ABSTRACT
Japan is discordant. While we have discussed in the previous chapter about the drive to harmony among the people who live in the country, the land on which they live provides a number of challenges. We have already mentioned some of the seasonal issues that impact Japan and that these can lead to considerable damage and loss of life. However, as single events, it is earthquakes that provide the greatest challenge. This chapter will look at how Japan responds to these challenges and potential disasters. These discussions will tie together many of the points raised throughout the book in relation to the way in which people and organisations in Japan behave. This chapter will further look at the media reporting and consider the problems of understanding events in Japan through the use of both Japanese and foreign media. The chapter will show how the responses to disasters and how they are portrayed in the media is about building and rebuilding Japan, both in the literal sense when reconstruction, for example, is needed, but also in terms of building an image of Japan. To further demonstrate this argument, the chapter will conclude by looking at Japan’s desire to host major international events as a means to help construct an image of Japan on the global stage, and how this even got linked to the rebuilding after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
