A different perspective on Japan
An American living in Japan provides offers another take on what’s happening after an earthquake and tsunami rattled the country
- Joeff Davis
- Sensoji is Tokyo’s largest Buddhist temple.
The tragedy in Japan has been extensively covered by the American media since the earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in the wee hours (our time) of Mar. 11.
However, one American working in Japan has found some faults with American coverage and wrote an amazingly extensive blog post to explain more specific things about the situation as it is now in Japan. And to, you know, reassure his frightened mother and friends.
The writer, Patrick McKenzie, currently runs a small software business in Japan, but has also worked as a translator for the Japanese government and systems engineer in Japanese industry.
He begins with a primer on Japanese geography, first naming the four main islands that constitute the nation: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. (Fun fact: there are nearly 7,000 islands total!) The earthquake and tsunami both affected the main island, Honshu, described by McKenzie as looking somewhat like a banana. However, he also says that Japan is larger than most people think — about 800 miles long, or the distance from Chicago to New Orleans.
McKenzie also discusses how coverage of Japan is generally restricted to discussion of Tokyo because it’s the capital and most people know where it is. In the case of this natural disaster, however, Tokyo was barely affected. The prefecture of Miyagi was the most badly-hit. Miyagi is 200 miles from Tokyo, roughly the same distance between Washington, D.C. and New York City. Miyagi’s capital is Sendai, which received extensive damage.
More on Japan, including its obsessive attention paid to emergency preparedness, things that went right, the ongoing Fukushima nuclear plant problems and how to help, below the jump.