By the start of March, I have to admit that I had become rather used to newsflashes about these events and more, so that when I woke on the morning of 11 March, a news udpdate on my phone about an earthquake in Japan seemed like just another news story. That was until I turned on the television footage. Seeing the endless advance of the tsunami across the landscape, it was clear then that the clear up would be un-paralleled even for Japan, which like New Zealand normally takes earthquakes in its stride.
Towns and villages have been turned into land-fill, many square kilometers of farmland have been destroyed under the advancing waters and the loss of life in some areas has been total. In Miyagi Perfecture alone, there are reports of 15,000 deaths. As the clear-up continues, it is very likely that the death-toll will continue to rise and indeed the scale of the humanitarian operation is so vast that over 100 countries and 14 non-governmental organisations have offered support.
While the earthquake and tsunami came and went in minutes, the crisis in Japan continues. The reactors at the Fukashima Dia-Ichi nuclear power plant, damaged in the earthquake and aftershocks, continue to teeter on the brink of meltdown and although the situation appears to have calmed down, it is still far from stable. There have even been protests in Tokyo against the percieved poor handling of the situation at the plant. One thing that is clear is that Japan (and the rest of the world) already owes much to the sacrifice of the 'Fukashima 50,' who have willingly exposed themselves to dangerious levels of radiation to try to prevent meltdown at the plant and stop another Chernobyl.
Whatever events transpire at Fukashima, the effects of the earthquake and tsunami will be felt for a very long time to come. In Sendai the clear-up is underway but in more remote areas the roads will have to be re-built before rescuers can reach them. One news report that stood out for me in the past week was from the town of Otsuchi. Having climbed over damaged roads and the demolished tsunami defence barriers, the reporters found themselves in the centre of town - but there simply was no town left. Half of the town's 16,000 inhabitants are officially missing and the other half are looking for them, while salvaging what they can from the rubble. Aside from the immense humanitarian crisis in places like Otsuchi that have a combined estimated 500,000 homeless, it is clear that repair and reconstruction of damaged buildings is not an option - entire towns will have to be redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up.
As the country re-builds its towns and communities along the coast and eleswhere, there will of course be a greatly increased demand for gypsum wallboard, insulation and other building materials. The Japanese wallboard and insulation industries have been struggling with poor demand in recent years in a market where high transport costs mean that exports are rarely a viable option. However, players in these markets will now find themselves in a race to supply materials for reconstruction. Indeed, one of the first things to happen upon the re-opening of the Nikkei was a rush to buy shares in steel, glass, ceramics and real-estate firms. These Japanese industries will all receive a massive boost due to increased demand but they will also face competition from outside Japan from manufacturers unaffected by the recent events.
The re-build in Japan is likely to require building materials in volumes not seen in Japan since the end of the Second World War, but one thing is certain - Out of all of this carnage, the people of Japan will prevail. Japan has an excellent track-record of dealing with major disruption, as seen in Kobe in 1995 and in the response to atomic attack in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people are going about the process of rebuilding shattered areas while conducting themselves, as always, with the highest standards of politeness and respect for authority. Indeed it is remarkable in the face of so much devastation, desperation and loss that there has not been a single report of looting as would be expected in many other regions of the world - The rest of us could learn a lot from how Japan handles itself when disaster strikes.
