You can't reconcile it because they are two different things. I read it a couple days ago but I believe the points you refer to were all centered in Tokyo. I

You can't reconcile it because they are two different things. I read it a couple days ago but I believe the points you refer to were all centered in Tokyo. I was in Tokyo for this past weekend and the metro was shut down Friday afternoon which made it extremely difficult, and in some cases impossible, for people to get home after work. In Tokyo and the rest of Japan outside of the affected area, yes life has gone on with just some minor interruptions. That definitely isn't the case for those in the disaster area.