Thursday, June 16, 2011
Japan: Three Months After the Quake and Tsunami
While almost completely out of the daily news cycle here in the US, we have not forgotten about the March Tsunami disaster in Japan. Here is a great photo essay from this past weekend showing some of the cleanup efforts and the extent of the devastation that still remains. Frankly, I'm absolutely amazed at the progress the Japanese have made just cleaning up the miles of debris left in the wake of the Tsunami. I think it's a real testament to the dedication, efficiency, and resilience of the Japanese people.
1 comment:
It's easy for people like us who have knowledge of and a fondness for the Japanese culture to appreciate the enormity of this disaster. Others with no interest in Japan are often times quick to dismiss such events as an afterthought to any other account that may hit closer to home.
Two days after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan my father says to me,
"I was watching the news and I couldn't help but notice how there was no looting, no people complaining about their situation or asking for help. There were old women who could barely walk toting around wheel-barrows of debris and men of all ages who's only notion was to rebuild and carry on. And the only thing you saw when Katrina hit were people sitting around complaining that the government hasn't done anything to help them."
That was a slap in the face for me. When a man whose only knowledge of Japan is of a country that tried to kill his father 70 years ago can even notice something like that, is it Japan's resolve and constitution we should envy or our own we should mourn?
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