Massive earthquake and tsunamis hit Japan

[Miss Caphat]

me too ^

 

[Corax]

Far too much disaster wanking going on by the media.

And perhaps some going on on this thread unfortunately.

 

[Shevek]

I don't think its 'disaster wanking' (what a hideous phrase) I think people's sentiments are genuine (although I admit the media can be a bit '1-story news' not just with this but with things like Raul Moats - regular updates yes but wall to wall coverage, no!).

I feel very sad for the Japanese people. I have just started learning the Japanese language and was planning a trip there in September. To me they are a fascinating culture. They are extremely literate and almost a by-word for everything high-tech. I know there are terrible crimes in Japanese history but they have managed to turn an archipelago with no natural resources into an economic miracle and the world's third largest economy. I know it is probably racial stereotyping but it is sometimes tempting to see Japanese society as a mirror image of our own.

It is sad to see that their own ingenuity (reliance on sophisticated technologies like nuclear) has now become their downfall.

I know they were having a lot of problems with their society regarding the deffaru separu (deflationary spiral) and burabu (bubble economy). There is talk of a 'lost generation' in Japan who can't follow their parents into the rigid hierarchies of the Japanese corporate world and the large problem of 'Hikikimori' or young people who literally shut themselves away from society.

 

[Corax]

I don't think its 'disaster wanking' (what a hideous phrase) I think people's sentiments are genuine

It's the positing of worst case scenarios that I mean. Some of which, like China Syndrome, are not even vaguely credible.

 

[Pickman's model]

It's the positing of worst case scenarios that I mean. Some of which, like China Syndrome, are not even vaguely credible.

it's all going tits up enough without even worse scenarios being posed but i don't think anyone's making hay out of it. i imagine many people on this thread have japanese friends or family, and no one's trying to make capital or gloat or whatnot.

 

[Shevek]

It's the positing of worst case scenarios that I mean. Some of which, like China Syndrome, are not even vaguely credible.

Oh yeah totally agree re: China Syndrome, from what I have read. I think its a fluid situation obviously. I am not really qualified to comment on what the likely outcomes are. I am just speculating on the range of scenarios I read in the press and on here.

Someone mentioned James Lovelock earlier. I read in his book Return to Gaia that he thinks nuclear technology is quite benign its just the public that panic about it. That said I wouldn't really like to be in North Eastern Honshu at the moment.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Really sad Ch 4 report here, especially hearnig the music "Yesterday" at the end

http://www.channel4.com/news/tsunami-japanese-fishing-town-of-ofunato-in-ruins

 

[100% masahiko]

I know it is probably racial stereotyping but it is sometimes tempting to see Japanese society as a mirror image of our own.

I've read this on here a few times.
And as a Chinese who mingle alot with Japanese, I don't see many similarities.
Unless of course, you're talking of the colonial days...

Strange that.

My cousin, she's in Tokyo - she says it's not as scary as UK reports...

 

[Shevek]

I think what I mean is that until relatively recently Japan was one of the few non-European countries that achieved economic 'take off'.

I guess superficially it looks quite Western with robots and skyscrapers and so on but many westerners probably dont understand the culture too well.

 

[editor]

Here's an interesting CNN article and - thankfully - the comments section has been moderated so it's not packed full of the usual racist halfwits.

Looting is something we see after almost every tragedy; for example: last year's earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the floods in England in 2007, and of course Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. It happens when some people who've seen life as they know it get tossed out the window feel that all morality has been tossed out too. It's survival of the fittest and whatever you can get your hands on is yours, no matter who it belongs to.

But that's not happening in Japan.

Journalist and social commentator Ed West wrote in the UK Telegraph yesterday how struck he was by the Japanese culture throughout this ordeal. He observed how supermarkets cut their prices in the days following the quake and how vending machine owners were giving out free drinks as "people work together to survive." And West was most surprised by the fact that there was no looting.

Many have pointed to the popularity of Japan's distinctive Buddhist and Shinto religions as well as how the values of conformity and consensus are considered virtues in their culture. That's one explanation, but it probably has something to do with remaining true to your moral code even in the darkest hours.

Here’s my question to you: Why is there no looting in Japan?

Comments:

because Japanese people at their very core, are very traditional and community-focused. They are not individualistic and self-interested. Looting happens because people are selfish, greedy and in most cases lacking in contentment.

Two Words......NATIONAL PRIDE

The people of Japan love their country and do what is best for the nation......unlike the United States where we love our country and do what is best for OURSELVES.

You clearly don't capture the gravity of what's going on in Japan. People are more concerned about getting something to eat and getting out of the radiation and finding loved ones than they are with acquiring TV's and computers. There is something very wrong with this question at this time which says more about you than anything about the Japanese people.

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/

 

[Shevek]

Thanks for that Editor that was interesting.

 

[editor]

Thanks for that Editor that was interesting.

Mind you, I imagine there were some really awful posts that got filtered out.

 

[Shevek]

Hmmm yeah. My gran has some 'interesting' view on the Japanese but then I forgive her a bit because my grandad supposedley fought them in the Far East.

 

[100% masahiko]

Hmmm yeah. My gran has some 'interesting' view on the Japanese but then I forgive her a bit because my grandad supposedley fought them in the Far East.

Same as mine.
They torched my gran's village, raped the women/ children and killed the men.
She fled to HK...(thank fuck).

Interesting to read 'why no looting.'
I remember I jumped the queue once at a bus stop and everyone stood still and stared at me in disgust.
Been living in brixton too long...but such moral codes is evident in those countries (china, taiwan, korea etc).

 

[lizzieloo]

This is a bit of a 'bring it home to you' video, there is a weird pause just before the 8.9 magnitude quake then all hell breaks lose.

Quick video showing earthquakes in Japan between 9 March and 14 March. 1 hour ~ 1 second.

 

[wreckhead]

"The workers suspended further operations and evacuated."

fuck - never before have I hoped more that CNN have got it wrong...

edit: btw my mate's in Tokyo so I'm not just avidly following this for nothing....

 

[lizzieloo]

"The workers suspended further operations and evacuated."

fuck - never before have I hoped more that CNN have got it wrong...

edit: btw my mate's in Tokyo so I'm not just avidly following this for nothing....

I have no mates in Japan, does that mean I have no reason for following this?

 

[wreckhead]

I have no mates in Japan, does that mean I have no reason for following this?

not at all - and I didn't direct that at anyone in particular, I'd be following this and be just as sad regardless given what's happened, but normally I'd lurk that's all.

 

[co-op]

Here's an interesting CNN article and - thankfully - the comments section has been moderated so it's not packed full of the usual racist halfwits.


Comments:






http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/

This topic (no looting) has come up in passing on the 'christian girl' thread in general discussion. I posted on that but I thought I'd post again because there's a bit of a deafening silence about one thing that is key to the 'no looting' issue, i.e. Japan is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. Wealth inequality is just about the lowest in the world there and you'd expect there to be much higher social cohesion and therefore less looting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gini_Coefficient_World_Human_Development_Report_2007-2008.png

I just had a quick flip through the Forbes rich list and the richest Japanese is in at 129, there are nearly 30 countries with entries before Japan including places like Cyprus, Czech, Greece and so on - and Japan is one of the richest countries in the world, so you'd expect them to be far more highly represented.


http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_The-Worlds-Billionaires_Rank_6.html

As another poster pointed out on the christian girl thread

Back when they were collectivist, there was widespread looting after the Kanto quake of 1923 (blamed on Koreans and leftists and led to a massacre) and after the WWII bombings, apparently, so it's almost certainly bollocks to talk about some inherent Japanese quality rather than social factors that might be reproduced anywhere.

Post-war Japan has sometimes been called the most successful communist society in the world. Not by communists obviously, but it makes ya think.

 

[co-op]

Post-war Japan has sometimes been called the most successful communist society in the world. Not by communists obviously, but it makes ya think.

Incidentally it could well be this ^^ that makes the US right-wing nutjobs spontaneously hate Japan so much and so automatically. They are watching a society with genuine internal solidarity in operation and it makes them feel awkward.

 

[Barking_Mad]

BBC:

5.57am (2.57pm JST): There's a lot of concern about the conditions survivors face. NHK are reporting snow in Miyagi prefecture and the Japanese meteorological agency predicts snow in Iwate today with heavier falls tomorrow. Across the disaster zone, temperatures will drop as low as -5C overnight.
The government's chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, has asked the public not to panic-buy fuel, warning:
''The supply situation for fuel such as gasoline, heavy oil and light oil is worsening in the quake-hit areas."

 

[Steel Icarus]

I just had a quick flip through the Forbes rich list and the richest Japanese is in at 129, there are nearly 30 countries with entries before Japan including places like Cyprus, Czech, Greece and so on - and Japan is one of the richest countries in the world, so you'd expect them to be far more highly represented.
.

Maybe because the emphasis is on co-operation & collective achievement rather than applauding megalomania & the accumulation of everything you can get your hands on.

 

[machine cat]

Same as mine.
They torched my gran's village, raped the women/ children and killed the men.
She fled to HK...(thank fuck).

Interesting to read 'why no looting.'
I remember I jumped the queue once at a bus stop and everyone stood still and stared at me in disgust.
Been living in brixton too long...but such moral codes is evident in those countries (china, taiwan, korea etc).

Don't think I ever saw a queue at a bus stop in China

 

[mauvais]

I think the frankly incredible display of restraint and responsibility by the Japanese people in the face of unimaginable disaster probably has something to do with a collective desire to prevent headline writers ever using the phrase 'JA-PANIC'.

 

[Balbi]

I think the frankly incredible display of restraint and responsibility by the Japanese people in the face of unimaginable disaster probably has something to do with a collective desire to prevent headline writers ever using the phrase 'JA-PANIC'.

Mauvais: never knowingly holding back.

 

[ferrelhadley]

apparently on BBC

The second British rescue team (not the government team) - International Rescue Corps - is on its way back from Tokyo after the British Embassy in Tokyo refused to give them a letter of authorisation which would allow them entry into the disaster zones and enable them to get fuel. "There's an emptiness and disbelief," said Willie McMartin, IRC Operations Director. "This was the 32nd world disaster we have been to and we've only had problems twice before with host governments in China and Afghanistan. We have never encountered the position where the British embassy, our own country, came up with a show stopper."

 

[ferrelhadley]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12756366

 

[Barking_Mad]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12756366

They had the head of the British Embassy on Radio 5 and when asked about this he claimed that they were “assisting with them, but then they decided to go home of their own accord”. He went on to say that the Government’s own rescue team was on the ground.

I smell a rat.

 

[elbows]

Where can you find latest satellite photos?

Well it does not cover every possibility (ie photos from other sources), but DigitalGlobe have been quite good at putting such images on their flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

oops