Japan disaster, no looting? Do we in the west need to re-evaluate our opinions of Japanese society?

[ph0b0s123]

After hearing reports about how citizens in Japan are dealing with the disaster there, do we in the west need to start re-evaluating how we judge Japanese society?

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100079703/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/stimulus/2011/mar/14/where-are-japanese-looters/

No looting, no price gauging by businesses and corporations giving away stuff for free?

After reading the stories above and having it confirmed by the BBC and other news sources, it got me wondering. In places like this forum we are always taking the piss out of or looking down our noses at Japanese sociaty, due to it being seemingly very weird. And yes I know they have their problems.

But since to my mind a good measure of any society is how deals with adversity. Could the Japanese teach us a thing or two. And what is it about Japanese society that causes this behaviour.

And before you ask I am not Japanophile. I like some Japanese cultural exports like anime and videogames. But that's about the totality of my interest.

Now I am not talking about how well their government is doing in addressing the crisis or whether they could have been more prepared. That's a whole separate discussion...

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Did people expect looting?
My qualms on Japanese society are more based on those vending machines.

 

[ph0b0s123]

Did people expect looting?
-snip-

In most other countries when disaster hits and supplys are short you normaly see looting. Was it obvious that this would not happen in Japan. Shops cutting their prices also seemed to be something that would not happen elsewhere.

So it begs the question, why is Japan different and is there something we can learn. And should we give Japan's supposed weirdness more respect than we do?

 

[MrNickster]

From what I understand, Japanese society and culture is based largely around strict manners and respect, so most Japanese people wouldn't think about looting.

 

[VanQ]

Judging by the post disaster footage I saw, there wasn't all that much left to loot. Everything looked pretty much decimated. Though I don't see the Japanese people as the kind to loot to begin with. My aunt once went to Japan on a trip and left her purse full of money, hotel key, DS and other valuables in a crowded Tokyo food court, came back four hours later to find it completely in tact. Now if you left that purse in a crowded food court anywhere else, you would expect the best case scenario to find it in tact except for your money and anything pawnable at the Lost and Found desk.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Japan is very much a worker bee society, so even when disaster hits they just buck up and work together to resolve the matter.

However, the true shock of what has occured might still cripple them eventually.

 

[Bakuryukun]

pffft, I never found Japan any more odd any other culture or turned my nose down at Japanese culture. It's different than North American culture sure, but we do some pretty strange and stupid stuff ourselves.

But I'm glad to hear that there's so little looting going on, I'm trying to do my part to help out, donating 1/4 of my paycheques for the next couple of months to relief efforts.

 

[BonsaiK]

There wasn't really a lot in the way of looting with the recent Australian disasters either. There was a little price-hiking though but that was swiftly stomped on by the regulatory body here. And certainly no-one was shooting each other in the streets. I think a lot of those things are American cultural artifacts, perhaps a hangover from that country's frontierist culture and mentality. It's definitely the precedent in most other countries in the world for their citizens to behave in a civil, friendly and even helpful manner during/after a natural disaster (man-made disasters being another kettle of fish entirely).

 

[Batfred]

Kudos to the Japanese as you say. Their culture as already stated by MrNickster is all based around respect and veneration so not looting and actually trying to help each other is sort of expected I guess, just not by us jaded westeners.

Odd though, because in any JRPG I have ever played as soon as a disaster strikes, it is time to walk around people's houses and have their stuff when they are not looking, or even when they are. It's all very confusing where they are coming from.

 

[binvjoh]

We look down on Japanese society here?

I sure haven't noticed. There's a few cultural phenomenoms that we make fun of, sure, but that's true with every country.

 

[irani_che]

the govt. was in there fast helping people.
because the people saw the presence of the govt and saw they were being helped then there was no chaos or looting.
In Katrina, there was little show of govt help, that is why ppl thought they were on their own, and therefore fuck everyone else

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I could care less about whether or not people are looting in Japan. I'm looking at the worldly side of things. Remember there's a big nuclear reactor in danger here if that goes we're looking at a potential repeat of Chernobyl here.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

It's a different type of society. Currently western society puts the emphasis on individuals while Japan is traditionally more clan based and historically speaking only swapped recently. When something like this happens they respond much like an ant's nest in that each will do their part for the greater good. Of course this is just a sweeping generalization but still a seemingly correct one.

 

[Perfice]

There are people who look down on Japan for being weird? WTF.
This is the first I've ever heard about this.

 

[Ulvai]

Something struck where I live (unlikely): Secure what you need to survive (food, water), damn those who try to stop me. Than may be get something extra to get on your feet faster once it's over. May not be pretty or noble, but I will claw my way out of any shit even if I'll have to use dead babies to build a raft. I think thats how the West came on top in the end.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

Damn I envy them. Why couldnt the UK be more like that ? Werent we big on manners, where did we go wrong T.T

Because we are less tolerant when other people arn't as polite as us. We are also very jaded and cynical as a nation and have a lack of national pride. The Japanese are very proud of their country and their people as whole.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Well if you count "searching the rubble that once was our city for useful things" then there is indeed a lot of looting. But without stores to storm it just doesnt look like it

 

[Perfice]

Something struck where I live (unlikely): Secure what you need to survive (food, water), damn those who try to stop me. Than may be get something extra to get on your feet faster once it's over. May not be pretty or noble, but I will claw my way out of any shit even if I'll have to use dead babies to build a raft. I think thats how the West came on top in the end.

I thought the west ended up on top by staying united and promoting free-will during WWII.