Thank you Japan, are you trying to tell us something?

I think it is safe to say that our introduction to Japan has been different than we could ever have expected. To say it has been more challenging than we thought would be a monumental understatement. Though like everything else about this experience in Japan, not for the reasons we were led to expect.

Post-quake, cakes still need eating, Ginza Cozy Corner, Yokohama

Coping with the March 11th earthquake - and the hundreds that followed in the weeks since - rapidly pushed our coping skills to the edge, possibly slightly beyond. I have had a number of experiences in my life that I thought I could say were truly unsettling. Standing over my youngest daughter at 1am while our apartment shakes from side to side, creaking and groaning debating whether I need to do anything other than remain frozen by un-objective fear has proven to be a pivotal point of reflection for me.

The course of the next few days following this couldn't have been predicted before March 11th and hopefully will never be repeated either. I have new scales by which to measure fear, anxiety, relief and regret. I learnt things about myself that will probably prove useful in the future and will certainly have a profound effect on the direction of my life. These are all good things I suspect.

Taxi in cold and rainy Shanghai

A weekend working away from Japan in Shanghai on the 19th and 20th gave me time for my inner ear to recover from the constant motion. A few days working in Nagoya after that, nice as they were, and it was time to get on the Shinkansen back to Yokohama before the weekend.

Pu-dong Airport, Shanghai

Taxis outside Marriott Associa, Nagoya

I'm looking forward to returning to Nagoya and exploring Kyoto, Osaka and Okinawa at some point but not without my family.

All that self imposed disruption to send the girls on an early holiday to Texas, and we were never really in any danger. Things fell, there are cracks in our apartment walls. The news scared us somewhat. The massive extraction of foreigners scared us more.

Even today with the lack of meaningful progress apparent at Fukushima Daiichi it's only caveman brain that has any objections to being here ... but gosh caveman brain is a powerful thing when you're shaken awake in the early hours.

Still beautiful, returning to bustling norm, Yamashita-koen, Yokohama

Still beautiful, international port, Yokohama

The only really scary thing left for me now is thinking how easy I have it and how just a few hundred kilometres away, thousands of people really have something to complain about - but it seems that in true Japanese style few are complaining. Those poor people who lost everything - lives, loved ones, entire families, friends, pets, homes, hometowns, futures - in many cases everything that we think of as important. Some face a unimaginable rebuilding effort. Some face an uncertain future with fears of never returning home safely. How do you start again when you lose everything - not just material posessions? The story of a elderly man losing his wife, children and grandchildren is too desperately sad to forget, certainly too difficult to fully comprehend.

Power saving? Yokohama

When I sat shaking inexplicably after feeling the distant results of another big earthquake near Miyagi on the 7th April, I'm reminded that I've almost never had it so good. It's psychologically difficult and nothing more. Yokohama is as wonderful and safe as ever. It is a testament to Japanese resilience that within days things were almost back to normal. The trains are still probably the best in the world. Take that Britain.

Late in the day, perfect weather, Chinatown, Yokohama

This weekend is perfect timing for seeing the sakura blossoming and if it wasn't pissing with rain there would presumably be at least a few hanami to observe too. Hoping for sun on Sunday, but on reflection it's not really too much of a problem to bear if I have to wait another year.

Looking forward from here the summer is likely to be extremely challenging of course. Electricity restrictions and their inevitable impact on air conditioning means that we might just have to deal with the brutal heat and humidity a little more directly than we had expected. That's a pretty small inconvenience relatively speaking though. I hope not to forget that in July ...