Our blog - Japanese version
Japanese version
- Category :
- Custom/Culture
Current news broadcasting in Japan is generally according to the Japanese point of view and in line with the Japanese way of doing things. The Japanese language and culture tend to not present matters in a clear and concise manner, lest one be in error or offend people. In many situations, confirmation and reconfirmation or group consensus is necessary before issuing a statement. Consequently, foreigners sometimes react to the lack of a clear presentation, as if Japanese are trying to conceal something.
Japanese stardards of acceptable levels of radiation differ from those of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the US Government. Japan and America declared differing areas of evacuation for their citizens according to their own guidelines, which caused confusion throughout the world viewing the present nuclear crisis. This is the first time in recent history for the Japanese Government to deal with such a massive disaster, so they have limited experience in coordinating efforts to handle and resolve all the related ramifications. I hope that they can channel the expertise pouring into Japan from all over the world to reduce the shock and damage and to aid in the long and costly process of rebuilding Japan.
Concentrated efforts by major governments of the world both stemmed the rising yen and demonstrated their commitment to prevent significant disruption in the financial world. The Japanese government needs to get their house in order and base actions and expenditures on fact. Rumors of unsafe produce and dairy products caused by a broad marketing prohibition, must be quelled by proper testing, control and information disbursement, for those industries and livelihoods to recover. Drinking water supplies must be clearly monitored to allow use in unaffected areas and redistribution in bottled or other means to those areas where normal supply is disrupted.
Can this time help Japan to grow a bit more transparent and understandable to people of the world, of which the Japanese are one part?
