Everything random from Straw Hat Pirates to Kamen Rider and Sailor Moon. High heels, leather and the color black. Japan in all forms. From NES to Wii. The magic of Ghibli & Disney. Players of magical Tennis. The Empire strikes back and Moriarty was real. 007.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his country will never forget that Japan has stood by Afghanistan during its difficult times. Offers have also come from East Timor, Haiti, Sudan and Rwanda, which have themselves been afflicted by such calamities as conflict, major earthquakes or civil war.
Sudan has stepped forward with an offer of an equivalent of about 8 million yen. Some others have communicated willingness to send in rescue teams or provide whatever assistance they could, the ministry said.
”Japan has kept doing good deeds in the form of rescue and assistance in various parts of the world,” the official said.
One of Japan’s most famous characters, Kamen Rider, still stands tall and mighty even after being hit by a 10 meter tsunami.
Ishinomaki in Miyagi, the hometown to Kamen Rider and a city hit by the tsunami, has a statue that shows Kamen Rider is not defeated.
Buildings around the city are left in shambles, but the masked rider stands tall and gives courage and hope to those who fell victim to the terrifying events.
“My hope is that this national tragedy will be the occasion for a new kind of Japanese politics. In recent years, Japan has suffered from the infighting of a political class that has been much more interested in scoring points against rivals for short-term gain, rather than trying to work seriously with one another to solve Japan’s serious long-term challenges. In this respect, they are behaving very much like their American counterparts, who have been polarized and ineffective in dealing with the country’s long-term problems.
Japan is the first developed country that will face the fact of population aging and decline, and all of the economic and fiscal challenges that come with it. What Japan has needed, but has not had, is political leadership that can rise above the petty wrangling and lead the nation toward the kinds of common sacrifices that will be needed to restore the nation’s long-term economic health.
It is an unfortunate fact about human nature that it sometimes takes a major trauma to waken people from the complacency of business as usual. Responding in the short term to the tsunami will test everyone’s resilience, but it may pave the way toward a stronger sense of national purpose that will last beyond the immediate crisis. If that happens, then the suffering of those affected by this disaster will not have been entirely in vain.”
AFP reports on efforts in Serbia to raise money for Japan. About 750,000 euros (£650,000; $1m) has been raised, officials say. Efforts are also being made in neighbouring Bosnia. AFP points out that Japan has been a generous donor in both countries, which were hard hit by the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
