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Ah the "no looting in Japan" myth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_earthquake_store_shelves.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_earthquake_stor

by Steko 12y ago

Ah the "no looting in Japan" myth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_earthquake_store_shelves.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_earthquake_store_she... http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2011/03/why-no-looting-in-japan-ctd/174307/ http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2011/03/why-no... FWIW the main reason there is less looting in Japan is because they have done a better job at eliminating poverty. Here's what happened before they had done so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_Riots_of_1918 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_Riots_of_1918

deciplex 12y ago
The pic on Wikipedia doesn't say much without context. You could have gone to the supermarket nearest to my apartment in the week after (I live in Tokyo) and it would have looked similar. People were definitely hoarding, but as far as I know they were paying for the stuff. Mostly, anyway. Obviously, there is going to be some looting. But, consider a previous natural disaster of approximate magnitude* which took place a few years previously on a coastal city in the US. Compare the response by the US government, the Americans there, and more broadly American society. The Japanese have something figured out that Americans have forgotten, or more probably never had. (*Not really, Tohoku was considerably worse than Katrina in magnitude and scope.)
ekianjo 12y ago
> Ah the "no looting in Japan" myth. Oh, come on. In the countryside farmers put vegetables in unattended booths for people to grab and put a coin in a hole for payment. Nobody's stealing. Where else in the world do you see that ?
- sudont 12y ago
  Rural Wisconsin. I worked on a road crew during college and we'd rarely have guys buy stuff during breaks/downtime.
- m_mueller 12y ago
  In Switzerland this is very common. From my point of view, the US is rather exceptional in terms of crime rate in a highly developed nation.
  - ekianjo 12y ago
    Well I'm not too surprised as Japan is often referred to as "The Switzerland of Asia", but I can tell you that in France people would steal without thinking twice in no time.
    - m_mueller 12y ago
      The thing is, if it's just a national thing, then it at least seems to be 'infectuous' to the foreign population - we have ~25% foreigners in Switzerland, many of them French. If most of them would steal, farmers would stop doing that very soon - but so far it seems to work just fine. But hey, weighing your produce yourself at the supermarket is also a thing here, and it works fine as well. Sometimes I think it's just a part of society, no matter the cultural, ethnical or economical background people have - if you trust them to "do the right thing", most suddenly feel sort of honoured and obligated to behave the right way. If you put police everywhere and assume people to be criminal first, they will act accordingly (test their 'freedom' as soon as noone is looking). It probably doesn't work if it's just one farmer / supermarket doing it, but I think when it's a common part of society, it suddenly works.
- kalleboo 12y ago
  I've seen it in rural Greece and Australia.
  - ntoshev 12y ago
    Rural Northern Greece is awesome, the people are awesome, but I haven't seen it there. Where were you, more specifically?
- Evgeny 12y ago
  I haven't seen myself, but apparently still happening in Denmark.
lern_too_spel 12y ago
Your first picture shows shelves that were bought clean, not looted. This is explained in the image caption on wikinews. http://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/In_pictures:_Japan_earthquake_and_tsunami http://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/In_pictures:_Japan_earthquake_... Immediately following the earthquake, transportation problems stranded many workers in Tokyo and cut off supply lines for stores. Those two issues combined with panic buying to result in the scene above shortly after the earthquake.

by Steko 12y ago

deciplex 12y ago

The pic on Wikipedia doesn't say much without context. You could have gone to the supermarket nearest to my apartment in the week after (I live in Tokyo) and it would have looked similar. People were definitely hoarding, but as far as I know they were paying for the stuff. Mostly, anyway. Obviously, there is going to be some looting. But, consider a previous natural disaster of approximate magnitude* which took place a few years previously on a coastal city in the US. Compare the response by the US government, the Americans there, and more broadly American society. The Japanese have something figured out that Americans have forgotten, or more probably never had. (*Not really, Tohoku was considerably worse than Katrina in magnitude and scope.)

ekianjo 12y ago

> Ah the "no looting in Japan" myth. Oh, come on. In the countryside farmers put vegetables in unattended booths for people to grab and put a coin in a hole for payment. Nobody's stealing. Where else in the world do you see that ?

sudont 12y ago
Rural Wisconsin. I worked on a road crew during college and we'd rarely have guys buy stuff during breaks/downtime.
m_mueller 12y ago
In Switzerland this is very common. From my point of view, the US is rather exceptional in terms of crime rate in a highly developed nation.
- ekianjo 12y ago
  Well I'm not too surprised as Japan is often referred to as "The Switzerland of Asia", but I can tell you that in France people would steal without thinking twice in no time.
  - m_mueller 12y ago
    The thing is, if it's just a national thing, then it at least seems to be 'infectuous' to the foreign population - we have ~25% foreigners in Switzerland, many of them French. If most of them would steal, farmers would stop doing that very soon - but so far it seems to work just fine. But hey, weighing your produce yourself at the supermarket is also a thing here, and it works fine as well. Sometimes I think it's just a part of society, no matter the cultural, ethnical or economical background people have - if you trust them to "do the right thing", most suddenly feel sort of honoured and obligated to behave the right way. If you put police everywhere and assume people to be criminal first, they will act accordingly (test their 'freedom' as soon as noone is looking). It probably doesn't work if it's just one farmer / supermarket doing it, but I think when it's a common part of society, it suddenly works.
kalleboo 12y ago
I've seen it in rural Greece and Australia.
- ntoshev 12y ago
  Rural Northern Greece is awesome, the people are awesome, but I haven't seen it there. Where were you, more specifically?
Evgeny 12y ago
I haven't seen myself, but apparently still happening in Denmark.

lern_too_spel 12y ago

Your first picture shows shelves that were bought clean, not looted. This is explained in the image caption on wikinews. http://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/In_pictures:_Japan_earthquake_and_tsunami http://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/In_pictures:_Japan_earthquake_... Immediately following the earthquake, transportation problems stranded many workers in Tokyo and cut off supply lines for stores. Those two issues combined with panic buying to result in the scene above shortly after the earthquake.