Why hasn't there been any Looting in Japan?

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20110315/cm_theweek/213154


It seems everywhere else in the world when there is a natural disaster there is looting/rioting and the more serious the disaster the more serious the looting and rioting. Even here in the States where we have a decent record on the looting front there was plenty of looting following the Katrina disaster but in Japan, none whatsoever.

True it must be something in their culture that helps, if nothing else there focus on discipline would be a major benefit but there are other cultures that have a similar focus on discipline and I'm not so sure they would show the same results following a similar scale disaster.

Another factor that I think might be relevant which does not seem to have been discussed is the age factor. Looting has very strong negative correlation with age and Japan's median age is the 2nd highest in the world at 44.8 years old (Germany is 1st at 44.9, Italy is 3rd at 43.5 this begs an interesting question, why is it that the 3 "oldest" countries in the world are the 3 Axis countries from WW2? Given the extent to which 2 of them were depopulated during the War would seem to severely restrict their 80+ population)

Is that enough though? Is it their unique particular blend of culture and advanced age that makes them essentially immune to looting or is it something else and is there anything the rest of the world can take from this?

Comments

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

Is it their unique particular blend of culture and advanced age that makes them essentially immune to looting

More the former.

[tridus.livejournal.com]

You mentioned some good factors. I think wealth is another potential one. I don't have data to back this up but what I saw during Katrina was more looting among poorer people. You don't tend to see roving bands of upper middle class types in the streets looting stores (insert jokes about them doing their looting from inside Congress instead here).

Of course there's also a lot more poor people then upper middle class people, so that could simply be numbers in action.

Another possible one is how close people feel to their community. If you know and like your neighbors, you may be more inclined to go check on them and band together to look after your interests as a group then you will as a loaner who hates everybody.

Katrina

[brockulfsen.livejournal.com]

If it was rich people it was salvage or foraging.

If it was poor people it was looting.

[speciesofspaces.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who is essentially livefacebooking it from his home a little south of Tokyo. It is unfathomable culturally to be so rude as to loot. Not only that, people are stockpiling a little bit and buying more necessities than they normally would, but they are not willing to be so rude as to hoard. No full carts in the shops.

Also keep in mind that some of the American press is making this much more dramatic than needs be. Tokyo does not expect to have a serious radiation problem because the science indicates that is extremely unlikely.

The bigger problem facing the country, from the Tokyo view, is a long-term interruption to the power supply. And looting? Does absolutely nothing to help that.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Yes, only a 20 miles evacuation during a major quake aftermath and 400 mSv measured. Nothing to see here.

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

Can I take a moment to say I love your icon?

"I'm sorry for your loss."

But yes it's definitely a cultural thing there.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

As someone who lived in Japan for two years? Yes to all of this.

I was stationed with Marines in Iwakuni. You can just imagine some of the bad behavior I witnessed on our side.

The Japanese population's response? What they consider "open anger" is what we would consider "mild passive-aggression." They had the patience of SAINTS.

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

I have to disagree about the common man not engaging in violent crime. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/02/world/main571280.shtml)

Unless rape is not considered a violent crime? From what I've heard from friends who have lived in Japan, (as well as from the article I linked above) victim-blaming is as rampant there as it is in the US and women there are even more unlikely to report a rape. I've also heard that unless the victim fights back, she may not even be considered to have been raped - rather like what the US Congress tried to do with its trying to make 'forcible rape' the only rape eligible for an abortion.

It's nice that a man can pass out and be covered with a blanket on the street in Japan, but crimes against women are as prevalent there as they are everywhere else in the world.

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

I think you're going to like some of the answers in here:

Building a Culture of Nonviolence: Sixty years after Hiroshima (http://www.shindharmanet.com/writings/nonviolence.htm)

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Er.....in case you've forgotten the 1940s were a long time ago. Their having been Axis in the 1940s means nothing about present-day demographic realities. After all, China only went to billions because Mao took Pro-Life ideas to their logical extent and banned abortion *and* birth control in what was already one of the most densely populated societies in the world. I mean part of the reason the USA's graying is the Baby Boomers are getting older, not that people necessarily are all living longer.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I might note also that in New Orleans during Katrina there was an immediate spate of scares that the poor black neighborhoods there had engaged in orgies of rape and violence, which in the end proved not to have happened at all, and the people there were rather more well-behaved than people think they were. In fact to me at least some of those myths, particularly given which neighborhoods had been flooded most and had the most people left behind were a sign that race was *always* a problem in dealing with that Hurricane, Bush just added the usual Reverse Midas Touch and made it worse.

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

How long ago were the 1940's?

Oh right 70 years ago.

So how only would a 20 year old in 1945 (the year the war ended) be today?

Do the math.

That's right, They'd be 85.

In other words their 80+ cohort should be significantly smaller than most other countries who did not suffer anywhere near as severe casualties

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

I find this point quite ugly.

In most cases in Japan there is nothing to loot. Also, they may not consider trying to get supplies in an emergency looting. If you and your child were thirsty, would you loot the bottled water?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

In most cases in Japan there is nothing to loot.

Really, entire towns are wiped out. You just run out of words to describe the scenes, honestly.

[singlethink.livejournal.com]

Actually my data says its Monaco then Japan then Italy then Germany by median age.

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

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

And Florida.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

that and the fact that there are radioactive particles floating all about.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Btw this might be slightly OT but what i find most interesting is how everyone seems to be ignoring TEPCO's systematic cover-ups (http://cnic.jp/english/newsletter/nit92/nit92articles/nit92coverup.html) of defects at Fukushima, that led to the malfunction in three of the reactors.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

You can't ignore something you don't know about.

[capthek.livejournal.com]

It is tough to loot when you are fleeing radiation.

[hey-its-michael.livejournal.com]

And when there are no buildings left for looting.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Key rule about Japan: never assume that just because something isn't being reported doesn't mean it isn't happening. You'd be surprised at how much of Japan's best boosts are mostly true only on paper.

That said, the culture is a big factor here. People in Japan grow up seeing quake responce units at work and for the most part they do a fine job. I've got a laundry list of complaints against the Japanese government. But even I'll admit that when they can get things to work what they can get done is amazing.

Egalitarianism

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

A factor you don't consider is that Japan is one of the most economically egalitarian countries around. The gap between the elite and the working class are, compared with most other "western" countries pretty small.

I suspect that has a lot to do with it. And no, I don't think the your bizarre and off-topic question is either begged or interesting.

Re: Egalitarianism

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

That probably means they have more supplies amongst them, and are more likely to help one another.

[farchivist.livejournal.com]

Is that enough though? Is it their unique particular blend of culture and advanced age that makes them essentially immune to looting or is it something else and is there anything the rest of the world can take from this?

Er, does everyone not know this? Japanese society at the base is predicated on the concepts of honne and tatamae and the very wide division between the two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae) and exceeding amounts of 'groupthink', with a high element of social shame. The immense amount of peer pressure against and social ostracism involved with criminal activity puts a large damper on criminal activity.

Sure, we could import that here, but I don't think Western civilization would be very appreciative of it. Westerners tend not to be very conformist and libertarian ideals would be looked on with horror.

[jerseycajun.livejournal.com]

"...and libertarian ideals would be looked on with horror."

Considering that libertarian ideals have most to do with voluntary action, and social pressure is a voluntary response, I don't see the conflict. It's when it becomes coercive, where the consequences of non-conformity are illegal, punishable by deprivation of property or liberty, that you would find libertarian resistence.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

As someone who has a lot of Korean friends I can say that though the Japanese may not embrace looting like say New Yorkers, they have been and are responsible for all sorts of crappy behaviors.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Panic-buying-adds-to-apf-1810949188.html?x=0&.v=4

Looks like you spoke too soon.

Japan 101 lesson from someone who's lived there. NEVER think that being Japanese will exempt people from basic human nature.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Um, the OP speaks about looting. I did read your article and it speaks about people hysterically buying off all goods in shops. Notice a difference? ;)

[light-over-me.livejournal.com]

I think it is because they (the Japanese people and the Japanese government) were very prepared. There is a high level of awareness and education in Japan about tsunamis and earthquakes- the government and rescue teams responded promptly. This is quite the opposite of what happened in New Orleans or Haiti.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

It's cos people are shit scared Godzilla is about to rock up.