Hey Guys Long time, no see. On November 18, 2011, there was a fire in my shop which destroyed everything. On top of my shop was my residence which was destroyed as well. Needless to say, it's been a odd last few months. I wasn't home when the fire started. I decided to take some Japanese lessons at a local university and I was in class when it happened. I actually woke up that morning and had a ton of new emails come in and I was a bit behind schedule. It was rainy and windy and I remember looking outside, saying to myself "screw class", and getting back to my emails. But after a few minutes I gave myself a little Rockyesque pep talk, reminded myself that I needed to really get my Japanese up to a high level, so I put on the worst clothes I had (I hate rain) and set out for the university. About 30 minutes later the fire started. It started in a shop next to mine. My shop is actually the end unit on a bunch of connected suites. To this day I don't know how it started. In Japan, it just doesn't seem that important. It was an old market and it was made of wood and the general feeling is that at some point they all burn down and it was just its time. Odd, but that's how it is. Here are some pictures: Yep, it's what's called a "complete loss." I managed to pull out a few things like a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, about $1,000 in $5 coins that happened to be sitting right in a small area that wasn't quite burned (thank God for small favors), and other very small things like some silverware, medicine, and files. It's impossible to really describe what happens in a fire, so I won't bore you with the details. I will say this: make sure you have insurance. I had it, and it's the only thing that kept me going. I didn't even know what I had. All I knew is that a guy came to my shop once a year and I signed some papers and that was it. Turns out I had some decent coverage. If you don't have insurance, and if you come home and see what I saw, your life if pretty much over. You just have what you have on you at the time and you start buying things over again. Unfortunately, all of my computers were destroyed so my photo database was destroyed as well. I had about 20+ gigs of pictures. I started keeping all of the pictures of the things I sold over the years. I'm betting I had the most complete original photo database of Japanese games and consoles on the planet. The fact that it was so big is the reason why I never could get my head around the best way to present it. But that's all in the past now. As for me, I'm still in Japan, but I'll probably head back to the US this summer (after the new gaijin cards come out!). As a side note, I'll be in Tokyo from March 26 to March 29 if anyone wants to get some drinks. I'll be staying in Ginza. Laters, Eric Japan-Games.com
Damn... I'm so sorry for your loss Eric, even though there were material (fortunately) and no one got hurt, it is still a major blow. Did you lose too much merchandise that was already paid for? Luckily you had insurance, hope that helps you to get back up on your feet again. Will you rebuild the shop or change business? Glad you are ok!
Shit! That wasn't so long after I last saw you in Bob's bar. Fuck man, I'm just glad you weren't at home at the time. you may have not been around to tell the story. I wouldn't be surprised if some silly old bugger started the fire while cooking or something. This is a main reason why I didn't want to live in any apartments or the likes of due to the fire traps that old Japanese buildings are. Where are you staying now, Eric?
Actually it would have been better if I had been at home. The fire started a few doors down. I've seen pictures of it early on and my shop was safe in the beginning. It was the last place to catch fire after a long, slow burn. The firemen couldn't really get into the market because of the tight space so they were unable to contain it. Had I been there I would have had enough time to clear out the important things.....like my computers and hard drives...heh. I was never planning on living in Japan forever so all of my keepsakes were back in the US. Again, small favors....grandma's ashes were not over the fireplace or anything. I just had what I needed to live in Japan. When I first showed up I was in total panic that it started in my place. I have so many things plugged in and the shop is old. I also used a space heater that morning so I was racking my brain trying to remember if I had turned it off. Thinking that you just burned down 20 shops and residences is pretty freaky. I soon learned that it was another shop but I still wasn't completely relieved until I saw the news and they talked about a vegetable shop. People ask if I'm mad at the people who started the fire...I'm not. I'm just thankful that it wasn't me. I'll say it again....make sure you have insurance. I always felt like a sucker for doing things legally....starting a company, paying taxes, etc. All those things saved my ass in the end. The insurance company needed proof of purchase and I was able to pull online receipts and show payments from my company's bank account. I had my company's income taxes which showed inventory levels. Without any of that stuff there's no way an insurance company would pay that much money to some guy who just happened to have a lot of video games and electronics. If you are one of those guys you should at least plan for a way to prove purchase of items. And take pictures as well. I'll even add that if you do have insurance, adjust your coverage over time. Had this happened back in 2007 when I was selling a ton of stuff a month, the insurance wouldn't have been enough. It happened right as I was winding sales down so the coverage was more than enough. So even if you get it, be sure to check and change the levels as time passes. YAK....I'm living down in Shimosone, about 2 KM from Manga Souko. The place sucks but it's free, stocked, and I can stay as long as I want. Laters, Eric
Holy crap man, that sucks. Thank god for that insurance though. Hopefully things work out for you and you get back on your feet!
Oh man, those are awful news. I'm glad you were not harmed, but the loss is crazy. I was secretly still looking forward to that database of yours and it felt good that you have such a complete documentation of games and hardware in your possession. I also feel bad for the collector's items that were destroyed, I hope you didn't have an extensive collection upstairs that you lost? If you need at least some of your pictures, I saved lots of them over the years, usually just the really rare stuff like Electrotennis or the Sega Saturn Multimedia Set. They are in bad resolution (downloaded from your ebay or the old gallery), but if you want them I would be more than willing to upload them for you.
Holy shit Eric.....that's a 1 in a million unlucky situation........it can only get better from now on....... Go an buy a lotto ticket, your luck can only improve...! (unless your dog gets run over).....sorry, bad joke...... All the best
Yeah, the loss of the database was a bummer. I not only had pictures I had scans of all of the instructions, too. I had all of those letters from Nintendo about the release of the 64DD system...heh. Some of them might still be posted here, not sure. It was a complete time line of the releases, the delays, etc. I remember making a joke here saying I had an unused 64DD purchase form and asked if I should send it in to Nintendo just to get a response...heh. I probably had a few hundred brochures scanned in. Software/instruction scans for some rare carts like the Super Vision, Bandai TV-Jack 5000, Japanese Arati/Intellivion carts, Toshiba Visicom, etc. I was maybe 3-4 pieces of software away from having one game for every console ever released in Japan. That was the only thing I collected over the years. I also had complete instructions for all of the Famicom Box/Station games scanned in, all of the extra sheets in the instructions, etc. As for the console pictures....I had just about everything. Maybe there were a dozen left for me to get. But...to be honest.....by the end I had a hard time keeping it up. I wasn't selling games that much anymore and I knew my heart just wasn't in it. But it was just too big to ignore.
I'm up that way in Shimosone (actually in Yokoshiro) on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next few weeks. Sad to hear the place you got is shit but for the price I guess it's a God send. How are you coping for cash and so on? Are you doing some part time teaching or something?
I do part-time teaching and I do proxy work on Yahoo. I don't really need much since I have low overhead so it's not really a problem. I just have more time on my hands than I'm used to...heh Thanks for asking, tho.
I can't imagine how horrible that would be mate, I really feel for you. Glad you managed to sort it with the insurance though and a good positive note is that you were not hurt in a physical way!
