I Find The Humility And Dogged Determination Of The Japanese Quite Outstanding

they are just amazing. look at "katrina" in comparison.that devolved into a free for all,basically. japan maintained their decorum,even when hungry. the ones i feel really sorry for tho are japan's elderly-the ones who lived through WW2.can you imagine waking up and seeing everything leveled again?poor things must have been having flashbacks

Yes, I have found myself quite inspired by the Japanese spirit of just getting back to work straightening things out almost immediately after the tsunami hit. And then I saw on TV last night that they have already repaired a road as if nothing had happened there. It really is something escpecially in view of the fact that I have been out this morning and I don't know how many potholes in the road I have avoided or hit. I have always studied the Japanese Zen masters and practice Zen myself. I think the spirit of Zen runs through their society and mindfulness and focus is a big part of being a Zen practitioner. _Derek

Yup, they are a real disciplined people & also when it comes to manners & all that, they're tops too. I mean they could just queue up a long line hoping just to buy whatever scarce supply available. If it comes to their turn & the stuff runs out, they'll just accept it. That's why there's no looting or rushing or grabbing & all those kind of stuff. That's what my mum related to me as she was watching the news the other which I missed. She was utterly impressed

Hi Janey, I know what you mean, well look at our potholes in the road, it was damaged by the hard winter we had and it still not repaired, they are quick enough to take our council tax, they should be ashame of themselves when Japan can do in in a few days, why can't they, lol! Tamara

Well the Japanese have really embraced the philosophy, "life goes on" in many ways. They are really getting right back to work and trying to get things back to normal as soon as possible. It is going to be a long and winding road for them, but instead of worrying about the time it will take, they are just starting to get to work and when things get back to normal(or as normal as they are going to get with something like that happening), they will be. Still most people in the world, would be taking freaking out to a new level to say the very least. So it is really great to see that the people of Japan are really trying to keep calm and get things back in track. Really the loss is great but this is the right way to handle a situation like this. You don't really rebuild by running around panicking. You try and remain strong, to get through one day at a time.

Although elements of Japanese militarism once committed monstrous crimes in China ,I consider Japanese to be a great nation .In addition,earthquake occurs frequently in Japan ,in this respect Japanese are well trained.

I guess on the scale of the disaster in Japan it really is a case of have to, after all what is going to happen to that country if they don't, to be honest I don't know I would be able to cope on the emaotional side of things, these poor people are going through hell, I wish I could go over there and help and the little faces on the kids breaks my heart.

I had heard that there is no looting, and I was impressed even the second day after when one of the news programs featured an elderly couple doing whatever they could to put their neighborhood right and help their neighbors. What we have seen is admirable.

I sum up the Japanese in two words "national pride". If the Government take the lead, show that things can go on then inevitably people will show the spirit and endeavour to rebuild etc. That said there is still an awful lot to be done there and many remain homeless. Also millions of dollars of overseas aid is pouring in. In this country we call it "the Blitz Spirit". The bridge that you mention is not built from any sense of a lack of direction but from a confused and torturous funding system. The bridge in Cockermouth (I think) was replaced in less than a year. Shame that we can't get a few more projects achieved! Perhaps we could divert the ridiculous Olympics build to a few infrastructure projects!!

They are extremely hard workers and very determined people the Japanese. They are also very polite in general. I have met lots of Japanese over the years as there is a large Japanese community here on the Gold Coast. The schools even teach Japanese as the preferred compulsory language in most State Schools that I am aware of. My daughter has been learning it for the last two years and my son is learning the language this year. Our school also participates in a cross cultural exchange program as well. This means that every year, students from a school in Japan either come to our school for two weeks or our students go to Japan and go to school with them for two weeks. My daughter wants to go next year and wants me to go with her as parents are able to go as well apparently. This will not be cheap, but it will be a fantastic experience if we can do it. It is a very crazy situation over there and one that is not going to be fixed any time soon. This whole nuclear thing is very frightening!

That is the oriental attitude. "When something happens, it happens for good!" A little hard to believe, but a great healer. This puts the emphasis on what to do next rather than brood over past. Japanese are a very dedicated, diligent and hardworking lot from eons. They did rise from the ashes of WW II to become a leading economy. It is only natural that they will now work harder to be back on their feet. What they need is support from the world community, which is there thankfully.

I think any country would do the same. You can't be sure unless the country experiences what they've experienced too. In times like those, people begin to unite as one to rebuild the country and forget about how much damage it caused because that will only cause loss of hope among citizens.

I agree with you all guys. I think it much comes down to their belief and tradition. Let's think about this. Their belief is Shinto, adhering to some Buddha's, which is based on practicing and respecting universal peace and love. Moreover, meditation is their way of life. Meditation is recognized as one of the way to achiece self peace. That's powerful in terms of self peace and humility. The same is true with their tradition of "excellency and perfection" and "bowing". Japanese products capture the market of quality small/compact products. They are highly praised in the world because of their perfection in quality--you know that Japanese guarantee. Another thing we see in amazement is their "bow" greet. The Japanese always bow in a straight movement to each other and strangers in their daily greeting. To have this movement, you have to do it from the heart in that you have to sincerely respect others (I've tried this.). Even the most notorious mafia in Japan, that particular triad, play fair deal. This I've read from some articles by world's politics journalists. It's quite hard to comprehend how this mafia conduct their businesses with that bow greeting tradition. All these have shaped the Japanese's humility and excellency in philosophy, along with the wealth the country managed to accumulate by their traditions. Japanese have proven to work very hard committedly for centuries to become a great nation. I remember what the old people in my country say about the Japanese, that they, being a nation of short people, wanted to have tall generations and really work hard for it and succeeded. Now we see most of them tall and lean. My father used to work for a Japanese company. Every morning, all employers and employees, inluding the board of directors and shareholders, must do "Oriba" together near their desks before starting to work. I see them so lean and neat a people, you feel ashame yourself to mess around with them. Awesome. Well, that's what I feel about them.