After leaving the building, I killed some time in a park. I needed to pick up my son from his elementary school, but the Toei Oedo Line, which I regularly take, was of course suspended. The park was crowded, and everyone was at a loss. There was a lot of speculation about what time the train services would start up again.

Looking back, I wish I'd told myself to start walking right away. My son's elementary school was only a three-hour walk from Shinjuku. It took me a couple hours to give up waiting and start walking, and it was already dusk.

All the people who are usually crammed inside Shinjuku's skyscrapers were now outside, densely filling the streets. The sky was black, and news footage of a fire at some petroleum complexes were being projected onto buildings. We were like a crowd walking through a huge fire.

When I arrived at my destination, however, my son wasn't there. He had already been picked up and taken to his father's house.