Like many others, I find the appalling situation in North-East Japan impossible to get off my mind. In the final years of my career I was fortunate enough to visit the country over 30 times. Before my initial trip, I confess to feeling a certain reluctance in visiting a place whose reputation had hitherto been associated with World War 2. However I would quickly discover that there was a total disconnect between the Japanese people that I came to know and the nationalistic monsters who would ultimately provoke the carnage and devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reassuringly even after all the years, there continues to be an ongoing recognition of the sins of their fathers and a determination to purge themselves of their inherited guilt.When assessed against my previous assumptions it seemed that the nation had completely reinvented itself.
I discovered that the Japanese people to be the kindest, most compassionate I have ever encountered, always concerned enough to ensure that visitors from overseas are happy and comfortable in their immediate predicament. I also found out that to reach out to them rather than expecting them to do the reaching, has the effect of breaking down their initial reserve and to become accepted as a true friend. Indeed on the mornings after a few boisterous evenings in the karaoke bars of Akasaka,Tokyo and elsewhere, I wondered if perhaps they were overdoing it a bit!
Their well developed social structure including their innate teamwork abilities, perhaps too formal and stultifying for the Western psyche, gives them the best possible combination of attributes to finally overcome and recover from this truly appalling series of catastrophes. Just where does one start? The task appears to be totally overwhelming. As if this were not enough, this morning’s news revealed that in addition to the nightmarish scenario which confronts them, the weather has deteriorated with snow, mud and cold augmenting the misery.
Although this may seem trite I feel bound to refer back to my previous post and wonder -where God is when you need him? Where is his infinite mercy? Perhaps he is busy working miracles in saving the handful of people who have been discovered alive beneath the debris!
How will it end? Happily, as in the many examples of the restoration and rebuilding that has taken place since 1945. They will rise again.
The exquisite Shukkeien Gardens, Hiroshima. Only the bridge remained in 1945.
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