Random Picture 55

So, it's come to this. The idea that there is bottled water on the market shelves is so novel that I'm posting a picture of it. As of this posting, the situation at Japanese Tokyo markets is starting to improve. Though there are still large gaps in stock, and toilet paper is still a rare and valuable commodity, most food and drink is generally available in some quantities. It probably doesn't hurt that stores have started to restrict the quantity of items that are popular in the post-quake/nuclear-scare panic-buying and  hording. The signs in front of these say that each customer is limited to buying two 2-liter bottles of water and six 500-milliliter bottles. It's my hope that this means people are settling down a bit, and life is returning to normal.

Update: As of this afternoon, it was announced that levels of Iodine-131 in tap water in Tokyo was tested at a level which is unsafe for infants but within the safety margin for adults. This is almost certainly due to the fact that we had our first rainfall since the situation in Fukushima went sour. Radioactive particles in the atmosphere washed into the drinking water supply. The level was 210 Bq/kg  and the limit in Japan is 300 for adults (note that other regulatory entities and countries have higher limits than Japan). I expect this will set off a new round of panic-buying of bottled water and beverages as people will freak out over this news. :-p I was lucky to get this shot between rounds of panic purchasing.