Nearly a year ago on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck northeastern Japan, unleashing a massive tsunami and leading to widespread devastation across the region. It was the fourth-largest earthquake since 1900 and has left a staggering 15,000 dead with thousands more still missing. Japan continues to reel from the most expensive natural disaster in history and is struggling to cope with an alarming nuclear crisis.
But Japan can recover, right? The Japan we have come to know, the mighty industrial machine, the third-largest economy in the world, the wealth of technological innovation, the champion of peace — this is the Japan that we would expect to rebound quickly. It is the Japan that inspired one of the largest international humanitarian responses, with 128 countries providing aid and Red Cross donations totaling $1 billion just one month after the earthquake. With such strengths and such overwhelming international support, Japan was expected to be stronger in the aftermath of 3.11.
However, this is not the reality that Japan faces today. The Japanese population, once united behind the tragedy, is now fractured and crippled by political impasse as well as by an unprecedented mistrust of the government. Rather than bringing Japanese society together or revitalizing a nation that has remained stagnant for two decades, the disaster has instead fueled an already toxic political environment and demoralized a Japanese population that has experienced very little optimism in recent years.
In addition to the social and political implications of the disaster, the economic outlook looks equally bleak. On top of the $122 billion cost of reconstruction, the Japanese government will struggle to rebuild the once-thriving fishing industry of the shattered northeast and the country will continue to suffer from the economic consequences of an arbitrarily strong Yen. While we cannot ignore the impressive rebuilding and relief efforts, which have allowed thousands to return to their homes and revived local communities, we must also not forget the harsh realities that the Japanese people are set to face in the near future.
But perhaps the most troubling outcome of this tragedy has been Japan's inability to truly recapture the spirit of its people. While Japan has suffered more calamities in the past, many Japanese people retained the hope that this disaster, which brought crowds of volunteers from all over the country to come to the aid of their brothers and sisters, would become a symbol of a new, unified and rejuvenated Japan. Instead, we see that Japan has become even more divided and more concerned with the merits of nuclear energy or condemning the government, rather than coming together to repair the fundamental issues behind its dispirited society.
This grim situation is perhaps best demonstrated by this image: While thousands in northeastern Japan remain without jobs, without homes and continue the painful search for missing loved ones, politicians in Tokyo throw jabs at each other for the botched response to the nuclear crisis, and citizens in the capital struggle to remember the name of their country's latest prime minister. While this dire picture is not the Japan that we have come to know, it is unfortunately one side of Japan that has emerged from the disaster.
It is therefore clear that Japan is still crying out for help, just as it did on March 11, 2011. The tragedy of 3.11 was a global one, and 3.11 of this year is no different: Japan still needs the support of the international community and cannot possibly move forward alone. Just as the Japanese people will never forget the generous donation of $10,000 from the Tufts community in 2011, we must not forget the tragedy of 3.11 in 2012 and in years to come.
Please join the Tufts Japanese Culture Club as we commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 3.11 tragedy. On Wednesday, March 7, during open block on the Tisch Library Patio, we will be taking a photo of Tufts students in the shape of the Japanese flag and the message "Tufts 3 Japan," to show the Japanese people that they will always remain in our hearts.
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Ken Nozaki is a senior majoring in international relations.
