Arlington Heights resident worries about friends in Japan

Jay Shimotake, the president of the Mid America Japanese Club, which is based in Arlington Heights, worries about Tokyo's high–rise buildings after Friday's earthquake and ensuing high ocean tides.

“I don't know the building damages or if the roads suffered big damages,” he said. “Tokyo has so many high-rises that I'm worried about that kind of damage.”

Shimotake, originally from Yokohama, is among Arlington Heights' large Japanese community. His group will meet next week to determine what kind of relief efforts they'll conduct to help victims in Japan.

Shimotake received several e-mails from friends in Japan last night. So far he said he's been lucky that no one he knows has suffered injuries.

“I haven't received any bad e-mails, but we never know,” he said with caution.

Phone communication has snarled. Shimotake said friends have used Skype to video conference over the Internet to let loved ones know they're safe.

The photos show a level of damage that Shimotake has never seen in his homeland. The havoc from the earthquake and tsunami astounded him, he said. Friends in Tokyo told of their television sets crashing to the floor.

“I have many friend in Tokyo in the northern parts,” he said. “It's a very big shock.”