Flights from Japan sold out as foreigners seek an escape

FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN: AS BREAD, bottled water and other ready-to-eat food in shops in suburban Tokyo becomes scarce, many foreigners are reported to be taking the precaution of booking seats on flights out of the country.

More then a dozen international schools in the Kanto plains – which includes the general Tokyo area – and the Kanagawa region whose capital is Yokohama, have closed early for the spring break. They are not expected to reopen until April 4th at the earliest.

James McCrory from Belfast, who is director of arts at Yokohama International School, said he and his fiancée were attempting to get a flight to Thailand last night. They planned to go on to relatives in Vietnam, at least until conditions became easier in Tokyo.

He said the families of many foreigners working in Tokyo were booking airline tickets, at least to give themselves options. “I have heard many flight routes out of the country are sold out until the 20th [of March] and many people have bought tickets more as an insurance policy as anything else. They would prefer not to have to use them.”

The Japanese people were “not easily rattled” but many businesses and schools in the Tokyo and Yokohama remained closed.

The advice citizens were getting was to remain indoors and to wear a pollution mask if going outside. They had also been told to cover as much skin as possible when outdoors.

In the Naka Meguro area where McCrory lives, near to Shibuya in Tokyo, all bread, water and consumables were already gone. While there had been queues at supermarkets, there was no panic.

“There is an orderliness and politeness in the packed shops, but they are packed and many shelves are bare.”

Battery-operated equipment is also in short supply. “It is difficult to believe that in a huge metropolis such as Tokyo you can’t get batteries, torches or radios,” said McCrory. “Rolling power cuts” lasting several hours at a time were in place and many train and metro lines had been closed for long periods, making access to Narita airport more difficult.

The population seemed to be transfixed watching 24-hour news reports, with developments at the nuclear power plants the main focus of attention. “Of course we all have to accept the information coming out, but people are making provisions for different scenarios.”

McCrory also described how after the earthquake struck, mobile phone coverage collapsed, but students and teachers in his school watched the tsunami strike on the internet. “Words simply cannot adequately describe watching that unfold,” he said.