まさか、このような未曾有の天災が日本を襲うとは想像もしていませんでした。
被災された方々に心からお見舞い申し上げます。
なんだか、まだ、夢を見ているようでもあります。
かつて、オウムがハルマゲドンを予言していたが、まさに、それが現実のものとなったという感じです。
元クリスチャンサイエンスモニター氏の記者桜井よしこさんのメッセージはなかなか力強いので、転載させてもらいます。
2011年03月18日
We Shall Overcome This National Crisis as a God-Given Opportunity to Regenerate Japan
How should we view the incredible natural disaster that befell Japan on March 11, when a colossal earthquake struck, followed by a series of devastating tidal waves? It is difficult to imagine that a full-scale war could inflict a catastrophe of such major proportions on a nation. Generating an overwhelming force of destruction, the tides of tsunami swallowed up and whisked away scenic old coastal villages and towns and thousands of their residents, along with what Japan’s proud high-technology has created over the decades. After the monstrous tidal waves soaring as high as 30 feet in some areas receded, fire broke out in a wide range of the affected areas, brutally burning down what was left of the structures. Hundreds of thousands of people fell victim to the disaster, their lives completely destroyed.
I have no doubt that people in Japan will ultimately prevail over this grievous ordeal with the same innate mettle, unyielding patience, and hard work, which made it possible for them to gallantly overcome the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake – a magnitude 7.3 quake which hit the Kobe area in western Japan on January 17, 1995, claiming nearly 6,500 lives and making over 300,000 citizens homeless. We must definitely link the process of rising to the challenges of this catastrophe with a wholesale rebuilding of Japan, which in recent years has deplorably been reduced to a fragile state in a host of ways. We will need to probe from every possible aspect the nature of this dire national crisis as we endeavor to accomplish a comprehensive national regeneration.
While the joys shared by those who have managed to find each other alive after surviving the quakes, tunami, and fires that followed must certainly be great, concern about those still missing is deep and endless. As Japanese from all walks of life across the archipelago pray for those still unaccounted for, with their families and friends cheering up each other as they anxiously await good news, a host of nations have rushed to aid Japan.
Vowed President Barak Obama:“The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial.” Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered members of the U.S. armed forces to do “anything we are asked by Japan to do.” The secretary has already dispatched the USS Ronald Reagan, which arrived off the northern Pacific Japanese coast on March 13. The Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF) and the U.S. Navy quickly began joint disaster relief operations targeting specific areas needing urgent relief. The U.S. navy also deployed a cruiser and five destroyers to the waters off the four hardest-hit prefectures ranging from Aomori to Fukushima, engaging in extensive search and rescue operations. Up to 5,000 U.S. soldiers are thought to have been mobilized so far.
Meanwhile, an impressive number of nations have swiftly dispatched rescue teams to Japan, including South Korea, Taiwan, India, and other Asian nations, as well as members of the European Union.
China, too, has offered a helping hand, despite existing diplomatic and military friction with Japan, sending a 15-man team including seven rescue experts and a doctor. The Xinhua News Agency reported on the dispatch as constituting China’s repaying of a debt of gratitude for the 60-man rescue team Japan sent to Sichuan, northern China, when that region was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2008.
Branded as “An Instrument of Violence”
Viewed in this light, one keenly senses – and is deeply touched by – the speed and thoroughness of aid readily extended by the U.S. as Japan’s ally. Here, the theory of an “equilateral triangular relationship” between the U.S., China, and Japan, advanced by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has absolutely lost ground.
The Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF), with ground and maritime forces as its core, had started search and rescue operations before foreign rescue teams arrived. Despite having been heartlessly branded as “an instrument of violence” by the DPJ’s former chief cabinet secretary, with its men and budget slashed in the ruling party’s much-publicized “budget screening” sessions, members of the JSDF are in fact a bunch of tough soldiers firmly committed to patiently fulfilling their responsibilities, because they actually cherish their motherland.
Shortly after the quake, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, a former liberal civic activist turned politician, who apparently does not value these dedicated men too highly, decided to initially dispatch 8,000 JSDF air, ground and maritime troops to engage in relief and rescue operations in the affected areas. Two days later, however, Kan changed his mind and increased their number to 50,000, and then to 100,000 – the largest number of JSDF men ever deployed in Japan for such operations. One cannot help wondering if the premier shares – even for a fleeing moment – a sense of appreciation for these men of the JSDF, as well as a feeling of gratitude for them for being engaged in frantic rescue operations around the clock under most trying circumstances.
The prime minister continues to talk daily to the TV camera, reading from a prepared text as he addresses the nation. His heart at least appears to be in these sessions. But what does one make of his decision to hurriedly walk out of the conference room without bothering to take any questions from the press? He said during a news conference held on March 12, his eyes a shade wet with tears:“I promise to grapple with this task (of carrying the nation through the current hardships) with all my physical and spiritual strength. In doing so, I am prepared to risk my life and limb, and earnestly hope I can call on you to do the same.” However, those already risking their lives at this moment are, first and foremost, the victims of the horrific disaster. Next come members of the JSDF, national and local police forces, fire fighting squads, and medical teams, as well as the staff of local governments who have come to help.
It is important to recite laboriously-edited messages addressed to the nation, but that alone is not enough to deliver a message that the premier is truly “risking his life and limb” to fulfill his responsibilities as the nation’s leader. The majority of the people in Japan the premier addresses daily are solid and respectable citizens. Kan should hold their viewpoints in awe in all sincerity, and learn to be humble towards them. He is earnestly urged to inject true authenticity into the words he appears fond of using rather casually – “people,” “nation,” and “risk my life and limb.”
While withstanding overwhelming sacrifices and damages, the victims of the catastrophe retain a great sense of propriety. On television, I was deeply touched to see a senior citizen, rescued by members of the JSDF four long days after being whisked away by the tsunami, say with a gracious bow, “Thank you very much indeed for all the trouble.” People craving food and fresh water make nothing of standing in a line as they orderly and patiently wait for their turn. Similarly, people who have sought refuge in make-shift shelters behave orderly, keeping calm and unruffled, although they obviously know they are faced with the peril of contamination from invisible radioactive particles. Almost nobody steals nor fights.
U.S. and European media, which usually are bitterly critical of Japan and things Japanese, are obviously impressed by what they see in the manners of these victims and are dispatching positive reports – for a change. For instance, the Wall Street Journal, in a March 12 editorial entitled “Sturdy Japan,” commended the Japanese as follows:“For all that damage, it is remarkable how well this island nation of more than 126 million people has withstood the fifth largest earthquake since 1900.” The daily further noted:”Despite the destructive effects of yesterday’s quake, the self-protective benefits of Japan’s achievement as a modern nation was hard not to notice.”
“How can you people manage to remain so calm, unruffled, and thoughtful of others under such circumstances?” ask the foreign press. The only answer I believe I have is this:“Because we happen to be Japanese.”
Whole-Sale Regeneration of Japan
However, there is no denying that Japan’s national power has clearly been in gradual decline, especially over these past several years. The Japan that could not even make a decision for its own sake towards the end of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) administration began straying off course even further when the DPJ administration took over in 2009. If the situation lasted, many people had begun to fear, Japan would most likely collapse – sooner than later. The problems the DPJ had on its hands have risen to the surface in rapid succession. The colossal quake and tidal waves hit Japan just about the time when the nation was beginning to give up on Kan.
The ultimate objective of our efforts to overcome the many challenges of the latest natural disaster and rebuild the nation should, therefore, go far beyond merely giving the Kan administration a chance to resuscitate itself. It is sincerely hoped that such efforts will enable postwar Japan to rectify the mistakes it has committed since the end of the Pacific War and lead to a wholesale regeneration of Japan – including the revival of traditional Japanese values and the proper positioning of the JSDF as a legitimate army.
In this vein, I cannot help viewing the circumstances of the series of accidents (i.e., explosions at the four nuclear reactors) at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Dai-Ichi nuclear power station in Fukushima Prefecture to the north of Tokyo as conveying a very important and timely message to the people of Japan. As has already been reported, a series of explosions ripped through the buildings housing four of the six reactors the plant maintains (no. 1 on March 13, no. 3 on March 14, and no. 2 and no. 4 on March 15). The situation remains extremely serious.
Trying to safeguard the reactor containment vessels at all costs, Tokyo Electric Co. is exerting maximum efforts to rectify the problems associated with the malfunctioning of the reactor cooling devices, well aware that an explosion of any of the reactors itself will create a disaster as serious as Chernobyl in Ukraine in April 1986. The reactor’s “pressure pool” ruptured at Chernobyl, causing a deadly explosion that spewed high-density radiation into the atmosphere. Tokyo Electric has been trying frantically to cool down reactors no. 1 and 3 with sea water. An effort to inject sea water into reactor no. 2 began on March 14. But the company’s efforts have so far failed. As of this writing, a fire is burning at Reactor no. 4 following an explosion on March 15. No details are available.
Tokyo Electric Co. is clearly at fault for its failure to cool down the reactors effectively, and the situation continues to remain ominous. However, if Japan can this time manage to avoid the explosion of the reactors after having been subjected to this devastating quake and tsunami, full credit will go to the dedicated group of engineers and other experts involved, who not only have high-technological know-how to control the situation but are genuinely committed to risking their lives and limbs to protect the populace no matter what. It certainly is no time for ready optimism. However, I feel confident deep down that Japan will have a bright future, if people such as these continue to play their parts in good faith with all their hearts.
(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 453 in the March 24 issue of The Weekly Shincho.)
