Trust

Trust is fragile.  Trust is strong.  Trust can be weak.  Trust can be powerful.  Trust takes time to build, to nourish, to strengthen.  Once it's established, it can endure difficulties in life and different challenges.  Unfortunately, once trust has been abused, rebuilding it is 100 times harder.

To build, it needs effort from all who wish to get into this psychological contract.  Effort has to be mutual and well balanced.  This is true in personal relationships, in employment, in customer-business relationship, and in citizen-government relationship.

The Japanese have very high virtue in respect for each other.  They excel as a big community that cherishes courtesy, service, respect for the elderly and the experienced, respect for culture and differences.  With limited resources, they excel in efficiency and technological advancement, and hence order and discipline are important.  Because education has put such high value in these areas, in face of crises, the people excel such impeccable endurance and patience.

In front of the TV, one week after the disaster, I can't stop wondering why there's such high shortage of food, water, medication, and doctors while help is flooding in from all directions.  Despite difficulty in land and sea transportation, air transportation should be able to help within a couple of days, say.  I've been in front of the TV watching NHK World but for now majority of the report is on the nuclear plant problem (which I understand the criticial point it's trying to say).  What haven't been reported enough is the situation of aid pouring in from different countries, the kind of help that the country has accepted, and the kind of help they have rejected - letting political situation going over humanitarian issues.  Or are we talking about pride (or "face" in Chinese terms)?

As time goes, the weight of report on the stock market starts to take over.  More and more, we see the international news, including NHK, reporting on Yen exchange rates and the stock market.  The humanitarian side of reporting gave way to the nuclear plants and finance, in just three days.  There have also been reports questioning why Japan needs so many power plants and the choice of nuclear fuel they use which can be developed into atomic weapon. 

With a country of people who give so much trust to the government, who have been enduring such trauma in life, that some have been serving since the first second of the disaster - without a second to mourn for their own loss, how much do these people worth to the country in the end?  For those who help to search through the rubbles just with their own hands on lack of tools and other means... I can't imagine the pain they endure in going through inch by inch in such large plains of desperation.

And finally the long-awaited address from the Emperor came, almost one week after the disaster!

I wish I knew the language.  Perhaps there were local reports that didn't get reported internationally.  I wish I could have more news on how the Japanese collaborated with the accepted international aid to help the locals.  I wish to have news that Trust from people was not overtaken by individual agenda, power, and money.

It's just heart-breaking to see a world like that.  How many warnings do we need to open our eyes to see the imbalance and coldness that we are living in today?

My heart is heavy at this time and sad for all the misfortune of these broken families.  I give my heartfelt condolences and wish that  peacefulness and stability will return to them very soon.