A lack of certainty

I have uploaded some shots here which give some idea of what Hirosaki has been like over the last few days. There has been a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the availability of goods and transport, following the tsunami last Friday. Fuel has been particularly scarce, and for a while it was being rationed out at 10ltrs per car at each gas station. I'm not sure what the real problem is behind the fuel shortage, and I can only think that it's due to major roads being closed off to private use.


People cueing to get into Max Valu. They were cueing because the only way you could buy things was by having your own personal human calculator follow you around and list the items you put in your trolley. The electricity outage had put the tills out of service.


An even longer cue waiting at Home Centre Sunday. I guess folks were keen to stock up on batteries and other survival gear.



This sign at the petrol station says that they are finished for business, at noon. Most gasoline stands are now.


No price given for regular fuel.


The last price they gave was 151 yen per litre. This is much higher than the average price when we arrived here six weeks ago, which was around 135 yen.


The outage caused ice creams to melt and now they are being sold at half price. Just about the only good thing to come from all this though.


Empty shelves at Lawsons.


More empty shelves.


More empty shelves.


Just about the only thing around here that is certain.