Normally, I wouldn’t deign to be defending the Japanese people against their own government, but even I have my limits. Just how many elected ministers will go down in flames insulting their own disaster victims? This is ridiculous.
Here’s the latest example at the Daily Telegraph. Now look, I have some small sympathy for his calling someone who didn’t take shelter with tsunami warnings blaring “idiots,” but that’s not the sort of thing that people want to hear from their elected leaders. Let the idiots rest in peace. Deliberately jabbing the eyes of the living with needles is not just bad politics; it’s terrible for the country.
I will not list the numerous examples of other ministers being idiots themselves in their insulting or mocking disaster victims, or saying things like they’re not sure anyone does have a right to a radiation-free life. (Keep in mind, I’m a nuclear power moderate here, but downplaying the legitimate concerns of ordinary people is in extraordinarily poor taste.)
More to the point, this minister replaced a predecessor who had to step down a mere three months ago for being a jackass to the governor of tsunami-battered Miyagi prefecture. Supposedly the minister berated the governor for being late (I have no idea if he was or not) and refused to even shake the man’s hand.
Notice the American-style apology at the end of the article. That’s one piece of Western culture that should never have migrated eastward.
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For a wide variety of reasons, I just feel that keeping this blog entirely about Japanese culture is played out. That is, I am not an encyclopedia; I am a person. I want to write about people as much as possible. Also, I have been privileged to deal with more and more Japanese people: helping them with their problems, translating where it will help, pointing out ways to improve English, and so on. It’s not about me; it’s about them.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami were, in one sense, part of a long history of natural disasters striking Japan. In another sense, this was disturbingly new: the damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and the subsequent evacuations, rubbed salt into Japan’s raw wounds. Even the Kobe earthquake felt like a lesser event in terms of lasting impact. You can rebuild from an earthquake, but how can you rebuild from a nuclear disaster if no one is allowed within 30 km without a radiation suit? This is to say nothing of the great concern for the long-term health of the children, though the short-term problems have been thankfully minimized. No one has died of radiation so far, and workers continue to battle with the reactors to maintain a semblance of control.
The tsunami’s devastation was far broader than this. This was like Hurricane Andrew (the one that hit Florida a couple of decades ago) brutalizing a long length of coastline. This, people know can be rebuilt, but it’s going to take, conservatively, a decade of work to really bring it back. It won’t be an issue of just restoration, of course; they’ll want to make it better than ever.
These are Japan’s twin (or triple, if you want to count the nuclear as an added twist) disasters in the age of high speed internet and a truly wired and networked world. The entire civilization seems to have come together in a new-found sense of unity and purpose, far outstretching the limits of government intervention. Even though Japanese people are still predisposed to cooperating with the government’s efforts, they do not seem to be, or feel, like enough.
That’s where we come in.
Together, With Japan
The modern Internet gives us Westerners who have a piece of Japan in our hearts, be it for personal reasons, cultural appreciation, or some other form of admiration, actual ways to contribute. Some of this is just expressing our moral support for Japan and the people in it, and trust me – this helps. They are heartened by our best wishes. It’s good to see.
Beyond this, what we can do is to strive to make the Internet a bridge for cultural communication. As my experience teaches me, language – and getting around the language barrier – is part of this, but it is a means to an end. Even culture isn’t the “end” of the process.
The objective, and the purpose, is to connect with Japanese people. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what I want to really go for.
My reasons are professional as well as personal. My interests, and post-secondary education, are very focused on Japan, and my efforts in education (basic Japanese for Westerners; English for Japanese natives) fit very well with this cultural outlook. But the personal reasons are still very important. I want Japan to succeed; simple as that. I do not view such success as threatening or a bad thing in any way. I want to work with the right people and make things better.
A Celebration of the People of Japan
This blog’s new focus will be people. That is, people in general, but also, specific people as opportunities permit.
In the past, I have even done little biographies of entirely fictional characters. I mean, that’s fine, for a certain crowd, but hey, I want to be primarily about living people whenever possible. ^^ Seriously, it’s something I want to do. I want to make people the focus.
Also, I want to play up how we, too, can be part of Japan, even from a distance. This is the power and magic of the Internet. I have long brought “a piece of Japan” into my own life from my redoubt in Nova Scotia, Canada. Bridging my cultural interests back to Japan, and helping real people with real problems, just feels right.
The Future
In the days ahead, you’ll be hearing more about the people I’ve been helping and supporting with my skills, moral support, and often, just lending an ear to listen.
This post is my indulgence. When I write about others, I want it to be about them, not about me. This is something that was always in my soul, but working with Japanese people has helped me to express this properly: I want my efforts to be about what I can give to others, not what I can demand for myself. Of course, where that really works is when you have other people doing the same. Then you’re helping each other and, soon enough, you’re really starting to change the world, piece by little piece.
Together, with Japan and the people within it, we are changing. It is up to us to make these changes happen for the better and to face the future with the power of the human spirit. By combining our individual as well as cultural points of view, we can turn this into something even more special than it already is.
Together, we can build a better tomorrow. – J
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A Nation United by Disaster
The March 11 (“3/11”) earthquake and tsunami disaster striking Japan has brought into sharp relief the basic resilience and sense of unity of the Japanese people. Whatever the faults of Japan, this is one of Japan’s underlying strengths. Japan’s history includes a lot of respect for nature, in part because nature’s fury is so regularly beheld through typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, and so forth. Resilience is therefore a virtue well suited to Japan.
Resilience in society means coming together for a common purpose. This is by no means a trait unique to Japan; whatever their other divisions, Arabs have an ancient tradition of hospitality that suits a desert people. Japan has an ancient tradition of coming together as a society to rebuild. This includes a high level of social organization. Westerners are familiar with Japan’s famous rallying around government relief efforts and emergency support services, but that is only what can be done in the first hours and days.
As great as the suffering from the earthquake and tsunami are across the eastern edge of the Touhoku region (Touhoku: lit. “North-Eastern”), the Fukushima nuclear disaster stands out because, quite simply, it’s hard to think of rebuilding when the disaster is still ongoing. It may be a slow burn rather than a “meltdown” right now, but radioactively speaking, the region is still far too hot for the residents’ comfort.
Fukushima City is in the relative north of the southernmost prefecture of Touhoku.
Since this is a regional disaster in terms of degree, even though the aftershocks can be felt throughout the entire country, events like Comiket (for “Comic Market” verbally mashed together) are still ongoing. In preparation for the next one, in December (official site here), more than one self-published manga has arisen to speak out about the trials and difficulties of the people affected by the “3/11” disaster.
Through art, the resilience of Japanese culture expresses itself, but it is not an individual expression: it is a call to arms for society to unite after the disaster, not just during it. That, after all, takes more work, and is a longer-term process. Of course, for the people directly affected the most, it is still very much an ongoing disaster. Through manga, certain writers are working to keep these events fresh in Japanese minds outside the Touhoku region.
Some are even working towards English translations of their works to further spread awareness about the tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear plant disaster aftermath to the rest of the world. I have mentioned it before, but I am helping one group in such an effort. I think the sensationalist, low detail Western media can benefit from being offset by cultural works created by people directly affected. These are voices that should be heard.
Society coming together is not just a physical act. It is a social and spiritual one. Even so, there are many practical things that will need to be done to support the disaster victims. Over time, I intend to do more to provide tangible assistance in cooperation with Japanese people (or 日本人、nihonjin) themselves, because building bridges across the language and cultural barriers is a large part of what I learned Japanese for. Now is the time to go from theory to practice.
Even so, what we can all do, spiritually, is give our moral support, and that is something I do very freely in this instance.
For example:
頑張って、日本！
(Hang in there, Japan!)
みんなが応援しますよ。
(We’re all rooting for you.)
May Japan recover and grow even more vibrant, as it has done many times before. It won’t be easy – it never is – but rising from disaster is a human trait that, as a human being, I choose to take pride in. – J
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A Goodwill Gesture
Readers may recall my post on origami and how origami gained international exposure when a victim of the nuclear bombings of Japan set out to fold 1,000 for the sake of other victims before she perished. Here, we have a Canadian 8 year old boy folding 1,000 for donations of $2 apiece to send a total of $2000 to Japan for victims of the earthquake and tsunami. (Story at link.)
Dartmouth has the same relationship to the capitol of my province of Nova Scotia as Yokohama has to Tokyo. The story references a tradition that 1,000 in a year will make a wish come true. I’m not sure if that started with the aforementioned nuclear weapon victim, but either way, it’s in Japanese (and world) culture now.
There’s a Facebook page for this, and this is for donations to the Canadian Red Cross for Japan. I include the links for completeness. I have no personal connection to either effort, but I wholly wish them well.
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