Earthquake means.... GO! STOP! GO! wait, i'm confused....

As you might guess from the title, we had an earthquake. It was yesterday (Saturday) morning at 5:33am (according to the Japan Meteorological Association) and was at 6 shindo units on the JMA seismic intensity scale at its strongest point on an island in the inland sea and about 4-5 here in the Osaka area. Shindo units refer to the degree of shaking produced by the earthquake and not the relative strength (click here for the wiki). According the USGS, it was 6.3 magnitude, which is the strongest earthquake I've ever experienced, though it was pretty short. Anyway, we were fine and everything else was fine, but it was pretty scary for a few seconds (we also have confirmed the functionality of Rachel's earthquake alarm app on her phone, which started making a hellish noise at us as soon as the shaking started).
So after trying to get to sleep and getting woken up by our own alarm in the middle of deep sleep, we got ready to try to get picked up for a gig in a countryside town on the far side of Kyoto. We checked the train schedule to make sure everything was fine, knowing that even small tremors (which this certainly was not) trigger automatic checks of certain tracks, though we figured that 4-5 hours after the quake everything would be relatively back to normal, even if slow. This impression was initially confirmed by a check of TV and the JR website, but when we got to Osaka station we were overwhelmed by huge lines, absurd delay notices (one had a train with an arrival time of 730am, with a delay of 120 minutes... we were there at 1030am) and lots of disgruntled travelers and people trying to get to work. Pretty soon the delay notices turned to this:

track/train information screens at JR Osaka

As you can see, only one line has any trains listed, which is the elevated city loop line. Everything else has been replaced by a message saying that they are inspecting tracks, which means no trains are running and they have no word on when they will start up again. 

The map of the trains also shows the train delays and suspensions:

So basically we were screwed. And the other train companies were having similar problems. 

But after several minutes of back and forth phone calls we arranged for our ride, who we were supposed to meet at a train station outside of the city, to come pick us up at the station. 

Our reward for this trouble was an afternoon of great pagode music and delicious Brazilian food. 

Here is Rachel doing some drumming at the pagode:

Overload

So... I've been back from the US for about a month, and Rachel for a week longer than that. And we have neglected to post since then. We've actually been fairly busy and will endeavor to let the interesting bits trickle out soon, but here is a quick update.
沖縄- Okinawa -
We went there. It was awesome. It was my first time on a subtropical island and I have a quite the hankerin to return. Even though it was mostly overcast and somewhat stormy during our trip it was still far warmer than Osaka. It also had a very nice... pace? mood? something... I've people talk about "island time" and the way people are supposed to be more laid back and think everything is "cool, man," but I always gathered that it was somewhat of an exaggeration. And I still do, but there was some truth to it. To get around we had to drive, which meant I had to get used to driving on the left-hand side, which was pretty easy. It helped to leave Naha, the capital, and get right on the highway to the northern part of the island. Anyway, we got a lot of sightseeing and relaxing in and Rachel is already plotting our return.
Musical theatrics -
Our musical endeavors continue apace: more samba rehearsals, a taiko drumming recital, new taiko classes and more instruments. I brought back a full-sized classical guitar to add to the samba experience and Rachel picked up a sanshin while we were in Okinawa. I have a feeling that the sanshin will need an entire post devoted to itself, but buying it was a fantastic idea.

Other than that we have been quite busy although there isn't much to write about - just lots of working, going to clubs for research, etc. I've got a backlog of pretentious ruminations ready to unleash on the world, but I think I haven't had enough coffee or breakfast to get into all that.