Last night there was a really big earthquake north of Tokyo. It was a 6. It was up in Ibaraki, about 300km north. There are a lot of earthquakes here but none of them in Tokyo are really that big. I remember back a few months ago there was a pretty big earthquake here in tokyo. It was in the middle of the night. It kinda freaked me out...but what was worse was the aftershock from it. That scared me more. I am used to the smaller earthquakes that happen on an almost weekly basis. They are pretty cool. Everything shakes a little and then it's cool. The big one a few months ago was actually big enough to knock a few things off of shelves. For the first time last night since I have been here Japanese TV was totally devoted to covering the earthquake. They had people calling in and talking about it. They kept showing video and maps and all this stuff. Usually they just scroll something across the top of the tv and thats it. Even cooler are Typhoons. Tokyo was hit with the remnants of a Typhoon an few months ago...the week after the big earthquake...it reminded me of being down on the Jersey Shore during that Tropical Storm.

I have the yankee game on...another message is scrolling across the screen now...apparently there was a bigger earthquake up there this morning around 7:13am. it is almost 10am and they still are covering it...

It was a 7...thats really big http://http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_ugah.html

In this Earthquake there were landslides and over 100 people hurt. They said it was felt in Tokyo as a Level 3 Earthquake. I didn't feel it...

Miho wants me to get an emergency kit in case the big one happens. They have been saying for years that the big one is due in Tokyo. SHe said that the earthquakes in Japan haven't really ever been this frequent since she came back 9 years ago. So I guess we go shopping for the usual stuff today haha. Water, flashlights, canned food, etc.

In Japan they have a Prime Minister instead of a President. his name is Konichiro Koizumi. His Parliament tried what is called a "no confidence vote" against him. I have come to the understanding that a "no confidence vote" is the equivalent of being impeached in America. It failed...They wer emaking a huge deal about it in the papers here, just like when Clinton was impeached...