00:00:01 John Daub: Hello everybody, it is now the 3rd of January 2024 and I wanted to give you a quick update. This is something I've always done on this channel to let you know about the travel situation here in Japan since January 2020, before the pandemic really became a pandemic. There's a lot of people here in Japan right now thinking of traveling to Kanazawa or had plans to go to Kanazawa, which is in the Hokuriku region very close by. I was going to call the Kanazawa Tourism Association today to try to get the latest information, but the offices are closed until January 4th as a result of the New Year's holiday, Shogatsu (New Year), until tomorrow. I'm going to give them a call and assess the situation for tourism going there. The Shinkansen lines were down on January 1st but resumed yesterday, so you could get in and out. I'm going to get in and out of Kanazawa just fine now.

00:00:59 John Daub: I chatted with a viewer who was in Kanazawa at the time; said it was the scariest thing they've ever gone through. Kanazawa was shook pretty badly. They couldn't get out and wanted to leave because of all the aftershocks, but eventually got to Kyoto where they are now. Should you go to Kanazawa right now? I would say hold off. If you have hotel plans, why not go? A lot of things are closed. According to the Kanazawa Tourism Association website, Kenrokuen Park (one of the three great gardens of Japan) is closed right now as they assess the situation, the integrity of some bridges and structures that visitors go into to make sure everything is safe. That's still closed according to the update, at least it was yesterday. The 21st Century Museum, one of the great modern art museums in Japan, is closed as well as they assess structural integrity. There will be a lot of buildings and places closed as a result of the earthquake in Kanazawa City.

00:02:01 John Daub: Kanazawa, as I said yesterday, the Shinkansen station is fairly new, so the infrastructure for tourism is more modern than a lot of other places. A lot of the hotels are newer, in particular in front of Kanazawa Station, so I'm going to say that they're probably going to be okay. There are tourists there; when the earthquake hit, there are tourists there now. So if you have plans to go there, go ahead, but if you don't quite yet, I would say hold off. There was a statement for approximately 100,000 residents to evacuate areas on the Sea of Japan coast, in particular around the Noto Peninsula. Where are they going to evacuate to? Quite possibly Kanazawa. So it could be a situation where a lot of people are leaving their homes and towns and moving to Kanazawa for an extended period into gymnasiums and things like this. We saw this during the Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011. I'll keep you up to date on this. I won't have a chance to talk with Kanazawa Tourism until tomorrow, and they have all that information. When I get somebody on the phone, I'm going to relay it directly to you on this channel.

00:03:10 John Daub: Yesterday, after I did the livestream, a lot of you got a chance to see the accident at Haneda Airport, where a JAL flight coming in from Hokkaido was landing and hit a small airplane set to go to the Hokuriku region. Five Coast Guard members lost their lives in that accident. This is from security cameras. As of right now, I believe Haneda Airport is still closed. You can see when they hit, a massive explosion on the tarmac. This is the plane coming in to land from Hokkaido. Believe it or not, everybody on that plane survived. They were able to evacuate on time. There were a lot of human errors; that's what they're saying on Japanese TV was the cause. They're going to assess this before placing blame and get the airport running again. We're in the middle of Shogatsu holiday where a lot of travelers are on the road, in particular Japanese going back to their hometowns. Airlines were at 99% capacity, so they're going to want to get it running again right now.

00:04:42 John Daub: This morning I saw helicopter footage of the burned-out airplane where police investigators are still documenting what happened. I'm sure they'll try to get Haneda back online as soon as possible. Flights are being redirected to other locations like Ibaraki Airport, Narita, or regional airports like Chofu for medium-sized flights. From the helicopter footage, it looked like the majority of runways were running, though a limited amount of airlines are going in. They'll probably get the other runways up soon. The main one impacted was from the JAL flight from Hokkaido. Amazing that nobody was killed on that plane, though I believe some were injured. We'll get more information tomorrow as the Shogatsu holiday simmers down and people get back to work. It couldn't have happened at a worse time when everything is shut down. There's still emergency assistance going into the Hokuriku region to help people without power. Luckily it's a warmer day than usual here in Japan. If it were colder, it would be much worse, especially in old houses on the Sea of Japan side, which is colder than Tokyo. Prayers go out to the people there, with a lot of New Year's prayers towards Hokuriku and the Noto Peninsula.

00:06:43 John Daub: The title of this video is about a warning that came across on the news today about Japan warning about the spread of false information on social media. We know scams come along in every tragedy. Before you donate to any sites, people's hearts are in the right places, but look at the people asking before official sites are set up. Japan Red Cross and local associations are prepared. Just give it some time before donating or volunteering. I remember before going to volunteer in Tohoku after the Great Tohoku Earthquake with my friend Mike and others, you couldn't get on the roads. There were blockages; people with big hearts tried to run food and generators up there, but you couldn't even reach them. You had to wait longer than we'd wish. Trust me, volunteers and help will be needed beyond this period; the real challenges are months or years from now when volunteers are gone. If you're a resident of Japan, we needed volunteers for Kumamoto, Niigata, Great Tohoku. We'll probably need that here, and I'll keep you up to date on opportunities. But be aware of false information propagating heavily right now.

00:08:43 John Daub: Yesterday's livestream was me upset at international media sensationalism. The most sensational is coming out of India right now; just look at this thumbnail—it looks like the entire country of Japan was wiped out. This is awful, and the media should be ashamed. There's no accountability. It's spreading and despicable, making people afraid. Yesterday's livestream was a necessity because about 800 people wrote worried about my safety—very touching. Please watch it. Clickbait and fake news thumbnails get clicks, but info from BBC, CNN is usually on par. It's not political; both sides do clickbait, but the information on tsunamis, impacted areas is there. The best was Nikkei—they gave magnitude, Sea of Japan area, tsunamis, without saying all of Japan. Accurate, regional info without worry.

00:10:50 John Daub: Yesterday's livestream showed Japan's actual size—quite large, comparable to California. The impacted area is here on the map: Noto Hanto Peninsula, Wajima where the epicenter was. Shallow earthquake, magnitude 7.6, Shindo 7 (worst on Japan's intensity scale). Just a region. Tokyo gets 1500 earthquakes a year on average; you don't feel most. I felt the Kanazawa one from the sixth floor, but walking around you probably wouldn't. It didn't impact all of Japan, just a regional area. So thumbnails like CNN's all-red Japan make people worry unnecessarily. It was massive but regional. Thankful for everyone who reached out concerned about my well-being; yesterday's stream was to let you know not to worry about Tokyo.

00:13:08 John Daub: To give an idea of power, initial NHK World reports: earthquake may have shifted land 1.3 meters—that's about 4 feet. GSI (Geological Survey Institute) analyzed it; pretty massive, so expect massive damage not yet assessed. Rescue workers are knocking on doors; things could have toppled on elderly. Noto Peninsula towns have average age over 60; young people moved out, no jobs, abandoned schools—a situation all over Japan needing revitalization. Not many to help in emergencies, so worry for residents. New Year's prayers in Japan are mostly about that. Thanks for questions and comments from yesterday's livestream; appreciate stories of where you were. Right now I'm in Toyosu on Tokyo Bay; you can see Rainbow Bridge. This is LaLaport shopping mall on Yurakucho Line—operations back to normal on the 3rd. Things getting back to normal, which is good and important.

00:15:20 John Daub: As you saw yesterday with the accident, Coast Guard was sending help—that's a big tragedy. Not the start to 2024 we wanted in Japan. I try to be optimistic, but loss of lives hurts. Appreciate prayers for people here and good-hearted folks wanting to help. If you want to do something right now, not much you can because it's still a disaster zone. Hold off, give it time, then I'll give options. There's Foreign Volunteers Japan on Facebook—we used it for Tohoku. I'll meet my friend Mike, a super volunteer, and get resources; if not, talk on the 5th. Tomorrow more on Kanazawa travel, but not sure yet about refugees to gymnasiums. Wait until tomorrow when things open and are assessed. In a couple weeks maybe okay, but Shinkansen full service resumed yesterday; JR was quick to check tracks integrity.

00:17:34 John Daub: Questions: Sending financial aid from overseas not easy—how to help? Hold off initial reaction; Japan is well-equipped. Tohoku scale, especially with Daiichi meltdown, was another level. Shoutout to US servicemen for Operation Tomodachi, a major help sometimes forgotten. Biggest issue now: first responders knocking doors for elderly, power out a couple days—scary. Thanks; I'll give updates. This isn't what I wanted, but tragedy strikes during family time; every family talks about it, feeling hurt for the region.

00:19:33 John Daub: Travel health insurance useful? Yes, Japan is a country of earthquakes you can't predict. Not scaring, but if you feel you need Japanese encephalitis shot or whatever, get it. Volcanoes could erupt disrupting travel; bear attacks hiking; get ill and evacuated. Assess based on age, if you might get sick. I backpacked 80 countries 1996-2004 on $5/day, no health insurance, got dengue fever twice—bad second time, hospitalized in Singapore, then Japan. Dengue hemorrhagic fever, 5% mortality; sick months. Won't wear shorts in Cambodia again—beware mosquitoes.

00:21:22 John Daub: Have I had a job? YouTube is harder than full-time. Worked Japanese corporations, office jobs: Shueisha multimedia, full Japanese corporate structure, headquarters of English school next to director—know hierarchy well. Didn't work for NHK full-time; freelance reporter when called. Have several hats, but this isn't about me—keep on traveling in Japan now. Aftershocks: discussed with Kanazawa viewer; initial under Wajima City, shallow so not big tsunami per se, but aftershocks caused them. Aftershocks for months/years post-Tohoku; one over a year ago shook my office. Expect for rest of year, especially next month. Get info from JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) English site: magnitude 7.6 major, Shindo 7. Great Tohoku was 9+ catastrophic.

00:25:27 John Daub: Programming note: Going to Minamisoma (greatly impacted by Great Tohoku) on the 8th for livestream from museum on last 10-12 years since 3.11.2011, talking with students. Timing good for earthquake safety. Obon moved to May next year—hottest filming ever, glad. Lived in Fukushima near Miyagi, close to me. Current Noto: still assessing, images not good, door-to-door for elderly. Worst time—first responders home with families on New Year's. Yesterday challenging with Haneda; Coast Guard helping there. Some runways back online; all on JAL plane okay. Tomorrow call Kanazawa Tourism for when to travel, things to be aware of—direct notes.

00:28:21 John Daub: Viewer in Toyama evacuated; still aftershocks, most prefecture without water—thanks Ma. Evacuations ongoing, seniors to places; no power in Hokuriku (Ishikawa, Toyama). 100,000 ordered, death toll rising but Japan media not focusing—foreign media leads with it. Nikkei Asia did well; others awful like entire Japan wiped. Hope livestreams bring reality: share on social from JMA, Toyama people, Kanazawa Instagram—not talking heads. I'm a YouTuber long in Japan, knows geography/earthquakes; interviewed seismologists, volcanologists, engineers. Have episode coming. Traffic jams evacuating; help digitally, don't travel—per Ma in Toyama.

00:31:26 John Daub: Kanazawa on Shinkansen; people getting out, one viewer to Kyoto. Infrastructure new; call hotel, tourism assoc tomorrow. Hold off as Japan back to work. Keeping short 30 min since on minds. Answer comments end; like/share. Volunteered in Japan—they'll need physical help for declining/over-60 population, but wait for access/power. Then rebuild. Give to Japan Red Cross, Second Harvest Japan (donated for Tohoku, food runs)—check site, legitimate. Hold off donations till assessed.

00:34:09 John Daub: Back tomorrow with update as Japan reopens, firsthand tourism info impacting trips next weeks/months. Hope area open. Thanks for prayers/help. Matane (see you).