Atushi Shibata,
senior media analyst for NHK, told B&C
from Japan Friday that the broadcaster continued to cover the earthquake
aftermath "without interruption."
When
the quake hit, Shibata was returning to Tokyo from a visit to the U.S. to
research a report on public broadcasting and efforts to defund it. He was
preparing to land at Narita International airport, he told B&C in an e-mail, when it was shut
down and he was diverted to an airport on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost
island.
He
said he did not know when he would be able to make it back to the city, but
that the situation was "terrible," particularly in the Northeast
region of Honshu, the largest island.
He
said some villages and towns along the shore were completely wiped out and that
there continued to be many aftershocks. "I am afraid the number
of casualties will increase drastically," he said.
