This is fairly interesting theory, although there is plenty of history previous to that alludes to Japan having a group focused mentality, although not to the extent often implied by the system.
In addition, this concept does not magically preclude people from helping others. In combination with a learned reliance on authority figures for instruction, however, this concept could theoretically result in a culture where people are unsure of whether they should be the one to take action first, or that someone else will be responsible.
While it is far from empirical evidence, it is certainly a possible factor in the lack of volunteer history after the Kanto earthquake. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A map showing the areas with fire damage.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. The biggest single disaster of the quake happened in Tokyo's Ryogoku area, in Sumida ward, where up to 40, evacuees had sought refuge in what is now Yokoami-cho Koen Park , a former army parade ground that was in the process of being turned into today's park.
A firestorm engulfed the whole area and, further fueled by belongings salvaged and fled with, killed all assembled there. About 60 aftershocks were also recorded after the initial mega-quake in the weeks following the disaster.
The total number of dead exceeded ,, with almost 2 million made homeless in the greater Tokyo area. A subsequent disaster took an all-too-human form in a post-quake massacre of Korean residents.
In September , Tokyo became a hell on earth. In less than three days, a magnitude approximate 7. The disaster did more than destroy. It also compelled reflection and inspired dreams that transformative and lasting changes might result.
Many hoped that a grandiose, awe-inspiring capital could be forged from the crucible of catastrophe. Others conjured up plans for the construction of an infrastructure rich city that would allow the state to better manage its citizens. The magnitude of its destruction was almost beyond imagining. Disaster struck at on September 1st, , just as families were gathering around the table for lunch.
Most workers went home after a short day at work and for students it was their first day back at school after a long summer break. Although the quake itself measured 8. The tremors most heavily affected the imperial capital, Tokyo, and left the port metropolis Yokohama in ruins.
In total, both the quake and fires that followed claimed the lives of nearly , people. In Yokohama, 90 percent of all homes were damaged or destroyed while , homes met the same fate in Tokyo, leaving 60 percent of the city's population homeless.
Although the first newspaper after the quake was not distributed in Tokyo until eleven days after the quake the September 12 edition of the Asahi Shimbun , survivor accounts from that point on frequently had common themes of pain, escape, and destruction. For many, the traumatic experiences associated with the Great Kanto Earthquake would be hard to forget.
The earthquake and the memories associated with it signified different things for each survivor. In interviews conducted in nearly seventy years later Osamu Hiroi, a renowned researcher of Japanese earthquakes, survivors shared the destruction and trauma experienced as a firestorm caused mass casualties in what was a defunct Army clothing depot Hihukusho located in Tokyo's Honjo district. Nearly 44, Tokyo-area refugees died when fires quickly swept through as carts of people's possessions caught fire, trapping those inside, many of whom burned to death.
In other narratives, survivors brought to light the greatness of humankind sighting various examples of self-sacrifice. Such narratives included the servant who sacrificed his life to save his master's infant son, or the stranger who offered to help carry another's crippled grandmother to refuge when most worried about their own lives to reach safety before fires destroyed districts. In contrast, some will never forget the desperateness of human nature as people looted personal belongings from the dead or sacrificed another's life for their own survival.
In addition, some survivors praised the government's quick relief efforts after the quake while others were frustrated by shortages in medical supplies, housing, and food. In an event such as the Great Kanto Earthquake that had influenced so many lives, it is inevitable to encompass all aspects of the quake. Unlimited to the Kanto Earthquake, certain events signify different things to each individual based on the things witnessed, heard, and experienced. Personal narratives emerging from the earthquake can be categorized into two main types: those stories edited by the government, and those that lacked government editing.
As an example of each, this paper will closely examine earthquake accounts in the government-edited Taisho shinsai giseki and the non-government edited interviews conducted by Osamu Hiroi.
Understanding why the government created such publications will become clearer as the key differences in these two types of narratives are examined. All narratives, whether government-edited or not, inevitably become external to an event. The government-edited narratives, however, were re-constructed to emphasize those emerging themes they saw fit, and then distributed these ideas to the public. Each narrative will be investigated for what the survivor chose to include in its recount, as well as what was left out.
Exploring both sources may perhaps bring the audience today a closer understanding of the true sentiments of the survivors. The Taisho shinsai giseki Taisho era Collection of Heartwarming Stories was published by the Tokyo Municipal government in order to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Kanto Earthquake.
The Japanese government compiled nearly stories after asking for submissions of personal narratives recounting the earthquake.
There are no conflicting answers to questions of whether people were morally well-behaved or whether the government was helpful after the quake struck in the government-edited Taisho shinsai giseki.
The government-edited personal accounts stress central themes depicting heroic rescues and selfless mutual assistance. The narratives carefully chosen and distributed by the Japanese government portray a positive image of both the Japanese government and populace.
The messages behind these narratives are that: the Japanese people behaved courageously and admirably through acts of self-sacrifice, and the Japanese government successfully supported its citizens in time of emergency. In contrast, the narratives gathered through interviews conducted by Osamu Hiroi depict a breadth of opinions that emerged after the quake. Yes, they too included examples of heroic rescues but these narratives also incorporated opinions criticizing the behavior of the nation's government and people.
This the government-edited narratives never did. Thus, by recognizing these underlying differences between the two sources and identifying what and why things were told in the government-edited stories of the Taisho shinsai giseki , it becomes apparent that the Japanese government had a specific objective in mind when distributing these stories to the people.
These government publications reflect the government's attempt to cover-up an event that revealed morally-unjust acts committed by both ordinary citizens and leaders of Japan soon after the quake- the Korean Massacre.
One story from each source has been selected to provide specific examples to depict these differences. The two stories are: "The Mayor who Sheltered the Koreans" from the Taisho shinsai giseki and "My friend in the hihukusho " from the interviews. The government-edited stories can be distinguished from non-government edited stories in that they contain two key differences in their underlying messages.
First, as mentioned earlier, the central theme in Taisho shinsai giseki was heroism. Victimization was emphasized in the interview accounts. Second, while the government-edited stories of the Taisho shinsai giseki emphasize the government's effectiveness in providing aid to survivors of the quake, the interview accounts highlight government insufficiencies in providing aid.
Before furthering the argument however, it will be beneficial to provide supplementary background on the event itself. In what came to be known as the Korean Massacre, 6, Koreans living in Japan and several hundred Chinese and Japanese mistaken for Koreans, were indiscriminately murdered by the Japanese. The massacres were due at least in part to false rumors that the Koreans were planning an uprising. False rumors that the Koreans were: setting fires, poisoning wells, raping and looting, and mobilizing an army first emerged in the Yokohama and Kawasaki areas.
When and why did such rumors begin to circulate? It is said that the rumors started mid-afternoon of September 1, spreading across the nation by September 4, reaching even the northernmost island of Hokkaido. The people's panic manifested itself through gradual belief in these false rumors. Psychiatrists have suggested that the minority Koreans became the target for feelings of anger the Japanese felt against the injustice of fate and being victims of the earthquake and fires.
Moreover, prejudice and hostility the Japanese populace had toward Koreans, especially since Japan's colonization of Korea in , could only explain such extreme measures taken during the massacre though the Japanese government did not want to admit it.
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