March 11, 2011 - Tokyo, Japan

The TCAT (Tokyo Central Air Terminal) bus shook violently as it pulled up to the entrance ramp to terminal 1 at Narita Airport in Tokyo . The driver stopped the bus and I wondered what the driver had done to shake the bus. Then the bus moved forward and shook violently again and I noticed the bus in front of us shaking also. Someone on the bus said tremor and that is when I realized what was happening. The tremor stopped and the bus pulled up to the entrance of terminal 1. Terminal 1 was being evacuated. That did not stop the bus driver from unloading our luggage in record time and making his getaway. It is not a good sign when you are standing at the entrance to the airport and everyone is running out. I stood around outside for about 20 minutes until an all clear was announced. I filed in and stood in line at the United Premier check in desk. The fellow in front of me was arguing with the gate agent about his connection is Seattle. After some terse words directed at the gate agent he stomped off and his luggage disappeared down the belt. I stepped forward, put my suitcase on the baggage belt and handed the gate agent my passport. At that moment the terminal began to shake violently and I could hear glass breaking and items falling. The gate agent (local Japanese) handed me back my passport, hops over the baggage belt and says “we better get out of here.” I am not one to argue with a local so I grab my suitcase and follow her outside almost passing her even though I was dragging a suitcase. After the terminal was evacuated we were instructed to walk down the entrance ramp and stand in the parking away from any buildings. It is about 3 pm and the temperature is in the low 40’s. Previously on this trip I had been to Capetown, South Africa and rented a Harley Davidson to ride the coast highway. In my suitcase was a leather jacket and gloves. I was a lot better off than Mr. Crabby that was standing in the parking lot in his shirt sleeves because his suitcase went down the belt. Karma? I think so.

The entire airport had been evacuated and everyone was in the parking lot. All the announcements were in Japanese so I was clueless as to what was being said. I noticed a group of United Airlines staff nearby. Assuming they were bi-lingual, I decided to hang out with them. We stood in the parking lot for several hours feeling the after shocks. I was informed by my new best friends from United that all roads and the train were shut down as well as the airport until everything could be inspected. After every after shock they had to start the inspection all over again.

It was staring to get dark and light rain was beginning to fall. It was announced that it was safe to move inside the baggage claim area. So a mass of humanity moves into baggage claim. It was all quite orderly as you would expect from the Japanese. It was clear that there were limited accommodations for the 1,000’s of people jamming into baggage claim. An announcement was made in Japanese that the airport was closed and it was unknown when it might reopen. Please have a good night. I started thinking about what I might need if I had to make run for it out of the airport if there was another major tremor. I did not have any Japanese Yen and my Blackberry needed charging. I found an ATM that was working and got some Yen in case I needed to buy some food or water. The few electrical outlets were taken by others charging their phones. I went into the restroom and noticed the hand dryers had wall outlets. I unplugged the hand dryer and plugged in my Blackberry. There were two hand dryers so this worked out fine because the patrons could dry their hands with the other hand dryer. Then another refugee figures it out and unplugs the other hand dryer and we both start getting the hairy eyeball from the wet handed patrons. I stand around in the men’s room trying to look innocuous as I wait for my phone to charge. Finally I have a full charge and head back out into the baggage cli area. The Japanese civil defense force is on site handing out Ritz crackers and bottles of water. I take one of each and start looking around for a place to hang out. It is very crowded.

The next thing that happens is the distribution of civil defense sleeping bags. I guess I will be spending the night in baggage claim. I notice that as the cardboard boxes of sleeping bags are emptied there is a bit of a competition to get the boxes. I am not sure why that is but some folks really want the boxes.

I wander around trying to find a less crowded spot to settle down for the night. I am still dragging my suitcase around. I notice some people are going up the escalators to the second floor. The escalators are not running do it is like climbing steps. I realize that I could make a faster exit for the first floor but it is so crowded I take the chance and move to the second floor.

Ignorance is bliss at this stage of the evening. There are no TV’s in baggage claim and no announcements about the tsunami or problems at the Fukashima nuclear plant.

From my perch on the second floor I observe the people on the first floor starting to bunk down for the night. The smart ones laid down cardboard on the cold concrete floor as an insulator. Note to self – the next I am involved in a major crisis, fight for the cardboard.

The other thing I notice is that from time to time is a bus pulls up and one or two people get on. I was told all roads to and from the airport are closed. Where are these buses going? There is a Japanese police officer nearby guarding the stairs to keep people from going to the third floor. In my best broken Japanese I point to the bus and ask the policeman – “bus Tokyo?” He grunts and says no – bus hotel. Bus hotel! Bus hotel! What am I doing here? I call my travel agent who is aware of my circumstances and she advises there are no hotel rooms available in the area. Undeterred, I drag my suitcase down the escalator and out to the curb. The Sheraton bus pulls up and two other people are waiting. The drivers asks if we have a room reservation. The other two say yes and get on the bus. I say no reservation but I want to go to the hotel restaurant. The bus driver denies me boarding. Then the Hilton bus pulls up. The driver asks if I have a reservation. Yes I do I tell him. I get on the bus with the expectation that sleeping in an overstuffed chair in the hotel lobby trumps sleeping on a 1/2 inch thick Japanese civil defense sleeping bag on cold concrete because I was not smart enough to get cardboard.

Arriving at the Narita Hilton I went to the check in desk. When I asked for a room, the usually very polite Japanese clerk laughed out loud and said he had not had any rooms available for several hours. I asked if there might be a room at another hotel and he laughed again. Trying to win him over I asked what would he do in my circumstance ? He looked me in the eye and said “you should panic. ” Great advice. I looked hi in the eye and said “where’s the bar?” He pointed left and off I went.

At this point I decided the worst thing that could happen is I will have two beers and enjoy some bar food and go back to the airport.

The bar was open and the TV was on. I noticed the news coverage of the tsunami and asked the bar tender hie far we were from the coast and what was our elevation. He spoke English and said that we were in no danger from the tsunami but the jury was out regarding the melt down of the Fukashima nuclear plant that was not all that far away. I ‘ll have a Saporo beer.

So I drank my beer while watching on the TV the horror taking place nearby. Being a student of human nature I noticed several United Airline pilots and flight attendants at a table nearby. Being a United Global Service member I thought I might try to get know them since they might know a little more about about what’s going on. Having Global Service status is like being a Demi-god. We are treated well. I was trying to figure out how to introduce myself when I noticed an unused electrical plug next to them. I went over asked if I could use the plug. They said yes and I managed to let it be known I was a United Global Service member. I was an immediate celebrity and invited to join their group.

We had a great time getting to know each other. During the course of the conversation it was mentioned that the pilot and co-pilot of the United flight going to Seattle each had room. The discussion turned to fact that I had no room and perhaps some accommodation could be made. The only issue was the pilot is male and the co-pilot is female both are married but not to each other. My thought was I could bunk with the Captain. The room had two beds. I let it play out and they decided to bunk together and let me have the conference room on the top floor with a roll away bed. Compared to sleeping on the civil defense sleeping bag (with no cardboard) on the cold concrete floor of baggage claim this was a penthouse suite. There was no bathroom in the conference room but here was one just across the hall.

The downside of having a room on the top floor are the aftershocks. Remember, this is a story about a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. This earthquake registered as the third most powerful earthquake in history. Every few minutes the aftershock would shake the hotel. The higher up you are the more rock and roll and roll you get. Each tremor shakes the building and you wonder if this is the next big one? The bed shakes hard enough that you have to hold on to keep from rolling out. My grand plan if the roof caved in would be to roll under the conference table. Just like the winds of November come early in Gordon Lightfoot’s song the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the aftershocks turned the minutes to hours.

I survived the night and went to the gym to work out. My pilot buddies were there and told me if their plane had a chance to get out they were taking me with them to Seattle even if I had to ride in the jump seat. That is customer loyalty.

Latter in the day I received word from my pilot pals that a United flight from Bangkok would connect through Narita to Chicago. I checked out of the Hilton and took the magic bus back the airport. It was a 10 minute ride. The terminal was a little worse for the wear. Broken glass was evident here and there. The United lounge had no water so I was directed to the ANA lounge. It was very crowded but one must deal with these realities in a crisis. Obviously a first world problem. I did see several refugees that had stayed overnight in baggage claim. They asked how I was doing. I didn’t want to brag that I has been to the gym, had a shower and a meal in a restaurant. I said – fine.

When I boarded the flight it was obvious that the luckiest part of my adventure was that I was at the airport when the earthquake hit. With the trains not running and the highway closed the only way to get to the airport from Tokyo was by taxi on back roads. This was a five hour trip. I doubt anyone that was in Tokyo was able to get to the airport for the flight I was on. The business class section was less than half full. Think of how many refugees wanted to be on that first flight out and it was direct to Chicago which was my original destination. I landed I’d Chicago exactly 24 hours later than my originally scheduled flight. I had a minor inconvenience compared to the horrors taking place in Japan. The problems at Fukashima still represent huge problems not only for Japan but for the planet.

As a side note. The earthquake took place when it was night in Chicago. I emailed Priscilla to let her know I was fine and staying at the Hilton. No reason to wake her up cause worry. However, my staff in Japan that I had been communicating with to make they were OK decided Priscilla needed reassurance. Priscilla gets a call in the middle if the night. Those calls are always welcome. They advised her that despite the devastating earthquake I was fine. Her response was – what earthquake.

I was in Narita airport a year after the earthquake. The gate agent that checked me in during the earthquake was the same one that was checking me in a year later. We recognized each other and I thanked her for making a good decision to get the heck out of the terminal.

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