Disappointing expectations that the megaquake and tsunami two years ago — and subsequent nuclear calamity — would trigger a rebirth of politics and government, Japan's key policies remain largely unchanged, says Richard Samuels, director of the Center for International Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Samuels, a noted expert on Japanese politics, recently published the book "3.11: Disaster and Change in Japan," in which he examined for nine months whether the disaster had any effect on national security, energy or local government policies.
"While there have been some important changes in certain areas, this was not a rebirth of Japan," Samuels said in an interview with The Japan Times. "The normal politics prevailed, but most of us, I think, had inflated expectations for change."