Japan Disasters, January 2024
Japan Society sends sympathy and good wishes to all those affected by the early January disasters in Japan.
The new year did not begin the way anyone wanted in Japan, with the twin disasters of the Noto Peninsula earthquake and the crash at Haneda Airport. With more than 200 confirmed dead from the earthquake among ongoing rescue efforts and massive infrastructure damage, and five dead from the Coast Guard relief plane that collided with the JAL passenger plane landing from Sapporo—given the scale of both incidents it could have been much worse. The earthquake that struck Ishikawa was similar to the one in Turkey that killed over 50,000 people and the fact that all 379 passengers of the passenger flight got out of a burning plane in 15 minutes without loss of life is reason not just for relief but stubborn optimism in Japan.
In these tragedies I see both a silver lining and a uniquely Japanese reason for optimism. Resiliency and bending adversity is built into the DNA of the Japanese almost from birth, as natural disasters are a factor of everyday life. The plane crash and evacuation are being called miraculous by many experts for the much bigger disaster that was avoided. Therefore, while an earthquake and plane crash are not the kind of omens with which anyone wants to start the New Year, there is room for stubborn optimism in Japan and a resiliency that I’m confident will continue to inspire us all—as the JAL airline crew heros and rescue workers continuing to serve in Ishikawa demonstrate.
To help support the victims of the January 1st, 2024 earthquake in Japan, please donate directly to Peace Winds here. Peace Winds dispatched its ARROWS disaster medical team to Ishikawa Prefecture almost immediately on January 1 with a 19-person team of doctors, nurses, and disaster professionals on the ground with helicopters and rescue dogs doing search & rescue and providing medical care. They will be posting day by day updates on the response in English on this page, and also link to donation portals and other info.
Joshua W. Walker
President & CEO
Japan Society
年初に発生した能登半島地震で被災された皆様に、心からお見舞い申し上げます。
新年早々、日本は能登半島地震と羽田空港衝突事故の二つの災難に見舞われました。甚大なインフラ被害の中、救助活動は現在も続いていますが、地震による死者は現時点で200人を超え、札幌から着陸した日本航空旅客機との衝突で海上保安庁航空機の乗員5人が死亡しました。石川県を襲った地震は、5万人以上の死者を出したトルコの地震を想起させました。災害・事故の規模を考えると、被害がもっと大きかったとしてもおかしくありません。また、旅客機の乗客379人全員が15分以内に燃え盛る機体から無事に犠牲者を出すことなく脱出しました。こうした事実に安堵を覚えると共に、困難を前向きに乗り越える日本の力強さを感じます。
こうした悲しい状況下にあって、日本人ならではの特質に一筋の光を見出すことができます。自然災害が日常茶飯事である日本において、逆境を跳ね返す回復力は、日本人のDNAに生来備わり、培われていると思います。今回の飛行機衝突事故は、速やかな避難誘導によって、より甚大な被害を回避した奇跡的なものであったというのが専門家の見解です。無論、地震や飛行機事故は新年を迎えるのにふさわしい出来事ではありませんが、日本航空の乗務員や石川県で活動を続ける災害救助隊が示しているように、困難な状況下における日本の強靭さと回復力は、私たちを引き続き奮い立たせてくれるでしょう。
ジョシュア・W・ウォーカー
理事長
ジャパン・ソサエティー
Image © George Hirose.