i am not the least bit worried about my safety here in japan. despite what the foreign media is constantly shoving in everyones faces, the tragedy HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. please note the tense of that last sentence. the earthquake already occurred. the tsunami already struck. the nuclear power plants already failed. and even if the nuclear situation deteriorated further to the absolute worst-case scenario (which seems highly unlikely), i live so far away from the plants that the meltdown would not effect my safety in the slightest.

please dont succumb to the foreign medias over-hyped exaggerated sensationalism. tragic events occurred; many innocent people lost their lives; we are all terribly saddened by what happened. but most of what the media is currently showing is over-dramatized to keep people watching and to increase ad revenue. please, for your sanity, dont buy in to it.

seriously, i appreciate the concern. its a great feeling to be reminded that there are people who care about me. with that being said, however, it pains me to know that people are needlessly worrying about me. the last thing i want to be is a burden on your conscience.

for people who like summaries (tl;dr):
the tragedies already occurred. i live far away from them. the chances of full-scale nuclear meltdowns are extremely low. but even if one were to occur, my town is far enough away to not be effected in the slightest. thus, i am not worried about my safety - and neither should you.

for people who like visuals:
this google map shows my town of kihoku (K), the center of the earthquake (E), the city of sendai which was devastated by the tsunami (S), and the town of fukushima which is where the nuclear power plants are located (F).

K = kihoku (my town), E = earthquake, S = sendai, F = fukushima

for people who like numbers:

• • distance from my town (kihoku) to the earthquake: 449.189 miles (722.9km)
• • distance from my town (kihoku) to sendai: 387.090 miles (623.0km)
• • distance from my town (kihoku) to fukushima: 346.855 miles (558.2km)

for people who like analogies:
being worried about my safety when i live almost 400 miles from where the tragedies took place, is like worrying about my vegas friends' safety if a disaster struck san fransisco.


for people who like links:

• rational information: for a healthy dose of un-exaggerated scientific explanations of what is currently going on at the fukushima power plants: MIT nuclear information hub
• monetary contribution: for people who have extra money to spare towards disaster relief (note: you can request your donations go directly to japan for the earthquake and tsunami relief efforts): american red cross
• mood lightening: for people who need a break from the sobering news reports and who enjoy pointless ridiculousness: pointless ridiculousness