Initial hopes turn to frustration
In the immediate aftermath of 3/11 I penned several optimistic pieces for European newspapers predicting that the disaster might jolt Japan out of its long period of economic torpor and social ennui. I wouldn't write the same today.
Journalists saw the best of Japan in the first month of the heaviest reporting: shattered northeast communities organically re-congealing with remarkable speed; the orderliness and unselfishness of ordinary people in response to their ordeal; their adamant, inspiring refusal to feel sorry for themselves.
We've seen its less admirable qualities since. Like many, I'm depressed by the lethargy of ordinary citizens and the political system's inability to respond to popular signals. How many other world cities would have forgiven their governor after he called the disaster "divine punishment," let alone reelected him for a fourth term, as Tokyo did for Shintaro Ishihara?