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Japan A Saga of Resilience and Tenancity
However, there was definitely something very different about the earthquake which occurred near the northeastern coast of Japan at 2:46 pm JST on the 11th of March 2011. When people in the coastal areas saw the one – meter drop in the sea level immediately after the quake, they knew that something was very wrong. Evacuation of the coastal areas started immediately and none the sooner as 10 minutes later, the shores at Sendai prefecture were ravaged by a mammoth tsunami with waves ranging between 10 to 15 meters high. The tsunami then hit the shores of Miyagi prefecture 30 minutes after the initial quake with waves reaching as far as 10 kilometers inland.
Devastation and chaos then ensued with the world watching in horror as Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were razed to the ground by the deluge. Cars were tossed around like scale models and houses were ripped from their foundation while the world prepared for the news of the death toll.
The devastation caused by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami was a disaster of mammoth proportions but then, Japan had another catastrophe in the offing. At Fukushima Daiichi plant, all six of the plant’s nuclear reactors were facing problems and this soon became the subject of worldwide concern. If the reactors of the severely damaged plants reached a meltdown situation, the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986 would seem like a ‘dud’ firecracker in comparison. A routine safety check at the Chernobyl plant had gone horribly wrong in 1986 which resulted in the worst nuclear disaster till date. Containment issues at the destroyed plant are an ongoing saga and Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have been greatly burdened with continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs due to the Chernobyl accident.
In spite of the dangerous radiation levels at the plant in Fukushima, engineers are fighting to cool the radioactive material with seawater without allowing hydrogen to build up and thus bring the crisis to an end. Excess hydrogen has already led to several damaging explosions at the plant and if the efforts of these brave engineers come to naught, it would result in a radioactive disaster of unimaginable proportions. The crisis continues to grow as radiation levels in Tokyo are already 10 times higher than normal levels.
In spite of the colossal damage wrought by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, the resilience of the Japanese people has to be marveled at. There are reports of people showing up to work within hours of the tsunami “because it is a work – day.” In the streets of Tokyo, pedestrians are waiting patiently for the ‘green man’ before crossing a street that is devoid of cars. Unlike the scenes in the aftermath of other catastrophes in Chile, Haiti, New Orleans and the UK, looting and theft is absent.
Honour is an integral part of the way of life of every person of Japanese origin. It is said that when a child finds a coin on the road, the parents will accompany that child to the police station where the officer will meticulously file a report after which he will inform that if no one claims the lost coin within a stipulated time, the rule of ‘finders keepers’ will prevail. Such is their way of life.
Japan has risen to being one of the world’s super powers in spite of the hurdles that man and nature has put in its path. The cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were razed to the ground which signaled the end of World War two for Japan. Of a list of 207 natural disasters which have occurred worldwide since 430 B.C till date, Japan has been the victim 11 times. In spite of all this, the country has risen up from the ashes like a phoenix time and again. It is without doubt that the people of Japan will one again rally themselves in keeping with their tenacious nature and with other countries quick to provide aid, Japan will once again rise to newfound heights.
D. Nampui