Why no looting in post-tsunami Japan? - By Barbara Quimby

The catastrophic, heartbreaking events in Japan over the past week have been painful to watch from our side of the Pacific, but a few scenes of cooperation, patience, and kindness have also brought out some interesting questions about how communities react to disaster. The popular press has tried to explain the Japanese reaction with stereotypes of cultural virtues or the power of the state. Really?

While food, fuel, and even water are becoming scarce in areas near the tsunami and earthquake effected areas in northern Japan, there are no reports of looting-- I even heard a report on NPR describe how vending machines remained full of bottled water while men cleaned oil barrels to use for boiling drinking water. Women with children do not push ahead at the grocery store, but patiently wait hours for their turn. The press contrasts this with other scenes of violence, looting, and chaos after the earthquake struck Haiti and hurricane Katrina swept across the Southern US.

So what makes the Japanese reaction so different? Is it social, political-- or is it about our perceptions and expectations?

The press has remarked on the admirable virtues of Japanese society, their honesty, discipline, and ability to put the needs of the group above the individual. A Slate article critiques some of these claims, pointing out that this assumes homogeneity and is even a bit racist, as it seems to suggest that those who loot (earthquake stricken people in Haiti, for example) are not as ‘civilized’. I appreciated this observation, but I did not accept their counter-argument: state control.

The article suggests that laws and policing account for Japan’s honesty; yet, in the rural communities of the north, physically peripheral to the nation’s urban heart, is state power really the reason? Is this the nation-state failing in some crises (Katrina), yet staying strong in Japan? Perhaps a history which includes rebuilding after World War II and other factors have contributed to a common identity, and shared practices and morals; yet why are these processes so resilient in a moment of crisis...or are they?

Interestingly, Benedict’s The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, published just after World War II, dealt with (and may be responsible for inspiring) some essentialized perceptions about Japanese society as a homogenous, rule-following, group-oriented culture. Benedict may have over-emphasized group cooperation and selflessness in Japanese society, but her observations of what made the “patterns of Japanese culture” different from American society were perhaps most revealing about how we perceive our own values. We are struck by acts of cooperation and self-sacrifice; yet if a similar scene played out in rural America, we would attribute it to core small-town values. So is Japanese solidarity a sign of a cohesive nation-community? Or does it indicate a less individualistic social value than the generalized American world view? Or are these just simplistic ways of understanding a reaction to crisis?

While I cannot offer any quick and easy explanations, I am still inspired by how tragedy reminds us of our common humanity. It’s interesting to ask how are we different, but it is more worthwhile to ask, how can I help?

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