One week on. It’s hard to believe isn’t it ? So much has happened in the space of seven days with terror upon terror heaped upon Japan. If the nuclear threat is contained, I wonder how long the media will continue to broadcast the plight of the Japanese people as they try to re-build their lives. Nuclear melt-down, exposed fuel-rods, damaged reactors - all news-worthy headlines for the tabloids – but months on – will we still be hearing of their efforts to re-build ? Or will this story be confined to old news with the odd reporter providing occassional sound-bites updating us on their progress ? But I guess you will say that is just the way of the world, with newer and rawer calamaties clammouring for our attention.
In terms of ‘people stories’, the ‘Fukushima 50′ fascinate me. You have a choice. You are one of a very small number able to save your country from a nuclear disaster. To help almost certainly puts your short and long-term heath at risk. Do you think of yourself and your family or that of the greater good ? Their adoption of the latter is an indication of the Japanese psyche and culture; the needs of the group are greater than those of the individual. Rightly heralded as national heros, they will become the focal point of TV documentaries, books on the disaster and undoubtedly ‘the film’ of the events at the beleaguered Fukashima plant. I can’t imagine how I would react in their situation if called upon to ’save Japan’. I guess my human reaction would be to go but who am I to make such a bold statement from the safety of my office desk one damp Friday lunchtime in March. What is clear however is the respect shown for these courageous and honourable men, and for their families, who wait in anticipation knowing that the immediate future of their country is in their hands. Their anonymity only serves to strengthen their stoicity and selflessness. If I had to define ‘brave’ – this would be it.
