Mar 13, 2011: Japan: earthquake, tsunami and aftermath

[onetrack]

Yes, that must be annoying, but that's the way the Japanese police work. You can't deny the fact that their overall crime rate is low. The Jap cop was probably being a little too bolshy with his statement .. but basically, he's right.
If a crime is committed in Japan, there's a high likelihood it's a newcomer to the area. In addition, males are grossly over-represented in all crime, so males are the ones that immediate suspicion falls upon.

One thing I did notice, and I don't think I'm wrong. Did anyone else notice that the largest % of Japanese shown in the disaster areas, were relatively elderly people?
This would jell with the fact that the Japanese population is aging .. and that older folk commit far less crime than younger people .. thus the relative lack of looting.

[Lamplighter]

This is a link to a 2-page article out today on behind-the-scenes
government activities during and after the tsunami.

As I recall the events, the US and international experts were saying that
things at the nuclear power plants were much worse than what
was being reported by the governmental authorities.
This article pretty much confirms that
... and what most of us have come to see from later news reports.

ABC News
By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press
3/9/12

Records Show Japan Gov't Knew Meltdown Risk Early

Just four hours after the tsunami swept into the Fukushima nuclear power plant,
Japan's leaders knew the damage was so severe the reactors could melt down,
but they kept their knowledge secret for months.
Five days into the crisis, then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan
voiced his fears it could turn worse than Chernobyl.<snip>

Apparently the government tried to play down the severity of the damage.
A spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency was replaced
after he slipped out a possibility of meltdown during a news conference March 12.<snip>

While then-trade minister Banri Kaieda suggested on March 11 that
residents within a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius might have to be evacuated,
the government ordered 1,800-plus residents within a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) zone to leave.
Then that expanded to 3 kilometers, then to 10 kilometers within two hours,
and finally to 20 kilometers the next day.<snip>

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., acknowledged a partial meltdown much later, in May.
<snip>