my wife is a native (from tokyo), who has only been in the states for a few years. when i asked her about this she said she'd read the article and was surprised

my wife is a native (from tokyo), who has only been in the states for a few years. when i asked her about this she said she'd read the article and was surprised that we thought this way. that is to say, that we assumed that because the japanese didn't have a word for something, they didn't loot. she said they don't loot because they have respect for each other. of course i immediately asked her what the word for looting is. she said, "ryakudatsu - when the crisis happens and people don't have stuff so they go to the store and steal." she said there is another word sometimes said casually as well "dorobou - thieving", but it's generally not used except when someone is breaking into other people's homes.