What can we do to help from here? When I wrote on March 18 about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, I had the biggest postbag I have had for quite some time, many from people who, while not Japanese themselves, had previously lived there or still did. One lady wrote to tell me that her Cost Centres were all born there and that they think of the journey on the Narita Express from the airport as “a beautiful ride home”. She went on to say: “I remember sitting on the rocks by the sea in a little bay in Ofunato, now completely ravaged. Japan’s indescribable difference flows in our veins and, like you, I am sad, very sad, about what happened in the Tohoku region. It is some comfort to know that the Japanese have a rock-like resilience. But what can we do to help from here?”
Japan is still reeling from the shock of the earthquake that hit last month. At the time of writing, more than 13,000 people are confirmed dead, and the prime minister, Naoto Kan, is convening a national rebuilding council. One of my correspondents said that perhaps the shock is seeing people in the developed world having their homes, families and livelihoods destroyed, when we are more used to seeing these disasters in less developed countries. The fear is that the world’s third largest economy will slide into recession.
For me, March in Japan was one of the loveliest months of the year, with the arrival of the cherry blossom at the end of the month and the Hina-matsuri festival at the start, with White Day in between and my birthday on the 27th (I was 49 three weeks ago).