Japanese guts

Some of it may be simply that fear sells papers, and a headline that says “Catastrophe imminent” sells more papers than “Catastrophe averted.”

But a lot of it appears to be purposeful — it’s no coincidence that the people spinning the wildest tales of catastrophe have also turned out to be associated with vehemently anti-nuclear think tanks and political pressure groups.

Whether it’s because of ignorance or on purpose, the effect of this misreporting it to keep people afraid.

From the first hours after the earthquake, people in Japan were using another phrase: ganbatte Nihon! — “Do your best, Japan!” — while the American and British press were saying: “It’s over! Give up!”

The Japanese people — and their Yamato gokoro — won’t let them. You can bet that Japan will be back, just as it came back after World War II.

It would be nice if the Western press looked away from the Fukushima speculation to look at the tens of thousands dead and the lives destroyed, and find time in all the doom and gloom to say “Ganbatte! We know you can do it!”

But doing that would mean finding something that seems to be in short supply in the Western press. They could use a little kokoro of their own.

Charlie Martin is a computer scientist and freelance writer who covers science, technology, politics, and their intersections. He has been published in PC Week, CIO, Pajamas Media, the American Thinker, and was a regular contributor to Right Network.