Op-Ed Contributors

Japan needs to look to the future

By Handel Jones (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-22 07:56

Serious doubts have been raised over the safety of nuclear power. Many even say the Fukushima Daiichi facility should have been shut down earlier. Japan will need to rely increasingly on oil, gas, and coal to generate electricity, which will increase the pressure on global supply.

The impact of Japan's disaster on the global economy should be over in three to six months. While there can be some realignment of supply in some areas, there is no fear of harm to the global economic recovery.

The emotional wounds caused by the quake, tsunami and the radiation threat in Japan, however, will not heal for many years. Any of the above three problems can subdue people in most countries, but the Japanese have to battle with all three, with the added fear of another massive earthquake.

Many among the tens of millions of people living in Tokyo and its neighboring cities would like to move to other parts of Japan or to other countries.

But the walls of tradition are very strong in Japanese society, and almost all of them will stay and bear the pain.

Japan's recovery from World War II was fast and exemplary, but it was helped by the energizing factor that an external enemy had ravaged the country.

The latest disaster, however, was partly nature's wrath and partly Japan-made. It is no use holding a grudge against nature, but the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, cannot absolve themselves of their share of the blame.

Japanese people will have even less faith in their leaders after the triple disasters. But they have to have a positive attitude to move forward and build a new Japan.

Japan can rebuild its infrastructure and factories, but it is more important that it regains its vitality. It should look at other countries that have gone through similar trauma, recovered and become stronger from the experience.

The author is founder, owner and CEO of US-based International Business Strategies, Inc. in Silicon Valley, California, and has Chinamerica: The Uneasy Partnership That Will Change The World, to his credit.

(China Daily 03/22/2011 page9)