Well, I'm still here. Anxiously watching as TEPCO officials assure us that everything is under control at the Fukushima plant and then give an awkward smile and cough as pieces of said plant come crashing through the roof, forcing the assembled members of the media to scatter.Anyway, I have to give a big shout out to all of you who have followed up and made donations to charities involved in disaster relief. Your contributions will help a lot of needy people out and is really appreciated!
One of the effects of the unfolding disaster has been hoarding. In Tokyo, the news tells me that store shelves are bereft of pretty much all the necessities - water, food, batteries, etc. Everyone is stocking up. Just in case.
I was surprised to find that even in Fukuoka - hundreds of miles away - the same thing is happening, only at a less frantic pace. My local grocery store is out of some of the necessities like cheap bottled water (usually displayed on the shelves in the above photo) and toilet paper:
Damn these hoarders. Some of us actually need this stuff!Anyway, back to the Famicom. I went back to Omocha Souko to try to forget about everything and maybe follow up on my recent purchases.
They had a ton of new Famicom games out. New Famicom day at Omocha Souko is usually a fun event in my day to day life. It doesn't happen often - maybe once a month - but its always fun.
Not this time though. Everything was ridiculously overpriced - something I've never seen at Omocha Souko before. Look at this, Dragon Quest 4 for 1000 yen (usually a 200-300 yen game):
Kinnikuman also for 1000 yen (also a 200 yen game normally):
And Family Basic, just the cart, for 1500 yen. This is the same place where I got the whole, boxed Family Basic unit including the cart for just 100 yen a few months ago:
I think they basically just gave the pricing gun to the new guy and he must have gotten carried away. I hope they don't give it to him again. I do not like the new guy.
Oh dear, sorry man! :( Do you already own the overpriced games shown? I bet it was even more annoying if you don't
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, hoarders are *very* annoying. The same thing happens here too like recently when we got just a few inches of snow! It's so selfish, but hey, that's Humans for you I guess...
Glad to hear you're doing as well as possible, Sean. Interestingly, I just read an article about hoarding in Tokyo before coming to your blog to read this post. How strange that it's happening in your area, too. I think people get carried away easily. I was in Hawaii (Kauai) last week when the earthquake hit and a tsunami warning was issued for all of the Hawaiian islands. Even people in areas considered relatively safe from the tsunami were getting gas, stocking up on supplies, etc. It was unnerving, to say the least, but kind of understandable, too. Anyway, I hope things start to get better for you and the rest of your compatriots soon :(
ReplyDeleteSimon - Thanks. Yeah, I already have those games so its no loss. Actually video game shopping isn't a big priority for me now anyway, but its nice to be distracted for a moment by such things.
ReplyDeleteBryan - Ah yes, I noticed on your blog that you had fibbed about being busy and snuck off to Hawaii:) Good for you. I'm glad that the tsunami didn't do any damage there while you were there.
It is understandable how people are stocking up. The crisis here has definitely taught us the value of having emergency supplies on hand, it is what kept some of the survivors alive for a few days.
Also, I'm not sure if this stuff was all bought by hoarders or by people who were donating it to the relief effort. Obviously I totally support the latter and am donating stuff (well, cash) myself so I absolutely cannot say anything bad about that.