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> I'm currently living in Japan. So obviously I have a plan for nuclear war. I can't tell whether this is meant seriously or not, but assuming it's serious, I'

> I'm currently living in Japan. So obviously I have a plan for nuclear war. I can't tell whether this is meant seriously or not, but assuming it's serious, I'm genuinely curious as to why this is "obvious"? Is this historical (Hiroshima/Nagasaki) or due to current political tensions?

sdrothrock 9y ago
I'm also in Japan, and I have a pretty serious go-bag for this kind of thing. It's because of political tensions for me; we're in spitting distance of North Korea.
- tomalpha 9y ago
  Thanks for the reply. Living on the (sort of) other side of the world, in the UK, I don't feel under immediate or direct threat from current tensions. I am truly thankful that, for my generation at least, that this is the case. It's easy to forget, or minimise the experiences of people much closer to current political tensions and IMHO healthy to be reminded of them periodically.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    We worry about the big, less likely risks than the common, more likely. In a major UK city you might become a victim of a terrorist attack - limited in scope but played out far more in the media - vs getting hit as a pedestrian by a car or a car accident. In the US, we've completely gone down the way of sucking on the fear teat vs the actual dangers in our reality (cars, guns, heart disease, etc) and pay a pretty penny for it, whether security theater at the airport or our current political environment.
- hugozap 9y ago
  What surprises me is that the foreigners in Japan are the ones who are scared about that situation, Japanese people don't care that much.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Western people are largely indoctrinated with the idea of life being sacred and the necessity to protect it all costs; many Asian cultures are much more matter-of-fact about death as the worldview is more cyclical than teleological and reincarnation is quietly assumed as the natural order of things.
    - hbarka 9y ago
      Baloney. Bad clustering conclusion in your imagination.
      - anigbrowl 9y ago
        I'm not sure what you're trying to say other than that you disagree.
    - dragonsky 9y ago
      Change western people to Americans and you might be correct. My experience is that a lot Europeans, New Zealanders and Australians tend to be pretty relaxed about world events. Not to say we don’t have our panic merchants but they do tend to be in the minority. Sorry Canadians, I didn’t mean to lump you in with your southern neighbors.
  - jmadsen 9y ago
    That's BS. Completely untrue. You just aren't reading/listening to Japanese people on the subject. No one is freaking out, but we're all tense at more or less the same level, as per our individual personalities.
    - hugozap 9y ago
      I worked in a Japanese company for the last 2 months and people are not tense about it. Looks like you see it differently.
- sho_hn 9y ago
  Fascinating. I live in Seoul, and we really just don't care.
  - marcosdumay 9y ago
    South Koreans seem to be calmer about the entire situation than just everybody else. And I say that as a Brazilian, that is not only on the literally opposite end of the world, but also did not get to see a war since WWII and even then had minimal involvement. You certainly know something that nobody else knows.
    - henrikschroder 9y ago
      Perhaps because they understand the reality of the situation better? Look, almost everyone gets the situation with North Korea wrong. NK has exactly one deterrent from being invaded, and that is a ton of very boring, very conventional artillery that is within firing distance of Seoul. In the case of NK being invaded, they would immediately start shelling Seoul and trying to reduce it to rubble. If you start evacuating Seoul, NK will assume they're going to be invaded, and start shelling it. In the improbable case that NK would start something, they would start by shelling Seoul. All of these scenarios end with NK being reduced to rubble by the overwhelmingly superior force of South Korea + Japan + USA. That's the deterrent we have against them. The nuclear missiles that NK is barking about is not a real threat. Everyone is watching NK 24/7,they cannot launch anything undetected. If something is detected, then South Korea, Japan, and the US will compete with each other about who can shoot the shit down first. And they will shoot the shit down. And after they've shot the shit down, they will invade NK to reduce it to rubble so as not to have to go through that again, at which point NK will start shelling Seoul, which sucks, but at that point it's an acceptable loss. Every single scenario ends with NK reduced to rubble. They know this. They have zero reason to move the status quo. Instead, the real reason for them barking about their nuclear capabilities is to get more leverage in sanction discussions. And everyone goes through with this dog-and-pony show, because we can't openly state the exact capabilities of the anti-missile defense systems that are in place around NK.
      - 9y ago
interfixus 9y ago
And I - just as genuinely, and not attempting to troll - am curious how anyone could be in doubt, current reports of red buttons and impressively coiffed heads of state taken into account.
- tomalpha 9y ago
  Taking this in good faith (I didn’t downvote you :-) I’ll take a stab at responding: I was curious as to whether there might be historical or cultural factors in play beyond the immediate political tensions. It’s also worth pointing out that I live in the UK and whilst we get regular news headlines on the state of US politics we’re somewhat removed from much of the immediate political tension. Generalising perhaps, but I also feel less emotionally involved than my US-based acquaintances as a result.
  - interfixus 9y ago
    Thank you - but several others found me worth downvoting :) I'm live just across the North Sea from you, in Denmark, and I am completely decoupled from internal US politics. And of the distinctive coiffures, I must say I find young Kim by far the most worrisome, seeing as he probably doesn't have a functioning set of checks and balances to keep him grounded if he really does go mental some day. Were I living in Seoul or Tokyo, I really would have this on my mind every day.
    - tomalpha 9y ago
      I suspect I would worry too. Really I was just picking up on the word “obvious” in the parent post. Whenever I see that I always wonder if the writer’s “obvious” is the same as my “obvious”. It usually is but, surprisingly often, is not.
      - interfixus 9y ago
        A sound principle, and very much in line with my own experience.
titanix2 9y ago
Yeah, this isn't "obvious" at all. North Korea is not at war with Japan. What could it even gain from it anyway? Just war for the sake of war and have their country destroyed and their government overthrown? This doesn't make sense at all. Don't forget a lot of NK elite including Kin Jung-Un himself were educated in Europe. They know the state of the world. So when I'll go to Japan again latter this year as a scholar, NK is the millionth thing I'll care. Because the risk isn't real, it's mostly propaganda towards a country that is trying hard to exists. I think the most important thread are actually the US and how they're unnecessarily adding fuel to the fire at any occasion. In addition, I would mention that the mere existence of NK is a by product of the US intervention in the Korea War. Should the communist forces won like they did in China & Vietnam, the country would not have been parted like it is. And the situation towards capitalism would have started a normalisation like in China and Vietnam.
lz400 9y ago
Not sure but in Japan there are a lot of preparedness measures for earthquakes. Everyone goes through disaster training, people have survivals kits at home, are aware of evacuation centers, etc. There is some overlap between these measures and nuclear war but I'm not aware of a lot of planning for nuclear war itself.

sdrothrock 9y ago

I'm also in Japan, and I have a pretty serious go-bag for this kind of thing. It's because of political tensions for me; we're in spitting distance of North Korea.

tomalpha 9y ago
Thanks for the reply. Living on the (sort of) other side of the world, in the UK, I don't feel under immediate or direct threat from current tensions. I am truly thankful that, for my generation at least, that this is the case. It's easy to forget, or minimise the experiences of people much closer to current political tensions and IMHO healthy to be reminded of them periodically.
- JBlue42 9y ago
  We worry about the big, less likely risks than the common, more likely. In a major UK city you might become a victim of a terrorist attack - limited in scope but played out far more in the media - vs getting hit as a pedestrian by a car or a car accident. In the US, we've completely gone down the way of sucking on the fear teat vs the actual dangers in our reality (cars, guns, heart disease, etc) and pay a pretty penny for it, whether security theater at the airport or our current political environment.
hugozap 9y ago
What surprises me is that the foreigners in Japan are the ones who are scared about that situation, Japanese people don't care that much.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Western people are largely indoctrinated with the idea of life being sacred and the necessity to protect it all costs; many Asian cultures are much more matter-of-fact about death as the worldview is more cyclical than teleological and reincarnation is quietly assumed as the natural order of things.
  - hbarka 9y ago
    Baloney. Bad clustering conclusion in your imagination.
    - anigbrowl 9y ago
      I'm not sure what you're trying to say other than that you disagree.
  - dragonsky 9y ago
    Change western people to Americans and you might be correct. My experience is that a lot Europeans, New Zealanders and Australians tend to be pretty relaxed about world events. Not to say we don’t have our panic merchants but they do tend to be in the minority. Sorry Canadians, I didn’t mean to lump you in with your southern neighbors.
- jmadsen 9y ago
  That's BS. Completely untrue. You just aren't reading/listening to Japanese people on the subject. No one is freaking out, but we're all tense at more or less the same level, as per our individual personalities.
  - hugozap 9y ago
    I worked in a Japanese company for the last 2 months and people are not tense about it. Looks like you see it differently.
sho_hn 9y ago
Fascinating. I live in Seoul, and we really just don't care.
- marcosdumay 9y ago
  South Koreans seem to be calmer about the entire situation than just everybody else. And I say that as a Brazilian, that is not only on the literally opposite end of the world, but also did not get to see a war since WWII and even then had minimal involvement. You certainly know something that nobody else knows.
  - henrikschroder 9y ago
    Perhaps because they understand the reality of the situation better? Look, almost everyone gets the situation with North Korea wrong. NK has exactly one deterrent from being invaded, and that is a ton of very boring, very conventional artillery that is within firing distance of Seoul. In the case of NK being invaded, they would immediately start shelling Seoul and trying to reduce it to rubble. If you start evacuating Seoul, NK will assume they're going to be invaded, and start shelling it. In the improbable case that NK would start something, they would start by shelling Seoul. All of these scenarios end with NK being reduced to rubble by the overwhelmingly superior force of South Korea + Japan + USA. That's the deterrent we have against them. The nuclear missiles that NK is barking about is not a real threat. Everyone is watching NK 24/7,they cannot launch anything undetected. If something is detected, then South Korea, Japan, and the US will compete with each other about who can shoot the shit down first. And they will shoot the shit down. And after they've shot the shit down, they will invade NK to reduce it to rubble so as not to have to go through that again, at which point NK will start shelling Seoul, which sucks, but at that point it's an acceptable loss. Every single scenario ends with NK reduced to rubble. They know this. They have zero reason to move the status quo. Instead, the real reason for them barking about their nuclear capabilities is to get more leverage in sanction discussions. And everyone goes through with this dog-and-pony show, because we can't openly state the exact capabilities of the anti-missile defense systems that are in place around NK.
    - 9y ago

interfixus 9y ago

And I - just as genuinely, and not attempting to troll - am curious how anyone could be in doubt, current reports of red buttons and impressively coiffed heads of state taken into account.

tomalpha 9y ago
Taking this in good faith (I didn’t downvote you :-) I’ll take a stab at responding: I was curious as to whether there might be historical or cultural factors in play beyond the immediate political tensions. It’s also worth pointing out that I live in the UK and whilst we get regular news headlines on the state of US politics we’re somewhat removed from much of the immediate political tension. Generalising perhaps, but I also feel less emotionally involved than my US-based acquaintances as a result.
- interfixus 9y ago
  Thank you - but several others found me worth downvoting :) I'm live just across the North Sea from you, in Denmark, and I am completely decoupled from internal US politics. And of the distinctive coiffures, I must say I find young Kim by far the most worrisome, seeing as he probably doesn't have a functioning set of checks and balances to keep him grounded if he really does go mental some day. Were I living in Seoul or Tokyo, I really would have this on my mind every day.
  - tomalpha 9y ago
    I suspect I would worry too. Really I was just picking up on the word “obvious” in the parent post. Whenever I see that I always wonder if the writer’s “obvious” is the same as my “obvious”. It usually is but, surprisingly often, is not.
    - interfixus 9y ago
      A sound principle, and very much in line with my own experience.

titanix2 9y ago

Yeah, this isn't "obvious" at all. North Korea is not at war with Japan. What could it even gain from it anyway? Just war for the sake of war and have their country destroyed and their government overthrown? This doesn't make sense at all. Don't forget a lot of NK elite including Kin Jung-Un himself were educated in Europe. They know the state of the world. So when I'll go to Japan again latter this year as a scholar, NK is the millionth thing I'll care. Because the risk isn't real, it's mostly propaganda towards a country that is trying hard to exists. I think the most important thread are actually the US and how they're unnecessarily adding fuel to the fire at any occasion. In addition, I would mention that the mere existence of NK is a by product of the US intervention in the Korea War. Should the communist forces won like they did in China & Vietnam, the country would not have been parted like it is. And the situation towards capitalism would have started a normalisation like in China and Vietnam.

lz400 9y ago

Not sure but in Japan there are a lot of preparedness measures for earthquakes. Everyone goes through disaster training, people have survivals kits at home, are aware of evacuation centers, etc. There is some overlap between these measures and nuclear war but I'm not aware of a lot of planning for nuclear war itself.