I spent some time on Sunday trying to get in touch with several people living or working in Tokyo. I was able to reach two of them via email, but arranging a time to talk wasn’t easy. They’re facing rolling blackouts, uncertain transportation, and other uncertainties.

I finally got in touch with one of them via Skype last night, Hawaii Time, or Monday afternoon in Japan. He’s an American who has been living and working in Japan for about 15 years. We “met” via this blog years ago, and have kept in sporadic touch.

He works in Tokyo, but lives in Kamakura, a seaside community about an hour out of the big city.

He was at work when the earthquake hit, couldn’t reach his wife by phone, and spent over eight hours trying to find a way to get home.

But I’ll let him tell his own story, which I’ve saved as an mp3 file.

Hopefully I’ll reach one or more of my other friends in the next day or so.