"We are going to see the cherry blossoms!" My Chinese coworker told me rather joyfully as we randomly met up on the road back home. Now that is one sentence I have not heard for a look time. April is here and the cherry blossoms ("sakura") are in full bloom. Every year, these symbolic flowers of Japan attract millions of people to head out to the parks, picnicking after the endless pink trees in annual tradition of "flower-watching" ("hanami" or 花見).
Yet, this year, the parks were empty. Even as the cherry blossoms lining the streets create tunnels of natural pink, there are only a few people sitting under them, their conversations without any of the drunkenness and boisterousness of the past years, and their whole "picnic" seeming to last no more than a casual business lunch of a Japanese salary-man. Pedestrians passing by the picnickers can even sense embarrassment, and even guilt, in their eyes, even as they cautiously sip away their canned beers.
Yes, three weeks passed by the big Quake, and the nation is still in the "mourning (and aftershock) mode." The struggle to regain mental normalcy has only led to an increased acceptance of the notion that "people should not be entertaining themselves while others are still suffering." The thought is certainly noble (and I was and still am a proponent of it), but as the Japanese refused to entertain themselves, they refused to spend money, and an economy dependent on its picky consumers is quickly shutting itself down...
The so-called "self-restraint" (自粛, or "jishuku") is causing much more extensive and longer lasting economic damage than the Quake and the tsunami. Businesses, already squeezed by uncertainty in electricity and logistics, are finding whatever customers they manage to keep during the turbulent times walk out the door. And, the reason being entirely "moral" rather than economic, the businesses can do absolutely nothing to get them back.
Lets think about the origin of what is now this nation-wide phenomenon of 自粛. No matter how "morally upright" the Japanese are, being so used to a lifestyle of sheer materialism, forcing "self-restraint" happen at such a massive and deep-rooted scale cannot possibly be voluntary on the part of the citizens themselves. Clearly, there has to be some sort of top-down outside influence that specifically implied that not showing any "self-restraint" economically is indeed "wrong" and "inappropriate" at this point in time.
And reflecting on the newspapers and television programming a week after the Quake, I can see clearly where that "outside influence" came from. As the government launched week-long "ads" to discourage hoarding of supplies and excess usage of electricity, somehow the message translated into (at least understood by the public as) a government directive, a "shaming" campaign to bring self-indulgence under control...
But if 自粛 was created by a "government campaign," can't it also be reversed by a similarly well-timed string of political propaganda? For this, the success of American consumerism after 9/11 can be emulated. Even as the White House made little revisions to its political actions abroad that caused 9/11 in the first place, after the attacks, President Bush wasted no time in telling the American people to go out and shop. He wanted Americans to use consumerism as a sign that the American spirit is not crushed by terrorism.
His words worked like a charm. American consumption did not suffer beyond those directly related to businesses in WTC, and America, both economically and mentally, did not sink into a depression BECAUSE of 9/11. This marks a sharp contrast to Japan, where the public seem to agree that only the petty and the marginal seems to be carelessly entertaining themselves in what is considered Heaven's punishment against the Japanese people and nation.
The conclusion is a simple one. To reverse the collateral economic damages Japan suffers from post-Quake "self-restraint," a political propaganda machine must be activated. While difficult in a nation of complete political indifference, the government must come out and directly tell the people that now, more than ever, consuming copious amounts of all products, especially those from Quake-stricken Tohoku area, is not only okay but "highly patriotic" and morally upstanding. Proper tribute to the dead and the missing should be paid in the market stalls and the restaurants...
Yet, this year, the parks were empty. Even as the cherry blossoms lining the streets create tunnels of natural pink, there are only a few people sitting under them, their conversations without any of the drunkenness and boisterousness of the past years, and their whole "picnic" seeming to last no more than a casual business lunch of a Japanese salary-man. Pedestrians passing by the picnickers can even sense embarrassment, and even guilt, in their eyes, even as they cautiously sip away their canned beers.
Yes, three weeks passed by the big Quake, and the nation is still in the "mourning (and aftershock) mode." The struggle to regain mental normalcy has only led to an increased acceptance of the notion that "people should not be entertaining themselves while others are still suffering." The thought is certainly noble (and I was and still am a proponent of it), but as the Japanese refused to entertain themselves, they refused to spend money, and an economy dependent on its picky consumers is quickly shutting itself down...
The so-called "self-restraint" (自粛, or "jishuku") is causing much more extensive and longer lasting economic damage than the Quake and the tsunami. Businesses, already squeezed by uncertainty in electricity and logistics, are finding whatever customers they manage to keep during the turbulent times walk out the door. And, the reason being entirely "moral" rather than economic, the businesses can do absolutely nothing to get them back.
Lets think about the origin of what is now this nation-wide phenomenon of 自粛. No matter how "morally upright" the Japanese are, being so used to a lifestyle of sheer materialism, forcing "self-restraint" happen at such a massive and deep-rooted scale cannot possibly be voluntary on the part of the citizens themselves. Clearly, there has to be some sort of top-down outside influence that specifically implied that not showing any "self-restraint" economically is indeed "wrong" and "inappropriate" at this point in time.
And reflecting on the newspapers and television programming a week after the Quake, I can see clearly where that "outside influence" came from. As the government launched week-long "ads" to discourage hoarding of supplies and excess usage of electricity, somehow the message translated into (at least understood by the public as) a government directive, a "shaming" campaign to bring self-indulgence under control...
But if 自粛 was created by a "government campaign," can't it also be reversed by a similarly well-timed string of political propaganda? For this, the success of American consumerism after 9/11 can be emulated. Even as the White House made little revisions to its political actions abroad that caused 9/11 in the first place, after the attacks, President Bush wasted no time in telling the American people to go out and shop. He wanted Americans to use consumerism as a sign that the American spirit is not crushed by terrorism.
His words worked like a charm. American consumption did not suffer beyond those directly related to businesses in WTC, and America, both economically and mentally, did not sink into a depression BECAUSE of 9/11. This marks a sharp contrast to Japan, where the public seem to agree that only the petty and the marginal seems to be carelessly entertaining themselves in what is considered Heaven's punishment against the Japanese people and nation.
The conclusion is a simple one. To reverse the collateral economic damages Japan suffers from post-Quake "self-restraint," a political propaganda machine must be activated. While difficult in a nation of complete political indifference, the government must come out and directly tell the people that now, more than ever, consuming copious amounts of all products, especially those from Quake-stricken Tohoku area, is not only okay but "highly patriotic" and morally upstanding. Proper tribute to the dead and the missing should be paid in the market stalls and the restaurants...
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