National survival

[CANDANeh]

What is missing in the Japan disaster?

http://theweek.com/article/index/213154 ... g-in-japan

Many opinions offered by experts and laymen alike.

The comment that I found most interesting was made by a "westerner". After standing in line to have his turn in a grocery store he found 10 bottles of water, despite knowing he and his family could certainly use all 10 he took only 5 so as others could have some as well. From what he experienced during the disaster he believes others will share when/if he runs out.
The true Nationalism that exist in Japan is highly developed and advantageous for survival. There is a time to put the needs of the "tribe" before one`s own greed.

Resources not being wasted on maintaining law and order. CNN must feel jilted in not reporting on looting and anarchy ... More individuals likely to regain normal lives and contribute to rebuilding after a disaster (let alone survive it) when they have fate others will help.
Disasters can, have and WILL strike anytime and anywhere. Are you going to feel alone or will you have enough trust to leave enough for someone else?

[Jason Rees]

Japan and the US being entirely different cultures, there is no 'us' in the U.S. I'd be relying on a very small circle.

[Panther]

I agree with Jason's assessment.

I was in Japan many, many years ago and there were vending machines for a lot of things that would surprise the average "westerner". From Alcohol to ahem... Women's underwear and porn (the Japanese versions... some will know what I mean). Signs on them said that they were strictly for adults. At first it seemed odd to me, so I asked a friend that I was staying with, "What's to stop a young person from just going up, putting their money in, and buying the stuff?" I got a look of utter confusion and a response that matched... "They're not supposed to, so they don't!" Initially I laughed to myself and thought "yeah... riiiiiight..." but as time went on and I was there longer and longer I realized that he was RIGHT! They're not supposed to, so they don't!

There is a huge difference in living in a homogeneous society and the melting-pot... now a "salad-bowl" like society is in the U.S. The Japanese have this inherent attitude of "we're all in this together" that I've gotten from every level of their society... from Hiroshima survivors to corporate CEOs, from Sempai to Kohai, from Politician to Clerk... if you're Japanese, you're part of it and you belong. If you're not Japanese, it takes some time because you need to be "known" and accepted... but once accepted, you're part of it and you belong. (although I've heard mixed feelings about whether a gaijin is ever truly completely accept... for me, I felt included after a certain point. Probably when I was given a family wakazashi that feeling became complete...)

[CANDANeh]

[quoteJapan is an earthquake-prone, volcano-laden country with a long history of natural disasters, so the Japanese are very much aware of the potential power of nature and there is a particularly strong awareness of the fragility of life.
This awareness – fatalism about the passing nature of things –makes it easier for people to face the future from atop the wreckage. There’s relatively little sentimentality about what is lost and a generally energetic and positive attitude about what can be rebuilt.
You see this awareness in arts, architecture and religion. There is a melancholy celebration of the beauty of the fleetingness of life.
The aesthetics of the cherry blossom is perhaps the most famous example of this. The tree is considered to be beautiful precisely because its life is so short.
You also see this sensibility in the architecture. Japan’s traditional architecture is made of wood. It’s not meant to last very long. The Japanese don’t build cathedrals with the illusion that they are going to remain up forever.
This awareness of life’s fleetingness is also very much part of Buddhism. One of the most common expressions in Japanese, as common as “it’s only fair” in English, is shikata ga nai, “it can’t be helped.”
Indeed, if people are used to the cycle of destruction and construction, they might be more resilient than most. Nature’s destructive power, then, is not just a source of fear, or fatalism, but of creative endeavor as well in art and architecture as in life.[/quote]
Ian Buruma