Why did it take so long for any Japanese Cabinet ministers to make their presence felt on the site of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant — and what does this tell us about the decision-making process in Japan?

On April 9, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda was the first one to do so, when he met Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato and subsequently visited the nuclear facility in that prefecture. He promised the governor to "speed up, and raise the quality and quantity (of aid)" to the stricken districts.

All of this is well and good; and it is certainly to be hoped that not only Japanese regulators and operators of nuclear power plants, but also their counterparts around the world, will learn a major and vital lesson from this disaster: That even so-called unprecedented levels of natural or manmade assaults on such facilities must be taken into account and planned for.