Blackout wards

Hello Uji,

I hope that all your friends and family are safe and well, and my thoughts are with everyone effected at this time.

I still hope to fly to Japan on the 26th of March as I believe foreign money is needed to boost the economy, however with the proposed blackouts, transport changes and food shortages I am in two minds if this is still feasible with my limited Japanese.

As it stands my itinerary is as follows.

27th- Land in Narita
28th- Stay near Ueno park
29th- Heritage pass to Nikko, stop night.
30th – Yokohama
31st – Kamakura
1st – Kamakura
2ND – Stay at a friend’s in Osaka
3rd – Osaka
4th- Hiroshima
5th- Hiroshima
6th- Miyajima
7th- Miyajima
8th- Nagoya to pick up girlfriend from airport
9th- Nara
10th- Koyasan
11th-Osaka
12TH- Kyoto
13th- Kyoto
14th- Kyoto
15th- Kyoto
16th- Kyoto
17th –Tokyo staying near Ueno
18th- Tokyo
19th- Tokyo
20th –Tokyo
21st- Tokyo
22nd-Tokyo
23rd- Fly back from Narita

Iv been trying to think that if there was a Flood in London, it wouldn’t stop me visiting Manchester but with the proposed power cuts its supermarkets having less food im quite phased as to if my booked itinerary is feasible/ sensible?
With regards to staying in Tokyo which wards will be effected as once there i will mainly be travelling between Ueno, Akihabara, Chuo, Minato and Shibuya.

Im aware that the situation is changing almost hourly but any thoughts and opinions on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

finnfb,

If you click on the "Click here for an update on the Earthquake and Tsunami" link at the top of the forum page, you should see that none of the 23 central Tokyo wards (except Adachi-ku) are currently due to be directly affected by scheduled power outages. Having said that, shops and businesses are being urged to reduce their power consumption, and combined with the problems of ensuring sufficient staffing levels due to seriously reduced trains services, many shops and department stores were apparently closed in Tokyo today.

You can find information as to blackout times and areas here:

http://sfcinfo.m3.coreserver.jp/soramber/Blackout/index.php

You'll need to click on the dates to the left of the page and information is only available for about 36-48 hours ahead.

If you can alter your scgedule, the logical thing would be to move trips to Nikko, Yokohama and Kamakura later and head directly to western parts of the country. The situation is probably muh better around Tokyo two weeks later.

The situation in Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura and Yokohama could still be problematic by the time of your scheduled arrival due to power outages, reduced public transportation and closures. The other destinations are unlikely to be affected.

As a former resident of France where there are strikes every so often, with blackouts and drastically reduced transit......I can say that it all works out in the end. Even as a tourist I have managed to enjoy a stay on strike days....
It is not the end of the world.

The Japanese that have lost everything have it much harder than mildly-inconvenienced tourists...

In my home town in Canada when there is a violent winter storm we often loose electrical power for 4 to 8 hrs...(no heat, no meals-- as the stove is electric, no lights, no TV.)...we deal with it...including walking several km under the rain to another area where restaurants are open....

When I travel I never know, when I go to the airport in my home town, if I will be able to fly that day and end up where I plan to go...which means that wherever I land I have no hotels booked, no trains reserved... just like in the old days before internet.....

Thank you very much for all your answers.

I have been in communication with several of the hostel I am booked with in and around the Tokyo area, some are very positive about business continuing as normal; but otheres are advising me not to travelat all.

Like many people here i shall wait and see how the situation changes over the next few days.