Land of the Rising Sun?

A week is a long time in politics; in a quake zone it can seem forever. It was just last Friday that so much destruction was wrought on north eastern Japan. Few cannot have been moved by the images beamed around the world. As one US reporter said, it was like Apocalypse Now meeting My Worst Nightmare. Ocean-going trawlers thrown onto dry land, houses smashed like matchwood, and a death toll already over 11,000. An appeal has now gone out for more body bags and coffins as local supplies are overwhelmed. Our thoughts are with the relatives.

To make long term matters worse the quake and accompanying tsunami ... ironically a Japanese word ... has renewed the arguments about nuclear power, thought by some experts to be capable of generating one fifth of world energy supplies in the near future.

The scale of the unfolding crisis makes it inevitable that information will be confused, difficult to obtain and often simply not available. But nearly a week after the disaster struck it is not clear who is taking charge of events at the Fukushima plant. Leadership and ideas appear to be lacking whilst at the sharp end a small team of heroes expose themselves to life threatening conditions and the world watches as the reactor temperature lies in the hands of a helicopter pilot.

As the situation continues to deteriorate it is becoming harder to separate fact from opinion. Pundits (sorry, that should read "experts") interviewed on the main news channel have continued to play down the worst case scenarios and yet opinion continues to be divided on how dangerous it is; a chorus of academics cannot agree on the Chernolbyl comparison. What is clear is this is a crisis demanding international leadership.

Japan needs friends, more importantly it needs to be able to trust in an international community that can deliver not only immediate aid and support for lifesaving and mitigation of the disaster but also one which is working to solve the long term problems. Will an International statesman or stateswoman with the vision to identify a long term solution please emerge soon? Because unless one does, the ripples of this crisis will continue to reverberate around the world and threaten a financial tsunami. What is needed now is a fast response to the problems on the ground and immediate action to develop a strategic plan which will support a Japanese recovery.

Many correspondents in the quake zone have commented on the quiet dignity and resilience the Japanese people are showing in the face of such adversity. Traditionally Japanese culture has been insular, a people priding themselves on self-help and self-reliance. In the face of such a catastrophe any offers of help should be welcomed. The countries of the G8 have a vital role to play in making sure help - humanitarian and technical - gets to where it is most needed and then they have to deliver the economic rebirth of the land of the rising sun.

Let's hope that someone is analyzing this crisis and seizes the opportunity to demonstrate that Globalisation means more than increased sales.