Hope you are all fine and the weather calms down soon.

Gazza

What amazed me was the efficiency of the Japanese. The underground system wasn't fully functional when I went off to work. But that didn't bother me as I could walk. All the lines, tunnels etc had to be inspected before they could run the trains again. I heard they had them running by 11am.

And before anyone asks, I wasn't p*ss*d. I did wake up in the night thinking somebody was shaking me, but I put it down to a dream and went back to sleep.

rgds.

Bern
www.koi-clubs.com/SouthEast
www.koipin.com
Kaisoku Nishikigoi Nantou Eikoku

There in Nagaoka at the Grand

Just to let you know that i spoke to Jonathon (Allandale) an hour or so ago and up to then everyone on the trip is ok, all in shock obviously, but no one hurt. He tells me they were shaken out of bed by the quake and immediately evacuated to the hotel lobby where they were to remain for the time being, as indeed they were still getting after shocks.
Vivid details as yet, but hotel windows were blown out and across the street there were explosions and a fire at another hotel.
I know some of you may have friends / family out their staying at the Nagaoka Grand, and are unable to contact them, but please be assured everything is so-far-so-good with all.

June

Glad to hear that everyone is ok though.

David - do you really want to go LOL. Seriously though David, have a safe journey and a great time

LindaB

wow , take care jules , i was there last week , and to think all we did was moan about the rain!!!!!!!!

gary
www.gatwickkoi.com

Hang onto your Phone Lol.

Hope all is well.

Hope this is of some interest.

http://www.fnet.bosai.go.jp/freesia/event/hypo/joho.html

Regards Billy Boy.

Only when at a family party this afternoon that someone mentioned the seriousness of the situation that they'd seen on the news.

Glad to hear good reports from the folks in the hotels, really hope when you get back to the mountains in next couple of hours the same can be said up there!

No more news from our guys 'on the ground' but this is on Bito http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1700

Just found this on a jap website (koi-breeders.jp) thought id post it for you all.

Sounds pretty bad out there
James

QUOTE

At 17:56, Oct. 23, 2004. an earthquake hit Ojiya. 18 people died, 1,400 people were injured, over 60,000
evecuating. Landslide in SHiodani, Uragara, (Ojiya) Mushigame, Takezawa, Ookubo, (Yamakoshi) Nigorisawa (Nagaoka)
area crushe houses and killed many people.

A Shinkansen train derailed near Nagaoka station. This Shinkansen was headed for Niigata from Tokyo.
Shinkansen is not running now. Kan-etsu Highway is closed between Ojiya and Makanoshima interchanges.

Shiodani, Uragara (Ojiya) Mushigame, Takezawa, Ookubo, (Yamakoshi) Nigorisawa (Nagaoka) are isolated due to
landslides.

Strong earthquakes hit 3 times within an hour in the evening of 23rd, with intensity of 6+ on Japanese scale.
(Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in 1994 was rated 7+) But it is the first time in Japanese record to have 3 times
consecutively with the intensity of more than 6. There have been more than 240 earthquakes until 12:00 noon
24th.

Telephone lines to Yamakoshi area is not in operation now. Cell phone lines are too busy to use. People are concerned
about their families and friends, but without any means of communication.

Tamikazu Kobayashi

'I was able to get around some today but you could not go to Ojiya City or Yamakoshi. In and around the New Otani it is not too bad compared to the devastation you see as you get closer to Ojiya. If you have ever been to Nogami's house I hope you took a nice picture. Most of that area of Nagaoka has had severe damage. Yamakoski is harder to get information about and if you are wondering me and most other koi dealers get our koi from breeders in and around Yamakoshi. All bullet trains have been stopped some by derailment and there isn't any time set for them to start again. It is very hard to get information. By watching the news in the hotel you can really see the damage in and around Yamakoshi. There were a lot of houses that have collapsed and many mudslides that make it impossible to get into or out of town. There have been maybe 5 helicopters and a couple Japanese Huey type choppers flying in and out of Yamakoshi taking basic supplies all day long. I have to assume many koi have been lost and I heard of a few dealers from the USA whose whole supplies are GONE! I helped Nogami move what was left of his tosai (1/2) to a mud pond for hopefully safe keeping. There have been after shocks most of the day leaving you with a queezy feeling everytime they happen. I hope to have picture updates later but I'm on a dial up now so it is very slow going.'

PS the New Otani he talks about is the hotel in Nagaoka he is staying at.

Maurice.

June

sorry folks , but i have been in touch with out agents , the news is not good at all , ojiya city is without power and water ,
all the people staying there have been evacuated 100km to the next town with power and water , the breeders in the mountains are hardly accessable , news about the breeders is scarce as all comunication has gone and they have not heard from any breeders who are higher up the mountains at all, for those of you who know toru , he was air lifted out of the area and is safe, i think i can speak for us all when i say out thoughts are with the breeders and thier families at this time and we hope that they are safe as can be ,

gary
www.gatwickkoi.com

................
Right now it is difficult to get an overall idea of the impact because the news is very sketchy, and it needs to be almost documented village by village as each ones circumstances are different.

Some guys had harvested and their tosai & nissai brought inside, others hadn't. Some have had mud ponds damaged others their fish houses. Most of the mountain villages are cut off, without electricity as are the towns in the Shinano basin. Some of the breeders in the mountain villagers have their own generators and oil supplies as part of their winter contingency plans.

The mountain villages are very self sufficient and are used to co-operating with each other in times of trouble. It's bad, very bad, but they are better equipped both mentally and provisionally than most.

Having said all this, I am worried. I have three friends over there, one living on the outskirts of Ojiya and two in Mushigame and I can't find out a thing about them.

One piece of info I have had is that the street where the Dainichi family home, and the likes of Izumiya and Mano has been severly damaged including the fish houses on either side of the road. The basket lake of the Auction house is being used a temporary home for some of their koi. Koi were literally found swimming down the road.

rgds

Bern
www.koi-clubs.com/SouthEast
www.koipin.com
Kaisoku Nishikigoi Nantou Eikoku

no problem billy boy , ill be going off line in a minute , i am waiting for a phone call , so i may know more , as soon as i do i will post on here.i think jules had no idea how bad it was when he posted on here , luckily they wernt staying at ojiya , so they should all be ok , but i have heard some of them were not allowed upstairs so they have all been sleeping under tables !

www.gatwickkoi.com

Thanks for the update. We cannot even start to comprehend the enormity of this terrible disater, our thoughts go out to all the people who have been affected by this catastrophe. Sympathy to the breeders that have suffered losses to their livelihoods and may all our good people return safely home.

Regards Billy Boy.