Sunday was the anniversary of the March 11th earthquake. I arrived in Japan a few months afterwards. When it happened, a lot of people assumed I would not be going to Japan. K and I had a serious conversation about what we would do if placed 1km outside the exclusion zone or other such unlikely situations.
A lot has been said about the Japanese government’s response to the earthquake and the speed with which the affected region has been rebuilt. But there is still a 20km exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant and who knows if or when people will be able to return there. Whilst the towns and cities can be rebuilt, I hope that people living in the Fukushima region are not stigmatized by their association with the radiation. I hope also that the mental health/PTSD issues arising from the disaster are dealt with effectively and without judgment or social ostracism.
We had an interesting conversation with a Japanese friend recently. We were talking about visiting countries in Europe on holiday and she was very surprised when we said we might go to Greece next year. “But Greece is very dangerous” was her response. I had heard another Japanese colleague say this previously. We were confused. Obviously there has been rioting in Greece, but not to the extent where we would ever think of it as dangerous. She told us that the Japanese government had advised people that it was not safe to visit Greece because of all the recent trouble. I don’t know if this is factually accurate or not, but that was her belief.
We talked a little about how some people in the UK avoided (and continue to avoid) Japan after the Fukushima incident, even though the vast majority of Japan was physically unaffected. Of course, some people in Europe think of Japan as being pretty dangerous and resembling the landscape of Mad Max. But her view was that Japanese people are much more likely to be scared of crime, begging, rioting and unrest than they are to be scared of a natural disaster occurring. There is so little experience within Japan of these social problems that even if the chance of being affected is low, they can have a strong deterrent effect.
I’ve heard Spain, Italy and Holland all referred to as being dangerous. For the former two, it is the petty crime that is the issue. Now having spent a lot of time in Spanish cities, I can agree that the petty crime is prevalent and a pain, particularly in Barcelona. Drug use is the main issue affecting the perception of Holland. Cannabis use, even legal, is often associated with criminals and people who are not morally upright. So Holland is considered relatively dangerous to some people.
It’s really interesting to learn about people’s differing perceptions of the outside world. Maybe people in Kenya would think English people are stupid to not visit Somalia because it’s “too dangerous”. Maybe they would say “Hey-the Northern area of Somaliland is actually alright, you just need to take precautions and get taxis home at night”.
But I don’t really think that.
The photo of Allo Darlin' is entirely unrelated to the above post, but I do like their new single.
2 comments:
A lot of Japanese people I've met think of America as dangerous. When I first arrived I heard one story repeated quite often. Once in America, a Japanese person was shot while trick-or-treating. The home-owner shouted 'freeze' and the Japanese kid? thought 'please.' The fact Americans can have guns is taken as most do. And thus America is dangerous.
That anecdote sounds like something out of a 1950s sketch show!
Have linked to your site and enjoying having a read of it right now.
Post a Comment