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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
In Japan, March is the month when the “awakening of insects” (keichitsu) and the vernal equinox (shunbun) are observed, the latter a national holiday. March is also the month when unthinkable things have happened, from the deadly Subway Sarin Gas Attack in Tokyo launched by the Aum Shinrikyo sect on 20 March 1995, to the magnitude 9.0 earthquake of 2:46 p.m. on 11 March 2011 followed by a mega-tsunami that shredded the northeast coast and precipitated the meltdown of several Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear reactors. The coastal areas closest to the epicenter of the quake shifted four meters eastward and sank 1.2 meters; the main island of Honshu sank by an average of 2.4 centimeters. According to a National Policy Agency Report, as of March 2012, 15,854 people were killed, 26,992 injured, and 3,155 remain missing; 129,225 buildings were smashed to bits, and over a million seriously damaged. 325,000 people are still living in prefab barracks, and only about six percent of the 23 tons of debris have been disposed. The seventeenth and first anniversaries of the subway attack and devastating earthquake were commemorated this past March.
1 For detailed information about the types of toxic contaminants in the tsunami debris, see Winifred A. Bird and Elizabeth Grossman, Chemical Contamination, Cleanup and Longterm Consequences of Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami, The Asia-Pacific Journal, 9 (33), No 1, August 15, 2011
2 Did Yanai take for granted the collusive bond between TEPCO and the central government or did he, like so many corporate leaders, media pundits, and celebrities, avoid fingering the power company for fear of reprisals? Hizumi Kazuo, a lawyer cum investigative journalist, has censured the Japanese media for their cozy relationship with the government and TEPCO. He founded the online investigative newsletter, News for the People of Japan, to provide credible and accurate information about the aftermath of 3/11 . Unlike some of their counterparts in the United States, Japanese celebrities have steered clear of criticizing the government-TEPCO dyad for fear of being blacklisted, as was Yamamoto Taro. For his story, see Erika Arita, Actor in the spotlight of Japan's antinuke movement, Japan Times, 4 March 2012. Accessible online here.
3 Uniqlo uses technology to invent and produce new synthetic fabrics and employs in Japan a multilingual staff. As reported in the Japanese mass media in April, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries are becoming attractive destinations for Japanese companies as China has been losing its luster amid rising wages. Like other Japanese companies, Uniqlo has its sights set on Myanmar. Not only is the company training interns from Myanmar who have attended Japanese universities, but its program of distributing used Uniqlo clothing to refugee camps in Thailand in concert with the United Nations Refugee Agency has raised its profile in the region. See “Q&A: Japanese clothing retail giant helps refugees in unique ways,” 2012. Available online here. Accessed 15 March 2012.
4 In Japan, the main difference between NGOs and NPOs is that the former operate internationally as well as domestically. NPOs operate locally; 70% deal exclusively with activities within a single community.
5 Contaminants include not only radioactive materials but asbestos, dioxin, chloroflourocarbon, diesel and other toxic agents. Also, as my Japanese colleague, the eminent bioethicist Morioka Masahiro mentioned to me, Shinto-based superstitions about “ritual pollution or defilement” (kegare) are also surfacing as “reasons” for rejecting Tōhoku debris.
6 “Tepco should accept woodchips” Japan Times, 23 April 2012. Available online here. Accessed 23 April 2012.
7 Their blogs are fairly easy to find by Googling, in Japanese, the keywords “daishinsai, or great earthquake disaster,” “kifukin, or donations,” “haibun, or disbursement,” and “gimon, or doubts/questions.”
8 See, for example, Tanaka Yūichirō, “Kifu bunka wa hirogaruka” (Will the culture of giving spread), Asahi Shinbun, 28 September 2011: 15.
9 See here. Accessed 15 March 2012.
10 Sadakiyo Eiko, “Waga kuni kifu doko ni tsuite [Trends in charity donations in Japan],” Chosa repoto, Summer 2011, No. 74: 15-23, p. 17. Available online here. Accessed 15 March 2012.
11 The website of the Japan NPO Center provides profiles of a number of local-level NPOs operating in the northeast.
12 Eric Johnston, “Tōhoku in rebuilding bubble,” Japan Times, 27 March 2012. Available online here. Accessed 28 March 2012.
13 The lower figure for 2011 is due to the wider area of destruction, the remoteness of many northeastern towns, and the danger of exposure to radiation and other toxic materials. Gillian Yeoh, “Lesson Learned: The 2011 Disasters in Tōhoku Japan,” p. 8. Available online here. Accessed 30 March 2012.
14 There are also two official gift-giving occasions ochugen (midsummer) and seibo (year-end). The subject of gift-giving in Japan has generated huge literature over the past century. For a good, recently published introduction to the complexities of Japanese “gift-giving” practices, see Katherine Rupp, Gift-Giving in Japan: Cash, Connections, Cosmologies (Stanford UP, 2003).
15 In the pre-modern period, one form of punishing errant households was to withhold all mutual aid except in the event of a fire or death.
16 Volunteerism during this period has been studied in detail by Victor Koschmann, Robin LeBlanc, Lynne Nakano, Akihiro Ogawa, Carolyn Stevens, and other scholars (publishing in English). There is also a large literature in Japanese.
17 “Civil society” is rendered in both Romanized form, shibiru sosaetei, and as a Japanese word, shimin bunka. See link here. Accessed 20 March 2012. Similarly, the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization founded in 1970, declares on its website (www.jcie.or.jp) that the passage of the 1998 NPO law set in motion the emergence in Japan of a true “civil society.”
18 JOICFP had to adopted a “somewhat unique”
approach to relief work in Japan: “instead of focusing on one geographical area, we focused on one segment of the population,” namely mothers. The NGO provided monetary and material assistance for “2,400 mothers who delivered their babies in the period from March 2011 until the end of that year.” Brian Hutchinson and Erin Schneider, “Relief Efforts in Japan One Year Later: Reflections and Lessons Learned. An Expert Interview with Sumie Ishii,” The National Bureau of Asian Research, Center for Health and Aging. Pp. 1-4. Available online at http://nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=221. Accessed 20 March 2012.
19 Tanaka Yūichirō, “Kifu bunka wa hirogaruka.” The widespread use of credit cards is a 21st century phenomenon in Japan.
20 See here.
21 See here. Accessed 20 March 2012.
22 “Tokyo quake ‘could be stronger than thought’,” Accessed 31 March 2012.
23 For an incisive analysis of the central government's failure to exercise leadership after the 11 March 2011 disaster, see Shuichi Wada, “Operation Tomodachi in Miyagi Prefecture: Success and Homework,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, Japan Chair Platform, 13 December 2011. Available online here. Accessed on 20 March 2012.
24 Among the websites showcasing such designs and projects, are this and this. Accessed 2 April 2012. The latter staged an exhibition at Tokyo's Hibiya Park Green Plaza, April-May 2012, that was innovative and exciting.
25 See here. Accessed on 20 March 2012.
26 See here. Accessed on 20 March 2012.
27 Kesennuma suffered a fourfold disaster, for a ferocious fire caused by ruptured fuel tanks consumed structures still standing after the earthquake and tsunami.
28 Arigato. Takusan no shien. (Thank you. Lots of aid), Sanriku Shinpo, 11 March 2012, p. 8
29 Motomerareru jigyo netsudo (The degree of [reconstruction] work we can expect), Sanriku Shinpo, 11 March 2012, p. 4.
30 It's Not Just Mud, for example, recently became an affiliate of JEN, which is working with Uniqlo and other corporations.
31 “Fukkō e shimin pawaa” [Citizens’ power toward reconstruction Sanriku Shinpo, 11 March 2012, p. 8.
32 The club is affiliated with the NGO Gospel Square, founded by Japanese gospel singer Nana Gentle to help people within and outside of Japan rekindle a community spirit through song. It is not an overtly Christian organization and references to organized religion are hardly mentioned on their website. See here. Accessed 20 March 2012.
33 Reus (Riasu), is also the name of a local train line. Accessed 15 March 2012. One wonders what they will make of the presence of recommissioned retired public servants unilaterally dispatched in April by the chauvinistic governor of Tokyo, Ishihara Shintarō, apparently unilaterally, to assist in the rebuilding of Tōhoku.
34 See, for example, my concerns about a “technologically gated” society emerging in 21st -century Japan. Jennifer Robertson, “Robo sapiens japanicus: Humanoid Robots and the Posthuman Family,” Critical Asian Studies, 39(3) 2007: 369-398. Ishii's concerns are echoed by the scholar-diplomat Ogata Sadako, who resigned at the end of March 2011 as president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). She also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1991-2001). Takayuki Hayashi and Noriyuki Wakisaka. 2012 “Sadako Ogata: Discuss nuts and bolts before deciding aid policy.” Asahi Shinbun 12 March. Accessed on 25 March 2012. See link here.
35 “Pray for Japan” is also the name of a Stu Levy film released in March 2012.
36 The letter was translated into the primary language of each newspaper. Kizuna was selected as 2012 ideograph of year in an annual public opinion poll; runners up were sai (disaster) and shin (quake). Every mid-December the Japan Association of Kanji Aptitude Test announces the kanji of the year. The announcement is made in Kyoto at the Kiyomizu temple by a priest who writes the winning character on a large paper canvas.
37 The World Travel and Tourism Council's Global Summit, sometimes called the “Davos Forum of Tourism”, will be held in Japan for the first time on 16-19 April in Tokyo and Sendai (the capital of Miyagi prefecture).
38 “Fukushima Tourism Set to Resume,” 10 March 2012. Accessed 20 March 2012.
39 See link here. Accessed 30 March 2012.
Earlier last year, an Australian tour agency did the opposite and, highlighting the devastation, launched “kizuna tours” of Minamisanriku, a town south of Kesennuma, where tourists could “volunteer at their own risk” in cleanup work (no NGO/NPOs are mentioned) before enjoying “Japanese hospitality” at a nice hotel in Sendai city. The agency reassured tourists that, “As you travel, shop and dine you can enjoy knowing that you have contributed to the economic revitalization of Tōhoku and Japan!” (See link) Accessed 30 March 2012.
40 For example, some of the sarcastic feedback in Japan Today, an Anglophone on-line newsletter, included: “…Looks like the creators are thanking Japan”; “‘Japan thanks you.’ would be more appropriate”; “At first, I thought it meant that Imperial Japan was rising to power again”; “In response: Rest of the world. Thank you for the cesium” (“Japan launches global ‘thank you’ poster campaign,” Japan Today, 22 February 2012. Accessed 22 February 2012.
41 Paraphrase from David Rubens, Great Eastern Japan Earthquake: A Preliminary Briefing on the Japanese Government's Disaster Response Management (London 2011). Accessed on 15 March 2012.
42 Significantly, in this connection, ano hi has been used since 7 December 1941 to refer to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor after which the United States declared war on Japan.
43 One of the two largest schools of Buddhism in Japan. For pictures of the temple, see here.
44 “Can Disasters Help to Improve a Country's Economy?” Tiempo Climate Newswatch. Accessed 20 March 2012.
45 This expression was used by Dr. Kurokawa Kiyoshi in our conversation at his office at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, on 6 February 2012 in reference to the proclivity of “the Japanese” to react to events and the need today for a proactive mindset. Dr. Kurokawa now chairs the Committee of Parliament to Investigate the Accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants established in December 2011.
46 Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, coined the expression, and was an outspoken proponent of such a culture. Although Annan's proposal for “systemic prevention” was directed toward the resolution of violent, armed conflicts that transcended political boundaries, it can usefully be applied to topographies especially prone to natural disasters as well as to a reconception of NGO/NPO activity in Japan. See Melander, Erik & Claire Pigache, 2007. “Conflict Prevention: Concepts and Challenges”, in Walter Feichtinger and Predrag Jurekovic, ed., Konfliktprävention zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit. Wien: the Austrian National Defence Academy (9-17), p. 10.
47 Kofi Annan cited in “Can Disasters Help to Improve a Country's Economy?”
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