汚い - 危険 - きつい

I haven't written in a while - and I have held off on writing about Japan (with the current situation) due to my waiting to see how things were heading. But right now, with a better-than-average chance that something radioactive is on the horizon, and my friends in Japan scrambling for some sort of safety, all I can say is that I am really, really worried. Ibaraki, my old home, is in danger - Tokyo is becoming more and more like a ghost town - and Japan itself is taking bodyblows at a time when it could ill-afford even a good-natured backslap.

I honestly do not know what to say - it is depressing. The Navy is making faint rumblings that we might be activated to do something (last week I got an official email asking if I spoke any Japanese...). I have advised all my friends and family in Japan to clear out (or, if that wasn't possible, to head south - far south). A long time ago, when I still lived in Japan, I spent a weekend trapped in my apartment due to a small nuclear accident (which has slipped into the fog of memory). Since then, I developed a slight cynicism of Official Japanese pronouncements of the "all is well - stay calm" variety. Ganbatte, Nihon, ganbatte!