The lights dim in the district usually effervescent Tokyo. The dark streets, the rationing of gasoline, a transport Public paralyzed and empty supermarket shelves are uncharted territory for a city teeming with people accustomed to comfort and abundance. While rescue teams in the Tohoku region of discovering hundreds of bodies and try to cool a nuclear reactor or the third 150 miles to the north, across the capital can try to be quiet.
After the stalemate that followed the violent agitation in the city on Friday afternoon, for a moment it seemed that Tokyo would last little more than momentary discomfort.
But now the nerves begin to fray after the tsunami and the beginning of the worst post-war history of the nuclear crisis in the country.
"I'm very worried," said Banshu Yoshida, owner of a restaurant in Shiba, a suburb Bayside. "I think the nuclear issue is resolved, and the earthquake that worries me most, especially because we are so close to the sea."
The most immediate concern for the authorities of the city is its voracious appetite for power. The government urged residents to save energy, stay home if possible and limit their use. The board seems to have worked, residents and businesses join forces in an ad hoc energy-saving drive.
Some railway companies have canceled several trains. Many companies have shut down to save energy and because they knew that few employees would try to get to work.
Some shops have turned off the display; pedestrians in neighborhoods usually on fire, found themselves in the dark.
The impact was immediate. Tokyo Electric Power said it had designed plans for power cuts in Tokyo and many other areas to avoid prolonged blackouts in areas further north that are now in the middle of a huge relief.
"It 'a very serious situation, but there are a number of plans in place, people are co-operative, and we can turn to sources of heat and others to increase supply," said Mitsuharu Kawabata of Japan Federation of Electric Power.
For now, the hope is to ensure the safety of nuclear plants. A Fukushima Daiichi is being lost. An exodus to the south-west and abroad is a future that no one here wants to contemplate.
"From what I understand, the threat of nuclear reactor is minimal, so I have no intention of leaving," said William Swinton, director of international business studies at the campus of Temple University in Tokyo. "Tokyo is simple and there is a feeling that dodged the bullet, but I wake up at night worried.
" We should not be at the heart of this. There are people in the earthquake zone who have no food or resources. In the shops here are missing some elements, but there is always orange juice and yogurt. "
His indifference was not shared by Ryuichi Suzuki, a taxi driver who takes a cigarette break on a nearly-deserted streets of central Tokyo." I went to the supermarket this morning, all I wanted was not there, "he said." I've never seen anything like it. "
Across town, the streets teeming with commuters were strangely contained, but not deserted.
With the transport system that affect delivery, many supermarkets have empty shelves. In the morning, orderly queues outside the supermarkets waiting for doors to open, triggering a run on food: bread, milk, rolls of toilet paper, tape adesivo di carta, batterie e, a causa del suo contenuto di iodio, tofu.
Yoshida, il cui ristorante è quasi vuoto da Venerdì, ha detto di aver preparato uno zaino con gli elementi essenziali per la sopravvivenza dopo un disastro naturale. "Non è possibile sapere di un terremoto", ha detto. "Tutto quello che puoi fare è stare fermo. Sono fiducioso, ma non riesci a sentirlo? E 'come se l'aria di Tokyo è diventata pesante con la paura."
Chizuko Takano, una madre di due figlie al liceo e all'università, ha viaggiato 40 minuti in treno alla ricerca di un caricabatterie per cellulare e radio portatile.
"Non c'era niente di niente, da nessuna parte", ha detto, dopo aver proven in the electronics stores, shops and supermarkets. "No candles or batteries."
Takano had tried to buy instant noodles, eggs and bread, but had been sold. But she has found algae wakame, which is high in iodine, which is believed to help prevent harmful effects from radiation.
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