An earthquake of unprecedented magnitude, followed by a terrible tsunami, devastated the northeast coast of Japan on March 11, setting off a nuclear emergency that is having global effects.The combination of these calamities has also plunged Japan into a kind of national depression that I have never before experienced in the 50 years that have passed since I first came to this country.
Meanwhile, the response from the international community has been immediate, generous and heart-warming. I firmly believe, as a British-born Japanese citizen with Canadian offspring and grandchildren in Canada, that we, the Japanese people, must do something that only Japan can do.
Japan is an island nation that has shown outstanding skill in building warships, supertankers, containerships, research vessels and luxury cruise ships; we should now discuss and agree to design and build at least two modern ships that can immediately react to disasters both at home and abroad.