From The International Herald Tribune:
Crisis opens era of restraintBY KEN BELSON AND NORIMITSU ONISHI
TOKYO — Even in a country whose people are known for walking in lock step, a national consensus on the proper code of behavior in post-tsunami Japan has emerged with startling speed. Consider it the age of voluntary self-restraint, or jishuku, the antipode of the Japan of the ‘‘bubble’’ era that celebrated excess.
With hundreds of thousands of people displaced up north from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, anything with the barest hint of luxury invites condemnation. There were only general calls for conservation after the March 11 quake, but within days Japanese of all stripes began turning off lights, elevators, heaters and even toilet seat warmers.
But the new mood goes beyond the need to compensate for shortages of electricity brought on by the closing of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
At a time of collective mourning, jishuku also demands that self-restraint be practiced elsewhere. Candidates in the local elections next month are hewing to the ethos by literally campaigning quietly for votes, instead of circling neighborhoods in their usual campaign trucks with blaring loudspeakers.
With aggressive sales tactics suddenly rendered unseemly, the giant Bic Camera electric appliance outlet in central Tokyo has dropped the decibels on its incessant in-store jingle, usually audible half a block away. At the high school baseball tournament in Osaka, bands put away their instruments; instead, cheering sections have been clapping by hitting plastic horns together.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/world/asia/28tokyo.html Get the best global news and analysis direct to your device – download the IHT apps for free today!
For iPad: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/international-herald-tribune/id404757420?mt=8
For iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/international-herald-tribune/id404764212?mt=8
