They were neatly folded and put away cleanly in the back of closets, in drawers, even in the kitchen. My mom was hibakusha 被爆者and apparently cleaning themselves down there for several weeks/months/years after the disaster was a challenge. Sadly, hoarding is a normal response to trauma and uncertainty of what is, or is not to come.

Sorry for the long comment, I’m still in shock and I’m on the other side of the planet.

Let me know if I can Express Mail some pampers to ya, don’t know when you’ll get them but you may have to resort to cloth diapers and a lot of stinky handwashing, ewe.

Mr. Salaryman said...

Aimless - Yeah, we still have a week's supply though, so we should be fine I think - we'll go shopping tomorrow and I would hope/guess that things have calmed down a bit

Eva - Well, use them sparingly and hope you don't get a stomach bug!

jlpt - yeah, that's an option, we have two hands for a reason after all!

Octopus - Can't you also loot the office for valuables and trade them for toilet paper? Toilet paper will be the new currency for sure!

Corinne - Thank you very much for the offer and I'll keep it in mind! With the toilet paper situation under control I hope that things will be ok though! I might get back to you on this though :)

Chris - Yeah, I don't get the hoarding either. Ok that some people want to stock up a little, but the rush for some stuff is a bit ridicilous, I will go shopping tomorrow or so and hope that there's more available

BiJ - But then I have to learn to type with just one...?

Michiko - Thank you very much for the offer! But it would probably take forever to receive anything from the US with the flights and general situation, but for now we're fine, appreciate it!

Anonymous said...

In the 1970s there was the great toilet paper shortage rumor in Japan. We could not keep the shelves stocked. TV was showing pictures of warehouses full of toilet paper but the public still hoarded the stuff. The next year we went through the great rice shortage rumor. Yes,we are hoarders.

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