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Comment by portman | Hacker News Reader

I have great respect for Patrick, and usually agree with him, but in this case I think his conclusion is far off-mark.

Japanese citizens need our help, on a massive scale.

The government may not need any assistance, but the families and communities ravaged by the disaster have an unbounded need for aid.

I've lived in Uganda and Cambodia, two countries which get a disproportionate share of Western aid. Yet still, even with all those development dollars, a $50 gift can completely transform an individual's life. I've seen it happen.

If your house, your church, your community, and much of your extended family has been annihilated, and you're rebuilding your life from scratch, then you need our help, no matter how well-equipped your government is.

Please give, and give generously.

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Japan is the third largest economy in the world.

Uganda and Cambodia don't even make it into the top hundred.

Most of those 'development dollars' never even make their way remotely close to the people in third-world countries; the graft and corruption sees to that.

I live in Tokyo, and it's pretty insulting to hear this kind of shit.

Japan can certainly use the short-term help, especially from trained rescue workers, as well as helicopter pilots (as long as they come with their own helicopter). Help is definitely appreciated.

But with or without 'our' help, Japan will recover.

The real problems here are the disruption in the supply chains. The oil refineries and stores along the east coast are all offline, and in the three hardest-hit areas, many roads are unusable. This makes it really hard to get supplies in, even though there's plenty flowing in from the rest of the country.

On the social side, Japan is a group-oriented culture, with deep ties stretching all over the country. The refugees have the entire nation behind them in rebuilding their lives, homes, and communities.

Speaking of communities, people here don't go to church. Shinto-buddhism doesn't really work that way. While there are Christians here, they're a small, and very tough, minority.

I'm probably going to eat a bunch of downvotes for this, but it's irritating as hell that everybody overseas thinks that we're either all dead, or that I'm living in a tent.

This is like saying that people in New Orleans didn't need help after Katrina just because I lived nowhere near Louisiana. Don't take your frustration at 'the West' for thinking that people in Tokyo are as hard hit as the areas to the north out on others. Just because life goes on in Tokyo does not mean that there is no crisis to the north. Your entire post comes across to me as high arrogance.

If by Shinto-buddhism, you're referring to Shin Buddhism (aka Jōdo Shinshū), then yes. People go to Temple and celebrate different holidays than Christians, but to say "people here don't go to church" is quibbling over the terms "church" vs "temple," IMO. You probably see a different side in Tokyo, b/c as I understand it a lot of people move from the country to 'the city' and don't donate back to the temples that they originated from. In a lot of ways, they are probably like non-practicing Christians or Agnostics (i.e. not going to services regularly, but maybe going on holidays, or requesting last rites on their death bed). That comes across to me as less about the religion and more about urbanization.

I get the feeling that he's moreso responding to the fact that, in this situation, you can't compare the likes of Japan and Cambodia.

Hell, swap Japan for the US - doesn't make so much sense now, does it? It is an incredibly off putting thing to find people thinking that Tokyo is on fire and about to keel over because of what's going on up north, and while I agree with him on that front, I still agree with the parent commenter here about donating somewhere.

In reality, this is all pretty blatantly obvious stuff.

Thanks, that's pretty accurate.

I never said that the people up north don't need help; I have family and friends up there, and will be spending April and May helping people to rebuild.

What they don't need is a patronizing attitude. These people are tough, and they will overcome.

The reason that supplies aren't getting up to Sendai is not that there aren't any. The transportation network is broken, and fuel is in short supply.

Fukushima's got the double-problem of panic; there are hospitals 30km away from the plant that can't get supplies because the truck drivers are terrified that they'll get exposed to radiation, even though the equivalent dose of half a dental X-ray... if they spend the entire day.

Panic is the real problem here, and the rest of the world acting like the entire country has just been leveled by the fist of God is part of the problem.

I wouldn't be so frustrated if I didn't have to deal with daily phone calls from people back home asking whether or not I've grown a third head.

On the second bit, no. Religion works very differently here.

The temples and shrines play a vastly smaller role than churches do for Western religious groups, even in the countryside. There are no weekly gatherings, and most people don't identify with specific temples or shrines, at least not in any of the countryside I've spent time in.

Religion in Japan is national, not local.

You go to your local shrine for local festivals, and that's pretty much it. If you move, you go to a different one.

You've got a small shrine in your house for talking with your ancestors (called a kami-dana, or god-shelf), and people keep these to varying degrees, no matter where in the country they live.

Otherwise, social gatherings are defined by your school or work, or by whatever other organizations you might belong to. Youth groups, church football leagues, and all the other stuff you have in the US doesn't exist here.

So, no, they're not like agnostic christians. They're like Shinto-Buddhists, which refers not to the biggest sect (Jodo Shinshu), but to the religious blend that is most common in Japan (the Nichiren are also shinto-buddhists, for example).

  > What they don't need is a patronizing attitude. These people are tough, and
  > they will overcome.

So the rest of the world should just ignore the tragedy that happened because it isn't really a tragedy and the people are tough enough to get through it?

  > Panic is the real problem here, and the rest of the world acting like the entire
  > country has just been leveled by the fist of God is part of the problem.

Is the reaction of the rest of the world really causing the Japanese people to panic? Is this what you are so frustrated with?

  > I wouldn't be so frustrated if I didn't have to deal with daily phone calls from
  > people back home asking whether or not I've grown a third head

Don't take that out on the rest of us.

  > Youth groups, church football leagues, and all the other
  > stuff you have in the US doesn't exist here.

  > So, no, they're not like agnostic christians.

I never meant to imply that Shinto-Buddhists and Agnostic Christians were exactly alike. I'm sorry if you took it that way. I was hinting towards that fact that they might not participate actively in the religion as much as older folks do (and generations past might have), while at the same time self-identifying with the religion. Much in the way many Agnostic Christians identify as Christian, but don't belong to any church or attend any regular services.

Personally I don't see how being an Agnostic Christian has anything to do with youth groups, church football games, etc. Are you claiming that all (or even most) Agnostic Christians participate actively in a church community? I was using the term to represent people that self-identify as being Christian (or maybe only sorta feel like there must be some god in a generic sense), but don't really participate in the religion. Am I using the term wrong?

  > most people don't identify with specific temples or shrines

Now maybe, but it's my understanding that in the past the temple at which your family was formally registered meant something more than what you are implying. (Though this was really imposed by the government of the time)

I'll admit that my viewpoints may be skewed because Jodo Shinshu 'temples' in the US and Canada were modeled after Christian churches because the Japanese immigrants were trying to fit in, and going to a more traditional temple would have just been another way that they were different. On the other hand, I've met 'ministers' that grew up (and studied) in Japan, and they didn't really say that things were so much different here. So I don't know.

Not to nitpick too much, but I do believe what you're calling a "kami-dana" is actually a "butsudan". The "kami-dana" is shinto, and the "butsudan" is Buddhist, and you keep them in separate rooms, from my understanding (although I don't delve too deep into the details of any religion).

Yes, I realize that Japan is the third largest economy in the world. But living in a wealthy nation doesn't mean that your home is magically rebuilt. (Just ask the residents of New Orleans' Ninth Ward.)

Thousands of residents of Minami Sanriku are homeless. The fact that you, in Tokyo, still have your home, is great for you, but totally irrelevant to those suffering in Minami Sanriku.

I'm very confused by posts which seem to suggest that the Japanese government can completely restore everything that was lost.

Until someone who has actually had their home and loved ones washed away tells me "please stop giving", I am going to continue. To each his own.

Yes, they have been hard hit.

But wandering around handing out a few $50 notes won't help them that much. Especially since you would be putting more strain on scare resources on-site.

I'm sure donations will be appreciated, but going there (as a non-expert) would cause more problems than it would solve.

I was going to donate to aid organizations to help supply food and water, but I guess I should send some nuclear engineering textbooks and maybe my old exams from Nuclear Engineering 101. That's obviously the best and only way for the average American to help, what with our expertise on these matters.

I've also included this link[1] to the wikipedia article discussing the current situation involving the threatened nuclear reactors; hopefully, this will elucidate matters for Japanese officials. Maybe someone can help with the translations.

We should also send them the most insightful reader comments from CNN.com, reddit, and YouTube.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Japanese_nuclear_incidents

My deeply-ingrained image of the Ugly American get the better of me here. I actually thought you were serious until halfway through the post, and was mentally preparing a response to rip you a new asshole.

Dodge tsunami charity scams http://www.atg.wa.gov/BlogPost.aspx?id=27544

I'm going to agree with you (portman).

I think it's obvious that hopping on a plane and thinking one will be of any use on the ground is grossly misguided. Yes. Absolutely.

However to dismiss aid saying "we're a rich country, we can handle it" sounds strange. On average, the country is rich, yes. On the ground, each one of the people huddled in shelters is not rich (wealthy). These are people who will not have jobs for some time to come. The government itself is massively in debt (over 200% of GDP).

So, to assume the voice for the whole country, especially the devastated areas, while seated in a comfy 2DK in Tokyo rings a little hollow. A bit like the emperor going on TV _days_ after the event and pretty much just saying, I'm with you, persevere, we're all suffering, look, I'm even forgoing the convenience of electricity for two hours a day (what? what? what does that even mean?)

I'd say give aid organizations which can help in the affected areas. People are going to be displaced for a _long_ time, they will need food, medicines, supplies, etc. This is not going to be over in a month. Money will be needed to help these people survive while they sort their lives out.

In addition, Japan being a country of relatively old people, there are quite a few who have no relatives. Or the relatives live very far away and cannot help.

I know you're proud of Japan. I would hope all foreigners in every country would adopt their new homeland they way you have. Still, I think you should drop the pride a little and understand the gravity of the situation with a little more humility.

The government is in a bad situation. Their finances weren't great going into the disaster. They have an aging population and have to import everything. This is going to spark an economic disaster as well.

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110314-japan-persian-gulf-e...

But enough about your own problems - how is Japan?

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