I don't know where this list came from. I don't know who the author is. Seen on multiple postings on Facebook as well as LinkedIn, I was touched by it's beauty and simplicity. Sometimes brevity really is the best method by which to convey important messages.
This list, the words written describing Japanese thinking and behavior post-March 11 is now being challenged. Not by many, mind you. I am one of the few that will call foul. Before I share stories of cruel and stupid behavior by some Japanese, I want you to read this list.
1. THE CALM :
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself
has been elevated.
2. THE DIGNITY :
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough
word or a crude gesture.
3. THE ABILITY :
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but
didn’t fall.
4. THE GRACE :
People bought only what they needed for the present, so
everybody could get something.
5. THE ORDER :
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the
roads. Just understanding.
6. THE SACRIFICE :
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-
reactors. How will they ever be repaid?
7. THE TENDERNESS :
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The
strong cared for the weak.
8. THE TRAINING :
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do.
And they did just that.
9. THE MEDIA :
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly
reporters. Only calm reportage.
10. THE CONSCIENCE :
When the power went off in a store, people put things back
on the shelves and left quietly. That's Japan.
I am all for giving credit where credit is due. I am all for telling stories, painful as they may be to write or read. When I hear stories about how some Japanese walked along the coastline right after the tsunami, gathering up cash (not belonging to them) washed up onto shore, ripping off gold necklaces and chains from around the necks of the deceased, cutting off fingers from the corpses and taking the rings home to sell I cry foul. My blood is now officially boiling.
These stories are from a Self Defense Force employee who "worked" alongside these thieves, who at first assumed they were private citizens helping to collect bodies and body parts. I put "worked" in quotes, because this employee was working collecting the dead. The thieves? I suppose a thief's "work" is stealing, so there you have it. Two groups of people "working" alongside one another. One to be commended, the other, well, let's just say it's a good thing I wasn't there. I am not at all sure I would have been able to control my anger.
Back to the list. The resolve shown by this person to not beat the shit out of those who stole, now that's resolve. Dignity, Order, Grace, Tenderness. I've seen them all personified by those I came across. I am witness to the greatest acts of kindness by those in Japan beaten down by what happened in March. Clearly, however, just as any other society has rats and sociopaths, Japan has its share of people who defy reasonable social norms and behavior commonly accepted as decent.
My rage at the scum of Japan who defiled the dead, who thought only of themselves in a time of national and humanitarian crisis, it frightens me. I pray I never come across them in person.
Don't tell me you had your reasons. Whatever they were, there's no justification for what you did. You embarrass me. This is one of the few times in my life I actually wish someone harm. You deserve it. Fuck you, people. Seriously.
