The Fukushima report hides behind the cultural curtain
More than a year after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on 11 March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear accident independent investigation commission released an 88-page report this week delivering the indictment that Fukushima could not be considered a natural disaster but a "profoundly man-made disaster".
It went on to state that "this was a disaster 'made in Japan'. Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to 'sticking with the programme'; and our 'insularity'."
At first glance, the opening message from the commission's chairman, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, reads like an apology to the global community for Japan's mishandling of the Fukushima nuclear disaster: a mea culpa for it going so terribly pear-shaped for the Japanese – and the world as a whole.… Seguir leyendo »