Blog:

In the late 80s, I was incredibly fortunate to spend two years living, studying and working in Japan.

I was backpacking through South-East Asia and got as far as Japan where I fell in love with the culture and lifestyle and everything about the country.  I ended up stopping my travels there and doing short trips to other places from Tokyo - such as Guam, the Philippines, Thailand, and lots of travel within Japan.

I went to Japanese language school and travelled back and forth to and from Perth over a number of years while studying a Bachelor of Business degree at ECU, Perth.

In the last month, a friend made through some Japanese study at TAFE (Certificate IV) and I have joined up and have been having Japanese conversation lessons which I have been LOVING after a long break of any form of study and especially language which is a passion. 

This horrific earthquake has brought back to me many memories of my time in Japan and earthquake experience.

Japanese people and Japanese society are set up for earthquakes and the expectation of earthquakes is part of life.

Like we have fire extinguishers and fire drills, in Japanese homes and businesses there are knotted ropes and tethering points for attachment to be able to escape in the event of an earthquake.  Safety diagrams showing exits in buildings have illustrated instructions on what do in the case of an earthquake.

I remember one particular earthquake, the strongest I experienced but absolutely nothing on the scale of this quake. It was a warm, humid day - still, with no wind. I was at home in my second floor shared apartment when the room began to move. From memory, it was gentle motion rather than shuddering and it was a bit like standing on the deck of a moored boat that has gentle waves passing under - trying to stay balanced but the ground not being as you expect it to be.

Looking out the window of my apartment on the occasion of this particular quake, everything was quiet. The power lines were undulating up and down like holding on to an end of a skipping rope or rhythmic gym ribbon and moving your arm up and down.

This particular quake felt different than others which were usually more 'shaky' and 'jiggly'.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic at peak hour on the Stirling Bridge in Fremantle, and the bridge feels like it's moving? This is what a little, tiny, minor earthquake feels like.

Imagine then what the people in Sendai and in Japan experienced in this extreme major earthquake.  Our thoughts are with everyone in Japan and elsewhere affected by this disaster.

Jane