Japan needs our solidarity, not a blame game

This article was published in Spiked Online 24 March 2011

The earthquake confirms that a pre‑Enlightenment urge to blame human greed for natural disasters is making a comeback.

The Japanese proverb ‘fix the problem, not the blame’ captures an attitude towards life that has served Japan well in the post-Hiroshima era. It makes a powerful point, which is that looking for someone or something to blame is often a time-consuming exercise that rarely has positive outcomes. Whereas nothing can be done about an unfortunate event that has already occurred, we can mobilise our creative powers to fix problems that stare us in the face. History shows that when communities embrace a culture of blame, they tend to become distracted from finding solutions to problems.

In the wake of the various disasters that have struck Japan this month, that old proverb will be seriously tested by the reactions of millions of angry and bewildered people. So far, public anger has been directed at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for its response to the crisis at the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima. Inevitably, as the days passed, criticism of government officials and the nuclear power industry increased in volume.