On 11 March, Japan suffered from triple tragedies: an earthquake of 9.1 magnitude, a tsunami of over 33 feet high, and a nuclear disaster in three of the nation's reactors at Fukushima prefecture in the north-east of the island. It was the most expensive natural tragedy the nation has ever experienced. These tragedies cannot be overcome in years. They would need decades to come out of their natural wounds.
Nobody could have defeated Japan. China took decades to take over the position of Japan as the world number two economy only last year. In the past 60 years, Japan performed pretty well among all the nations and assumed the status of an economic superpower. However, this time, nature has defeated Japan. So were the Japanese government and media. They performed far less than expectations.
The problem with the natural and nuclear disaster is that the government is slow on the rescue side and relief efforts. Casualties are hidden under the carpet. Censorship is creating hurdles in the public relief efforts. Facts should not be hidden. They should be revealed to make a correct assessment of the disaster damage. Japan must and should put aside its pride.
In wake of the disaster, the Japan media became too official, shy, imposing self-restraint, less critical, and factual. This tended to create soft image of Japan abroad. The coin was, however, different. People mostly relied on the internet and foreign media to get the right picture of the disaster. It was another tragedy ie, an 'information tragedy'.
People suffered badly during the disaster. They did not have food for days. No gasoline for vehicles. Convenience stores were empty including those located at the Narita and other airports and subways. Many food stores were closed. Supplies were cut off. Large banks in Tokyo ran-short of US dollars. No gas and no electricity in many of the nation's 47 prefectures. The media did not show up. Is that good for relief efforts?
Has this not tarnished the image of Japan as an efficient country with efficient managerial skills and bureaucracy and pro-active civil society? Public resentment in Japan was no different from Katrina in the US in 2005 and the flood in Pakistan in 2010. All eyes are now turned to see how Japan would mitigate the consequences of the disaster in the shortest possible time.