Newspaper Front Page That Cheered the Japanese

Thank you, The Independent. Japanese people were so grateful for your gesture.

The print version of the UK paper The Independent on Sunday March 13, 2011 featured a large "Hinomaru" (Japanese national flag) with the Japanese words,

がんばれ日本、がんばれ東北

日本 (Nippon) is Japan.　東北 (Tohoku) is the name of the region of northern Japan most affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

がんばれ is pronounced "gan-bah-reh". It's all of these, I think:

Cheer up!
Don't give up!
You can do it!
We know you can do it!

It's particularly the last element that touched many Japanese: that someone believes the Japanese can bounce back and is cheering for them.

Thank you again, The Independent. All my friends and family members in Japan saw your paper's front page, and they told me they were in tears.

Japanese people will persevere, despite their government and petty bureaucrats, I hope.

I just read the Yomiuri Shinbun article (in Japanese, 3/16/2011) that says there are plenty of food, water, heating oil, fuel and other necessities already delivered to the affected area, but they are stopped at - guess where... - depots officially designated before the earthquake by the local governments, who are responsible for distributing to the evacuees and refugees. The local bureaucrats, who themselves are the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami, say they will have to draw up a plan to distribute the goods to people who are not in the officially designated shelters.

It's snowing up there today and cold. They are without food, water and heat, even though they are not very far away from them.

People will die from cold and hunger, after having survived the earthquake and tsunami. All thanks to their own government, national and local.

OK that's enough depression for the night. I will believe in the belief of The Independent in the Japanese.

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