We were sitting in the showroom on ground level when the earthquake started, we ran to the middle of the road knowing that if the buildings came down we probably would get crushed, but Tokyo is a place of buildings and few open spaces…
The tarmac and buildings shook, and the telegraph poles flapped overhead. I was holding tightly to Masako, our Head of Design’s arm, shouting about whether our whole team were safer on the 3rd floor or in the road with us. (It was like in a movie, I was waiting to see the tarmac open in front of us).
The team were under their desks when we got up there. It went on and on, all afternoon, all evening, and the next day there were constant tremors.
We are the lucky ones. The people who run our Japan website are seriously affected. Two shops stocking People Tree have disappeared, over 6,539 people have perished and 10,354 are still missing. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, hungry and cold in shelters. Transport networks are in chaos.
Everyone is being so brave dealing with their own shock and grief, getting food where it is running out, and working around power cuts. We’re also dealing with news about nuclear accidents “don’t forget to buy a raincoat in case it rains radiation Safia!”
There is a 70% chance of more earthquakes in the next days, and despite all this, we’re all trying to plan so that People Tree can survive. The people of Japan are amazing!!
My back is as hard as a plank of wood due to stress. I hope you will want to help Japan in some way…thanks for all your messages of support too!
People are asking me is there any way to help other than donations? As People Tree UK and People Tree Japan are part of the same company, and Japan is in turmoil at the moment, it helps to buy from People Tree UK as that way we can help Japan in the difficult months ahead. You’ll also help the Fair Trade movement survive in Japan and help sustain orders to Fair Trade groups too!
You can support the British Red Cross (which we are doing through a 10% donation of People Tree UK sales) and our office is also supporting Second Harvest (2HJ) which is a food bank helping here in Japan. Link below:
http://www.2hj.org/index.php/get_involved/donate_money
2HJ distributes donated food, all of which is good for consumption, but would have been disposed of otherwise. The organisation is gearing up for emergency relieve right now to the direct victims of the earthquake and tsunami. However, their efforts are already looking further down the road, and they are committed to support victims also on the long run. For that they are as we speak building a network of distribution points across the affected area, which will not disappear once the earthquake is out of the news.
Im Reiko, a shop staff in Tokyo People Tree.
Thank you so much for the PT UK card. It was really encouraging!!
We printed it out, put on a wall in a backyard of a shop.
Its been 10 days since the massive quake erupt.
I was in a shop when the quake erupt. There were a young mother and a baby in a buggy.
We all tried to protect our customers, shouting “Keep your heads down Ms! We all protect you! Everything gonna be alright!”… cannot recall what we said exactly though…
I ran to a door to keep it wide open for escaping, but had to grabbed a hem of it when a tremor was hardest.
Fortunately, nothing fell out in a shop except a few packages of tea and coffee (!), but I saw all six, big, globe-shaped glass hanging lights circling so hard on a ceiling. This was a horrible scene.
A mother and a baby were with us for a while as we asked to stay till we figured out what exactly happened. Some more customers came in, just for taking a rest because they were so upset.
The head office told us to close a shop earlier, and we found our way back home are totally out of service, than walked back home. Then, backed home, what we saw on TV was….. just speechless.
This is what happened in a shop in Tokyo at that day.
Though Tokyo had little damage from the quake, people here seem exhausted from constant tremor, planned blackout, fear of radiation and buyout (mainly food) in many shops .
PT shops were closed for a few days right after the quake, but now all three Tokyo PT shops are open and customers are dropping by and shopping !! Viva PT fans! So so appreciated…
To save power and prepare for emergency, we only light up necessary spots in a shop, dont turn on a heater, open for shorter hours. Unusual ever, but we all shop staffs are so happy to get back to work.
This weekend, many of our long-term, supportive customers came by, telling us that their fear and worry disappeared once they were in a shop and saw us. We talked about the quake, asked each other if there were any of family, relatives and friends in epicentre region, discussed what we should do, what we could do, etc.,…
Personally, my family and I experienced the Kobe quake 16 years ago. My hometown collapsed, and I had to bear a life without water and gas more than a month. I remember I only managed to live at that time, could do nor think nothing else. Or, refused to think for the future because things were so dreadful.
Now, I really want to do something to rebuild this county. I must witness this county will survive and stand up again, with full of hope.
So far, we all are trying hard everything back to normal as soon as possible here in Tokyo.
In a shop, customers tell us that they are encouraged by PT, appreciated that they are having a life enjoying shopping. We all should tell them back that we are also encouraged so much by our customers…
Viva PT fans! And Us! go for it!