Greetings!,
After the Kobe/Hanshin earth quake rebuilding took about 18 months - maybe this is a good measure to estimate how long rebuilding will take in Tohoku. In Tohoku communities will certainly be rebuilt in locations which are much better protected against giant Tsunamis. The 15-member Disaster Rebuilding Council had the first constituting session yesterday, Thursday April 14, and includes the President of Keio University Atsushi Seike, architect Tadao Ando, playwright Makiko Uchidate, SONY-VP Ryoji Chubachi, and is chaired by Makoto Iokibe, President of the National Defence Academy. Japan's resilience in face of almost unbelievable natural disasters is also an expression of Japan's "Galapagos effect".
Japan's civilisation and society has developed over a very long time in sync with natural disasters of almost unbelievable proportions. People outside the immediate disaster zone continued to work with usual very high intensity, and inside the disaster zone immediately started with reconstruction work. A large part of the high-speed Tohoku Shinkansen train line from Tokyo to Aomori reopened, and is expected to run the full 710km length again from beginning of May. This 710km long high-speed train line rund right through the disaster area and was damaged in 1200 locations according to JR-East.
Sendai Airport which was struck by the earth quake and the Tsunami has been repaired with the help of US-Forces initially to bring in relief goods, and has now also been reopened for commercial air-traffic. All Japanese commercial airports are open for service again.
Read an article about "The Galapagos effect" on the website of the Journal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). My talk at the ACCJ emphasizes that Japan's Galapagos effect has many positive aspects: Japan adds to the diversity of global innovative "DNA", however with some adjustments, much more global business could be developed based on Japan-developed technologies.
Another point I feel strongly about is that foreign companies investing in Japan are well advised to learn to love Japan's Galapagos effects and to work with them - not against them.
 
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