usvi-on-line
Japan - I need some help
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bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
Japan - I need some help
Hi. I have friends I have been trying to contact in Japan to no avail.
I have never been there so don't know the lay of the land.
I know they are located in Chiba Prefecture which from looking at a map of Japan appears to be between Tokyo and the nuclear reactors.
I have tried the home phone numbers to no avail. I have sent an email and have had no reply.
I understand that they are now having rolling blackouts to conserve electricity (Chiba is included in that area).
Kicking myself big time as my phone rang very early Sat. morning and I chose not to pick it up. The call display showed it to be an unidentified long distance number. It was a short 30 second msg from one of my Japanese friends saying they are okay.
So the help I'm trying to find on here is the number that called my call display was (903) 220-**** How would I find out if that is a cell phone or a calling card? I hit the "redial" on my phone but the msg says "the telepehone number is temporarily not in service".
I don't have TV so have been totally out of the loop except for the few videos I've watched on CNN. Not sure how worried I should be for them.
Thank you.
I have never been there so don't know the lay of the land.
I know they are located in Chiba Prefecture which from looking at a map of Japan appears to be between Tokyo and the nuclear reactors.
I have tried the home phone numbers to no avail. I have sent an email and have had no reply.
I understand that they are now having rolling blackouts to conserve electricity (Chiba is included in that area).
Kicking myself big time as my phone rang very early Sat. morning and I chose not to pick it up. The call display showed it to be an unidentified long distance number. It was a short 30 second msg from one of my Japanese friends saying they are okay.
So the help I'm trying to find on here is the number that called my call display was (903) 220-**** How would I find out if that is a cell phone or a calling card? I hit the "redial" on my phone but the msg says "the telepehone number is temporarily not in service".
I don't have TV so have been totally out of the loop except for the few videos I've watched on CNN. Not sure how worried I should be for them.
Thank you.
~Brenda~
i heard from friends/family in Yokohama--aside from having a lot of aftershocks things are fairly ok--my understanding is that communications are a bit dicey --most of the devastation /death we due to the Tsunami--so if your friends were in Chiba they are probably just fin (Chiba city is under 50 miles from Yokohmama as i understand it--)
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
Thoughts on your questions...
I understand your concerns and fears in not being able to get back in touch with your friends. That you heard from one, more than a day following the quake and tsunami, is encouraging. All types of phone service most likely is out in that area.
I am not sure about international calls... the area code 903 in the US is for Texas??? You may learn something here about the type of phone:
http://www.whitepages.com/reverse_phone
Have you considered using this:
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en
This website is for a Japanese TV station:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
Hoping you hear from them again soon.
I understand your concerns and fears in not being able to get back in touch with your friends. That you heard from one, more than a day following the quake and tsunami, is encouraging. All types of phone service most likely is out in that area.
I am not sure about international calls... the area code 903 in the US is for Texas??? You may learn something here about the type of phone:
http://www.whitepages.com/reverse_phone
Have you considered using this:
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en
This website is for a Japanese TV station:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
Hoping you hear from them again soon.
... no longer a stranger to paradise
The phone number is not a Japanese landline or cell #. It does look like an area code in Texas. Phone services (land & cell) are still spotty in the northeast of Japan. Not sure what number would appear on your phone if they used a calling card from Japan.
If you've heard from them saying they are okay, it's good news. Chiba has been affected by the quake, but the prefectures north of Chiba were hit the hardest. The devastating images you find on TV and the Internet are mainly from those prefectures.
Hope you speak with your friends soon.
If you've heard from them saying they are okay, it's good news. Chiba has been affected by the quake, but the prefectures north of Chiba were hit the hardest. The devastating images you find on TV and the Internet are mainly from those prefectures.
Hope you speak with your friends soon.
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bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
Thank you everyone for your feedback.
LProf ~ thanks for the links. I am on the Japanese news stn right now.
I tried the Red Cross website and none of my friends are yet registered.
I know the fact that I got a 30 second phone call should be comforting. It is. But with perhaps no electricity, phones, food & water and it being winter I am worried. The aftershocks are scary too but I agree the worst was due to the Tsunami.
If I could reach them I would encourage them to get on a plane and come and stay with me. No telling if leaving is even an option in a circumstance such as that but such devastation how can you even continue to live there?
I don't know, I'm just scared and worried for them. Thank you for listening and for your support.
LProf ~ thanks for the links. I am on the Japanese news stn right now.
I tried the Red Cross website and none of my friends are yet registered.
I know the fact that I got a 30 second phone call should be comforting. It is. But with perhaps no electricity, phones, food & water and it being winter I am worried. The aftershocks are scary too but I agree the worst was due to the Tsunami.
If I could reach them I would encourage them to get on a plane and come and stay with me. No telling if leaving is even an option in a circumstance such as that but such devastation how can you even continue to live there?
I don't know, I'm just scared and worried for them. Thank you for listening and for your support.
~Brenda~
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mindehankins
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toes in the sand
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bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
I have good news.
Thank you for alerting me to the 903 area code being for Texas. It didn't make any sense to me. As I was trying to count the digits of a Japanese home phone number I realized that I was missing 5 digits in front of the (903). I put in the country code & area code and dialed the number and Eureka!
I reached my friend this morning (it was just before 11:00 PM in Japan). His area has no gas (for cooking and heat, I believe), no trains, sporadic electricity but they do have water & food.
He is about 200 KM from Fukishima nuclear plant. I asked him if he was going to be okay and his response was "I think so. I hope so." He said it was a very unsafe country right now.
I told him that if he needs to evacuate that he was welcome to come and stay with me. He assured me that if he needed anything at all he would be calling me.
He was so grateful that I called him. It was all I could do to hold in the tears.
Thank you all for yur concerns and prayers. They need every bit of it.
Thank you for alerting me to the 903 area code being for Texas. It didn't make any sense to me. As I was trying to count the digits of a Japanese home phone number I realized that I was missing 5 digits in front of the (903). I put in the country code & area code and dialed the number and Eureka!
I reached my friend this morning (it was just before 11:00 PM in Japan). His area has no gas (for cooking and heat, I believe), no trains, sporadic electricity but they do have water & food.
He is about 200 KM from Fukishima nuclear plant. I asked him if he was going to be okay and his response was "I think so. I hope so." He said it was a very unsafe country right now.
I told him that if he needs to evacuate that he was welcome to come and stay with me. He assured me that if he needed anything at all he would be calling me.
He was so grateful that I called him. It was all I could do to hold in the tears.
Thank you all for yur concerns and prayers. They need every bit of it.
~Brenda~
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chicagoans
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Tracy in WI
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- Location: Wisconsin
Such great news and so happy you were able to reach your friend!
I also received good news today from a friend in Tokyo, she spent some time here in Wisconsin and I was her English tutor. I was able to reach her via an old email address and she is doing okay.
Her mother and grandmother had some damage to their home, but they too are safe for the moment.
All this news is just so devastating - I just pray that somehow this nuclear crisis will be put under control and they can begin the hard task of dealing with the earthquake, tsunami and mourn the incredible loss of life.
I also received good news today from a friend in Tokyo, she spent some time here in Wisconsin and I was her English tutor. I was able to reach her via an old email address and she is doing okay.
Her mother and grandmother had some damage to their home, but they too are safe for the moment.
All this news is just so devastating - I just pray that somehow this nuclear crisis will be put under control and they can begin the hard task of dealing with the earthquake, tsunami and mourn the incredible loss of life.
Tracy, Seaside Properties at Grande Bay
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mindehankins
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bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
Spoke to my friend Tsu again this morning. Food is running out in his area. The stores are bare. Still no gas for cars or home. Trains aren't running and the roads are in poor shape.
We hear of shortages of essentials such as toilet paper. Why can't they air drop noodles and toilet paper? That's just unbelievable in this day and age.
He is scared of the nuclear reactor. Imagine having your days consumed by the thought of which way is the wind going to blow today? Unfortunately, they do not have any family outside of the area where they live so going to stay with family in a safer part of the country isn't an option.
He wants to leave Japan and come to Canada but his parents don't want to leave. He is very conflicted and said he will talk to his parents again today. He said "they are older and near the end of their lives but I still have lots of life left" (he's in his early-40's). He thinks the Gov't is lying to the people. I can understand his thinking. He's been watching CNN and other news outlets to get a clearer picture of what is going on and is not relying solely on Japanese news.
I read in today's paper that the airfare to get out of Japan to Canada is $5,000 per person now. Probably unaffordable for many families.
We hear of shortages of essentials such as toilet paper. Why can't they air drop noodles and toilet paper? That's just unbelievable in this day and age.
He is scared of the nuclear reactor. Imagine having your days consumed by the thought of which way is the wind going to blow today? Unfortunately, they do not have any family outside of the area where they live so going to stay with family in a safer part of the country isn't an option.
He wants to leave Japan and come to Canada but his parents don't want to leave. He is very conflicted and said he will talk to his parents again today. He said "they are older and near the end of their lives but I still have lots of life left" (he's in his early-40's). He thinks the Gov't is lying to the people. I can understand his thinking. He's been watching CNN and other news outlets to get a clearer picture of what is going on and is not relying solely on Japanese news.
I read in today's paper that the airfare to get out of Japan to Canada is $5,000 per person now. Probably unaffordable for many families.
~Brenda~
My main source of jokes had worked in the nuclear field in a former job and forwarded the following
Banana equivalent dose - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many foods are naturally radioactive, and bananas are particularly so, due to the radioactive potassium-40 they contain. The banana equivalent dose is the radiation exposure received by eating a single banana. Radiation leaks from nuclear plants are often measured in extraordinarily small units (the picocurie, a millionth of a millionth of a curie, is typical). By comparing the exposure from these events to a banana equivalent dose, a more intuitive assessment of the actual risk can sometimes be obtained.
Bananas are radioactive enough to regularly cause false alarms on radiation sensors used to detect possible illegal smuggling of nuclear material at US ports.
After the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the NRC detected radioactive iodine in local milk at levels of 20 picocuries/liter,[6] a dose much less than one would receive from ingesting a single banana. Thus a 12 fl oz glass of the slightly radioactive milk would have about 1/75th BED (banana equivalent dose).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose
Banana equivalent dose - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many foods are naturally radioactive, and bananas are particularly so, due to the radioactive potassium-40 they contain. The banana equivalent dose is the radiation exposure received by eating a single banana. Radiation leaks from nuclear plants are often measured in extraordinarily small units (the picocurie, a millionth of a millionth of a curie, is typical). By comparing the exposure from these events to a banana equivalent dose, a more intuitive assessment of the actual risk can sometimes be obtained.
Bananas are radioactive enough to regularly cause false alarms on radiation sensors used to detect possible illegal smuggling of nuclear material at US ports.
After the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the NRC detected radioactive iodine in local milk at levels of 20 picocuries/liter,[6] a dose much less than one would receive from ingesting a single banana. Thus a 12 fl oz glass of the slightly radioactive milk would have about 1/75th BED (banana equivalent dose).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose