Recently, earthquakes have been in the headlines all over the world.  Having been in several big earthquakes, over 7 magnitude, and having some Japan Dreamscapes staff members from highly seismically active areas such as the western United States, we have become accustomed to a little shaking and rattling as part of our lives.

The through line, as many of you may know, is the ‘Ring of Fire’, not the song made famous by Johnny Cash, the 40,000 km horse shoe shaped ring that encompasses the states of Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and California.  Tokyo also falls along the ‘Ring of Fire’, as well as the western reaches of South America and New Zealand.  Where tectonic plates come together, it generates volcanic eruptions, and, of course, myriad earthquakes.

Having experienced some higher magnitude earthquakes, we are prepared for more earthquakes as well as the predicted ‘Mega Quake’ that is talked about in hushed tones because of the inherent fear in considering the damage such a high magnitude earthquake would cause.  There are easy to find guides for what provisions to make ready: two weeks of water, non-perishable food items, among others.  Our lead photography workshop leader has his own must have item, whiskey.  He feels that only so much preparation can be done, and the remainder must be left to the powers that be.  The whiskey is only used in case of dire emergencies and not for simple recreational drinking.  The importance of this is on par with the other emergency provisions, and the preservation of it in a pristine, unused state is absolutely necessary.

Another element that natural disasters has taught us is how expensive the toll can be.  All joking aside, we at JDS hope that you have never experienced a disaster so dire that you could not find the strength and resources to rebuild.  Some of our staff have needed to rebuild and restart their life patterns after some of the disasters they have experienced.  The darkest days after the disasters are the one immediately following where you find yourself taking stock of how costly the destruction had been.  Our best wishes are always with you.

One last thing that we at JDS have learned is that you can’t let these natural events control your life.  We encourage you to get out and visit the locations that you have wanted to and enjoy the experiences that you have always hoped to try.  There is a saying in Japanese ‘山あり谷あり’, there are mountains and valleys in life.  We hope that you find a peak of your life on a photo adventure with Japan Dreamscapes.  In terms of peaks, Mt. Fuji is one that we would definitely recommend.  We’ll be waiting here for you, and we have enough whiskey to share, just in case.