A list of some of the dead

America doesn't do this. I don't understand why. These people had families and people loved them and will miss them. Now everyone in the country has a chance to ask that they rest in peace following whatever religion they wish.

I think it is honorable for a country to publicly acknowledge the loss of it's citizens. These people were just as important as any other member of society.

A comparison of earthquakes these last 100 years

Looks like this one is the biggest by far. I'm not sure why the west keeps reporting 8.9. Every agency in Japan is reporting 8.8.

こんかいのじしん

I like to translate the above as "this big f$&(er" but I'm sure that's not how teachers would translate it :)

This is kinda BS

The kanji in the image says "ほあんいん 「はつでんしょ がおおきく こわれた とは かんがえにくい」"

The government agency responsible for safety is saying "it's difficult to tell if there is any significant damage to the power plant"

This kind of statement is a complete lie. They are judging based on the radiation detected in the air. The operators have started venting to release some of the heat to cool down the core. Detecting radiation, I'm sure, is a fool-proof science that couldn't possibly be inaccurate (/sarcasm)

These guys are covering up ahead of a meltdown. I hope it doesn't come to that, but the Fukushima nuclear plant is FUBAR at the moment.

The trains have stopped

And no one has any idea what to do. We all stood around for about 30 minutes before people started making their moves to various places.

Not an exit

I checked to make sure no one was trapped under the pile. Seems like it was mostly paper records and the workers were nowhere near it when it happened. That's good news.

Ambulances outside a wedding hall

Particularly sad on your wedding day. These trucks literally filled the entire street.

I only saw one person brought out on a stretcher before I decided to walk away.

Something you never see

Tokyo station and a standstill. Only a natural disaster could cause this.

I walked from Iidabashi to Tsurumi last night dragging an empty suitcase for 27 Km. It was a mass exodus of humans trying to get back to their homes. No buses, no trains, cars back-to-back for 27 Km. No one was moving anywhere for any reason. Crazy times.

Most of these people probably slept close to where they are sitting. The staggering power of mother nature.

One of the kanji you see on tv a lot after something like this happens is:

行方不明 (ゆくえふめい) - whereabouts unknown or simply "missing"

The count last time they updated was 628. There are a lot of scared families out there right now worrying about the people they love. Pretty sad circumstances.

It wasn't the earthquake that did much, just shook us up and gave us a ride. It was the resulting tsunami that has laid waste to Miyagi-ken. The time between the earthquake and the first wave was probably less than 15 minutes. Not long enough to get to safety.

Basically, the moment that quake hit, a few hundred people were going to die. And the saddest part is that they probably had time to realize their fate. A wave that big and strong takes time to reach land, and you can see it far out in the ocean.

We will never know what those who died thought or felt minutes before the end, but it makes me sad to imagine the fear they must have felt.

Everyone eventually dies, but I wish that no one had to die with fear in their heart.

I like this style

The Japanese have great sense of modern and traditional combined into a single presentation.

檜風呂(ひのきぶろ) Japanese Cypress bath.

This is what I call a kitchen

Love that Japanese style!!

Something you definitely don't see everyday in japan

I didn't know these cars had even made it far outside California, let alone across the Pacific Ocean.

希少 (きしょう) - rare. Very very rare. And I found this one parked next to a Circle K of all places.