Expatriates Say ‘Japan at Its Best’ as Nation Endures Disaster
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As the scenes of devastation from Japan’s strongest earthquake on record and the resulting tsunami hit television screens around the world, Im-gyung Koo marveled at the calmness of the victims.
“What struck me in this footage of Japanese in shelters, who lost their homes and relatives, is that no one was crying or showing any negativity,” Koo, a 26-year-old language teacher and native of South Korea, said by phone from her home in Tokyo. “There’s this deeply ingrained consideration for others, no matter the circumstances. In Korea, people would be bawling.”