gocchin

They've now increased the danger zone to a 20km radius for the unstable nuclear plant... its not looking good there. Thanks to everyone for their kind support. The crazy thing is, my body's equilibrium has been thrown off, I constantly feel off balance from the shaking and tremors... I am starting to imagine tremors.... Getting ready for another long night, maybe....

Some of the big supermarkets in our area were closed for cleanup and repair... we had to visit the small local supermarket here in Kiminomori and it was packed. 10 times the volume of customers as usual. Meat, fish and bread were all sold out by the time we got there. I guess that's the way it is here in the countryside outside of Tokyo. As for the nuclear plant, things don't look so good. There has been news of an explosion near the plan and its been confirmed that radioactive material has leaked from the plant. They have warned people within a few hundred kilometers of the plant (us included) that the next few days may rain and bring dirty rain upon us. Small tremors still happening but the frequency has lessened.

I'm up but tired! Like Stew we sweated it through a night of tremors and shocks... another 6.6 earthquake actually hit inland in the middle of the night in Nagano, slightly north west of Tokyo. We're also not sure what to do as we are actually low on groceries so we may have to venture out. Still have our emergency bags packed and ready to go. I've received over 50 emails from customers and members of TSG checking on my well being. I did not expect that but am very appreciated at the amount of caring and concern. Right now the main concerns are areas northern japan being wiped out, the toll of casualties rising and the nuclear plant in Fukushima getting very unstable... The tremors continue this morning but they seem to have weakened with once in a while a more violent one. Thanks again to everyone for caring. Stew, did you try and call me? I see your number attemped my phone through the Docomo messaging center... lines are still up and down here in Japan and connecting is tough.

It's 1am. Trying to sleep but it's hard with little tremors swaying the house every 10 minutes or so. Anything that lasts for more than a few seconds has me up and alert.

Terrible terrible news... they just found 300+ bodies floating in the water in Sendai where the Tsunami initially hit hard.... http://edition.cnn.com/ It's been a long day.... we're going to hit the sack soon but we've brought our shoes upstairs and our care and survival bags are fully packed! Still getting scary tremors.... millions are still stranded from home.... still battling the fires in Ichihara here in Chiba.

It will be interesting to see how Japan recovers from this. The refinery fire is within a 45 minute drive from here in Kiminomori.. and its still raging on. They have even warned about electricity usage in japan now that at least one plant has shut down and everyone in Japan must have their tv on. More pictures that show the impact: http://framework.latimes.com/2011/03/11/earthquake-and-tsunami-hits-japan/#/0 Many people are stranded in Tokyo and many public schools have opened up for shelter for people. Airports and trains are of course shut down across the country.

Man its still shaking here.... every few minutes. I am not destined to work today. Every time I go to my office which is on the second floor of my house the walls start creaking and the furniture starts moving and rattling... Stew you should move out here on a mountain, it'll shake some but no Tsunami worries. One thing that I was thankful for is how Japanese houses are built (at least newer ones), my house flexes with the tremors and shaking so that it won't collapse... at first I was scared to death at its wobbling but then I realized it was flexing the way it was meant to.

I'm continuing to get lots of well wishes and emails inquiring about my well being. Thank you to all of you for caring. The odd tremor is still shaking us here and there but it looks like now the worst is over and Japan is evaluating the damage. http://us.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.tsunami.damage/index.html?hpt=T1 My neighbor and playing partner who commutes from here in Chiba is stuck in Tokyo as all transit has stopped indefinitely. I just spoke to him and he has purchased a bicycle and is currently peddling his way back to Kiminomori. He expects to arrive here in the next 6-8 hours... crazy! Good news is gas has returned though phones and mobile networks are still jammed. Kiminomori here is on a mountain so we are safe from the Tsunami which is only 20 minutes away by car at Kujukuri beach, but the added altitude magnifies the shaking here during the tremors... scary.

The Tsunami is the bad part now... look at its damage.. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/03/11/vo.quake.cars.water.mov.avn?hpt=C2 Darn these little tremors still happening... I won't be able to sleep tonight!

Firstly thanks to the 10 or more customers and members who have sent me emails to check if I'm okay here in Japan. Japan is in chaos right now as its the largest magnitude quake to ever strike Japan. We had to evacuate the house 4 times cause everything was simply shaking too much and then out on the streets the cars and roads were just rocking back and forth. Tsunami's have hit the north east coast hard and they are without electricity and the death toll while luckily still small is climbing. If that quake magnitude had struck on the mainland of Japan instead of out in the Ocean we could say bye bye. Industrial fires are raging through out japan including one refinery fire here in Chiba as Duffer pointed out. I don't know how they will put that one out. Transit in Tokyo has come to halt as well as flights at most airports leaving millions stranded. I've packed an emergency pack and ready to leave as we are still getting aftershocks and tremors... Damn scary. They upgraded the magnitude to range from 8.4-8.8 now. My desk is still shaking as I write this. Hope Stew is okay in Tokyo as well but it seems the countrysides were hit harder. More pics!

Video and report fom bbc http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598 Tsunami waves are crazy!! Ships and cars being swept away! My room is still shaking from aftershocks...

About 10 minutes after an 8.9 hit northeast of Japan. Huge Tsunami's are now sweeping the east coast!! Japan tsunami damage follows 8.9 earthquake March 11, 2011 - 6:01PM Japanese television has shown major tsunami damage in northern Japan, following a strong 8.9-magnitude earthquake. Public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by the tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture. Scores of cars were seen floating in Iwate prefecture harbour, local TV said, while the Tokyo Fire department says many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo. Advertisement: Story continues below Office workers in Tokyo's Shiodome district near Tokyo Bay stay on the pedestrian deck, observing surrounding high-rise office and hotel buildings swaying. Office workers in Tokyo's Shiodome district near Tokyo Bay stay on the pedestrian deck, observing surrounding high-rise office and hotel buildings swaying. Japan earlier issued its top tsunami warning in response to the major offshore earthquake, which strongly swayed buildings 400 kilometres away in Tokyo and sent people fleeing onto the streets. The quake struck at 2.46 p.m. local time, 130 kilometers off the coast of Sendai and about 382 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, hitting at a depth of 24 kilometers. The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, Russia and the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. A screen grab of images taken from Japanese television showing a tsunami swamping a city in northern Japan. Click for more photos Earthquake strikes Japan A screen grab of images taken from Japanese television showing a tsunami swamping a city in northern Japan. * A screen grab of images taken from Japanese television showing a tsunami swamping a city in northern Japan. * A plume of smoke rises over Tokyo after an offshore earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter struck off the coast of northern Japan. * Reporters at the Associated Press Tokyo Bureau in Tokyo take shelter under a table while a strong earthquake strikes eastern Japan. * Office workers in Tokyo's Shiodome district near Tokyo Bay stay on the pedestrian deck Friday, March 11, 2011, shortly after an earthquake has struck off Japan's northeastern coast. The quake was initially measured as a magnitude 7.9 but was upgraded. National broadcaster NHK Television showed images of people getting medical treatment and footage of a tsunami engulfing a warehouse in Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture, with cars and trucks submerged. Ships were shown smashing into harbor walls. Tokyo’s Narita airport shut down, Kyodo News reported. Haneda, the capital’s other main airport, was also closed, NHK said. The government has set up an earthquake response team and Minister Naoto Kan returned to his office from parliament to convene his team. Smoke could be seen rising from a building in Tokyo port. Shinkansen bullet trains stopped when the quake struck, while Tokyo port has shut all 19 of its water gates as it prepares for the tsunami. Japan’s Coast Guard is halting ships on their way to entering Tokyo’s port,said Takashi Mifune, spokesman for the Bureau of Port and Harbor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake struck at 2.46pm (4.46pm AEDST) local time at a depth of 10km, 125km off the eastern coast. Footage on national broadcaster NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. Police and coast guard officials said they were assessing possible damage from the quake. The yen tumbled against the dollar after the quake, falling to 83.30 against the dollar from 82.81 before the quake struck. Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Australia.

Scray as hell... we had to leave the house. House shook so hard my monitor cables disconnected. There are actually fires burning in tokyo. Still aftershocks and tremors keep coming... here it comes again!

Hi C, Its essentially the 85 and 95 UT shafts but in Orange to match Ryo-kun's shaft colors. Of course they won't sell his shaft as most mortals would not be able to hit it. (^_^)

Hi C, No heads only unfortunately. The cost is high as I mentioned due to the shaft since its practically this shaft: http://www.tourspecgolf.com/Graphite-Design-UT-85 They decided to put in a very high grade shaft similar to what Ishikawa is using.

Bag is completey different now. That was 4 years ago when we started golfing (^_^) Yamaha Inpres X C's 13* Driver PRGR Egg Spoon 17* XXIO U6 22* UT PRGR EGG Iron 6-SW Odyssey Marxman T

C, I have learned that man. Just let the wife swing and play on her own.... too much advice builds up frustration. I just keep my mouth shut (^_^)

Billy glad to hear you gained 30m over your previous driver. That in itself speaks of the ryomas performance. For any player, swinging harder and pressing will cause loss of control, so in this case we'll have to look at a shaft. (email me) But plus 30m more means you should not have to push harder and press... you are just getting greedy for distance! - haha but don't we all! (^_^) For those who wonder Billy is playing a standard D-1 with SR flex.

Yes I should update the wife's whats in the bag as its completely different! Now mostly PRGR! Congrats on getting the significant other to join you! It's a great passion to share!

Yes the fakes are brand new!!! All different auction sites, ebay, yahoo etc.

I received words that fake Crazy Black 80 shafts have appeared. Crazy notified me that a customer had bought a shaft from an auction AS NEW and suspected its quality and sent it to Crazy and it is indeed fake. I guess it was only a matter of time before someone tried to take advantage of Crazy's demand and higher prices. Below are images of the real and fake model... a pretty good fake graphics wise but not quality wise. Please be careful as always of counterfeits and when it doubt always ask for advice. The Crazy Black 80 is also an older model and now discontinued at Crazy.

Hi Frank, The 1* difference in lie angle, 58* for the Kamui vs 59* for the ryoma should not make a huge difference though compared to 61 and 62* which is very common on some JDM retail drivers now the 58-59* should reduce shots left. A lot will come down to how you swing as well of course and what your bad shot is. I'm sure you will be able to hit solid shots with the Ryoma.

You still have a Leap! (^_^)

Stef, glad you got them in a timely manner. Do let me know how it goes!

Frank based on its design, it is not only more forgiving but it should technically be longer as its single frame body and huge weight on its as should really transfer energy better than the more classic Kamui. Also the Ryoma for sure is a lower spinning head.