Why the Japanese survive.

I was reading an article on how industrious the Japanese people are, and how even in their time of mourning they are recovering from the the event of 11MAR quickly. When I saw this I was just absolutely amazed. The Japanese people are very efficient and understand in order to make a quick recovery they must repair the countries infrastructure and re-open their internal supply lines. For them to ship food and medicine they need the ability to transport these item to the affected areas of Japan via trucks and other methods.


We are set to go to Japan at the end of May due to a military PCS move. I wish that my wife and I were there now so we could help with the recovery efforts. Sitting here at work concerned about what I'm having tonight for dinner seems a little insignificant compared to someone who just lost their family, home, and morale, and is wondering if their going to eat at all tonight. I know we have people here in the US with the same issues, but there are established services that are available for them to use. In Japan there are places that people can go to get help under normal circumstances, but what happens when these services are not available because they were lost in a tsunami? Yes my heart is heavy when I think about any American who is suffering, but what are we to do when people's pride gets in the way of their own well being. OK anyway.. back on topic.. Japan..


This isn't the first major disaster for Japan that they have bounced back from. On  January 17, 1995, at 05:46 a 7.2 earthquake hit the southern part of Hyogo, Prefecture causing major damage in the area and killing approximately 6500. Think about where we were in the 90's with construction and technology, now think about where we are today. Even though the damage this time was far worse, with the help of the global community a bigger, better, safer Japan will be back in no time at all. ◦

Why the Japanese survive.