#Japan #Earthquake: Politicians Scolding the Victims

I have nothing but disgust and disdain for these Japanese politicians.

First, Shintaro Ishihara, loud-mouthed, right-wing Mayor of Tokyo, says (in Japanese; Jiji News 3/14/2011):

Tsunami was the god's punishment on Japanese people, who have become selfish and greedy. Tsunami happened so that the Japanese can wash away this "greed".

Then comes this woman, Ms. Renho, former TV personality turned politician and now Minister of Consumer Affairs, as reported in Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese; 3/15/2011):

The government has secured enough foods and other daily necessities. If you hoard, there may not be enough to reach the region affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

And this woman, Ms. Miyamoto at Nippon Association of Consumer Specialists, a government-sponsored non-profit, scolds people of Tokyo metropolitan area for hoarding:

Consumers must refrain from putting themselves first. Recovery will only begin when everybody stops hoarding.

Hello? Those "consumers" you are scolding have just gone through one of the most horrendous earthquake; even in Tokyo that was the strongest in many decades.

Back to Ms. Renho, Minister of Consumer Affairs, what she says seems total opposite of reality, according to the Asahi Shinbun article. People are buying up foods and toilet papers and other daily goods because many of them are being diverted by the manufacturers to the area affected most by the earthquake and tsunami. The inventories are therefore not likely to be replenished any time soon for many items. If they don't buy now, they may not have anything later.

More from this Asahi Shinbun article:

Demand surge in volume for foods and other goods in metropolitan Tokyo, between March 13 and 14:

Bottled water 10-fold jump in demand
Natto (fermented soybean) 2 to 3-fold
Tofu 1.7-fold
Milk 1.5-fold

Portable gas cooker 6-fold
Bicycle 3-fold
Masks 2.5-fold

Many stores are running out of flashlights and helmets.

Seeing the abysmal response from their government, people are taking the matter in their own hands and doing what will increase their chance of survival.

And these incompetent politicians (and quasi-politicians) scold ordinary citizens for protecting themselves. One of them has gone so far as to blame the biggest disaster in anyone's living memory (this is far worse than World War II) on the victims - ordinary citizens in Japan.

(Hello, people in Japan, have you been paying attention to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen...?)

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