Stormy Weather

[salymap]

Morning Stormyweatherites. I hope all your families in the area struck by the earthquake are safe. It's quite hard to think of the arts, including music,when so many people are going through Hell on earth.

[marthe]

Saly, I agree completely. They say that the destruction and death toll is approaching that of WW II. I've stopped looking at footage for the moment because it seems voyeuristic to keep staring at other people's suffering...same as post-Sept.11. This is on a larger scale though.

[Serial_Apologist]

The logistics of finding space for population, when most of the country's topography is too steep or inaccessible, means that most of Japan's communities, domestic and industrial, have had to be located on the limited zone of level terrain located largely on the country's eastern side. Up until now, lacking raw marterials such as coal or natural gas, has meant dependence on nuclear power.

As one baby boomer brought up to hate the Japanese, who only much later discovered Zen Buddhism and the beauty of the arts, my admiration for this people knows no bounds; for one thing I have met quite a few Japanese musicians, and nicer, more gently humorous people one could not expect to meet; secondly, the reputation for loyalty and hard work made them fair game in the international competition for production - unlike us they made goods on time that actually worked and in many instances outlived comparable products made in Britain, Europe and America, and became a consumer society. But once they had bought all they could afford, or, more pertinently, needed, they stopped purchasing, (while we in the west were throwing out perfectly serviceable products in the name of fashion), and their economy went into decline, from which it has never properly recovered. So much for capitalism being the system that provided all the answers to need! And yet, technologically the Japanese are still arguably more advanced than anyone else; they build to withstand earth movements as much as possible, and my only surprose is that they have not yet exploited the possibilities of geo-thermal power which lies literally under their feet. Income differentials between the richest and poorest are I understand much narrower than they are over here, because managements always fostered the idea of being "one of us" rather than sequestering themselves off into wealthy enclaves. Being a high density population has necessitated something with which, regardless of class and income, has meant putting up with living quarters which are tiny as compared with those enjoyed by most, other than the homeless, in the West. One musician whom I happen to know went over there, and had to be accommodated in one of the Buddhist monasteries, since his double bass was too large to fit into any of the lodgings that were on offer! I have little doubt that, besides their training and preparedness for earthquakes in general, the spiritual traditions followed by the Japanese have played a large part in their resilience, and my hope is that this will help them and be to their advantage in this terrible time.

S-A

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

...we were assured on Newsnight by two geology professors that the size and scale of the eartquake did not represent an upward trend but was within known natural patterns ...

the population concentration reflects the concentration of land ownership in Japan i believe [even worse than Scotland] but that is neither here nor there at the moment ... it is a devastating triple blow; earthquake, tsunami, and then the nuclear reactor problems - let us hope they can close them down safely .... i suspect many nations will be looking at geothermal options since the nuclear industry is so unreliable [including the Japanese where not surprisingly not many people wanted to work for it] and the consequences of misfortune or negligence so great ....

starting in the mid-1990s there were several nuclear related accidents and cover-ups in Japan that eroded public perception of the industry, resulting in protests and resistance to new plants. These accidents included the Tokaimura nuclear accident, the Mihama steam explosion, cover-ups after an accidents at the Monju reactor, among others, more recently the Chūetsu offshore earthquake aftermath. While exact details may be in dispute, it is clear that the safety culture in Japan's nuclear industry has come under greater scrutiny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Japan

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As one baby boomer brought up to hate the Japanese...

Do you remember those war comics that were around? Hardly the thing to heal wounds and promote reconciliation. My parents wouldn't let me have them, and I am proud of their stance.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yep. You were lucky, EA

[greenilex]

Have just finished "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" so I've felt immersed in Japanese history over a period of weeks.

The prejudice you mention has been part of my mental furniture too, I'm ashamed to say.

The nation will need heroic reserves in the next months. We must do all we can.

[salymap]

Morning all from a very misty SE/Kent. Thought for today. Was it strictly necessary to send Jim Naughtie
from the R4 Today programme to Japan? If the BBC are so short of money, wouldn't one of the reporters already there surfice? Isn't he needed for his new job on the BBC MM?

[antongould]

We too have mist in the pit heaps and, as very often, I totally agree with your thought for the day!

[Mahlerei]

Morning all

Yes, both BBC and Sky have a habit of sending their newsreaders into the filed when a bg story breaks. Must be a pretty expensive exercise.

Sun struggling to come out today but at least the fog has lifted.

[Curalach]

Snowing heavily again his morning but it's wet so the roads are clear. I thought I had finished with snow shovelling this winter!

I always feel that there is a dilemma with disaster areas between the need for the world to know what's going on and the necessity not to interfere with recovery efforts.
You wonder if all these media people are just getting in the way and hampering progress. The need to feed the 24 hour news programmes is in itself a problem.
Yesterday there was a bizarre interview where Naughtie, in Japan, was interviewing the Japanese ambassador to the UK, who was in London, about the situation in Japan. What's that all about?

[amateur51]

Snowing heavily again his morning but it's wet so the roads are clear. I thought I had finished with snow shovelling this winter!

I always feel that there is a dilemma with disaster areas between the need for the world to know what's going on and the necessity not to interfere with recovery efforts.
You wonder if all these media people are just getting in the way and hampering progress. The need to feed the 24 hour news programmes is in itself a problem.
Yesterday there was a bizarre interview where Naughtie, in Japan, was interviewing the Japanese ambassador to the UK, who was in London, about the situation in Japan. What's that all about?

Warmer and brighter here in London NW2 - and there are buds on my small cherry tree!

I completely agree with your comments about 24 hour news gathering, Curalach. How does it all benefit the listener, I wonder?

[marthe]

Just checking in. The weather is dreary again...a cold rain. Sun yesterday; sun tomorrow! I need to stay in and catch up with some paper work...once I get off-line!

[BBMmk2]

Bit cold today, and hmmm, a sloight mugginess to the air?

[salymap]

It's not Spring yet, whatever the calendar says. Murky and damp in Kent. I must make myself get on with the ever present household jobs. Ugh, my mother would be shocked at my laziness.