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Japanese Government Buys Newspaper Ads Thanking Foreign Countries For Quake Relief

The Japanese government has bought advertisements in foreign newspapers to thank the countries that have sent aid to Japan after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami:

The three-quarter page advert, entitled “Thank you for the Kizuna (bonds of friendship)” ran in international papers including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune.

“One month has passed since an earthquake of unprecedented scale struck Japan, taking thousands of precious lives,” the advert said.

“In the tsunami-devastated regions there was no food, no water, no electricity and the survivors had no communications.

“At that desperate time people from around the world rallied to our side bringing hope and inspiring courage.

“We deeply appreciate the Kizuna our friends around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity and you personally from the bottom of my heart.”

Countries including the US, Australia, Mexico, China and many European nations sent teams to help in the aftermath of the 9.0 magnitude quake and the huge tsunami it generated.

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35 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 11, 2011 at 7:48 pm

Categories: General Japan Tags:

steve

Instead of an ad expressing thanks it should be an ad begging for help to resolve the Fukushima crisis as they (Tepco, J-gov) clearly cannot. Every day that passes will see this beautiful country become a radioactive wasteland. This is a disaster beyond all nightmares. Thank you nuclear power.

Tony D

That explains why people living in Japan have become 50-foot tall monsters and are currently battling it out with space aliens for the sake of humanity.

Oh wait.
Level3

He says hypocritically from his electric-powered computer, some portion of which must be provided by nuclear power, since demand is so high, because everyone wastes electricity on non-essential things like bitching on the internet.

Make your home 100% solar, then come back and whine.
jcpb

When my house gets its power from coal, the outsides are coated with coal dust and every one of my family has breathing problems.

When my house gets its power from hydroelectric, I have to physically move because the reservoir flooded where I used to live, and I cannot live anywhere downstream from the dam.

When my house gets its power from oil/natural gas, I am at the mercy of prevailing crude and gas prices.

When my house gets its power from wind/tide/solar, I am at the mercy of mother nature, which – as March 11 has already demonstrated – can be extremely unforgiving.

Do not pretend for a second that CANDU reactors are any safer, steve.
Stereo

Whom should Japan beg? Is there any country that can save Fukushima plant? If you think US can do it, you are absolutely wrong.

lovely

sorry stereo – there is a wealth of information out there and people who can help. think experts (after the fact of course, but lessons learned and all that) TMI, Chernobyl, terrorist attacks – from where i sit, and i live here, japan has been trying it`s darndest to do it by themselves – there is no shame in asking (no begging) for help. they didn`t for the longest time and now look where we are.

kujirakira

They’ve got outside help in many ways (firetrucks, UAVs, robotics, cement trucks, tanks) and sought outside counsel (US, France, IAEA) as well.
What is your plan to have them do instead? Call Captain Planet for help? Maybe they could get Ammy from Okami to make everything grow again?
Stereo

lovely, just name the “experts”.
The people who handled TMI accident 30 years ago are all retired. There has been no building of new nuclear power plants since TMI accident, and nuclear industry of US is almost gone. Westinghouse is now a subsidiary of Toshiba. Chernobyl used a totally different reactor, and does not help. What can terrorist prevention people do in Fukushima? Nothing at all.

IAEA and Japanese authorities are in close contact since the day 1.
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/fukushima110311.html

People from USNRC have been in Fukushima since the day 2.
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1107/ML110710004.pdf

US military has been helping the situation in Fukushima since the day 1.

From where you sit, you really do not see what is going on here in Japan.
lovely

gee whiz – there are no records of these disasters anywhere? don`t the people who work with nuclear power today consult any old records and apply the lessons learned? and the military unit that specializes in bio-terror/nuclear terror threats just landed at yokota airbase one week ago this past saturday and will stay for the time being in case they are needed. and i am not so sure that those you mention have really been “in contact” from day one as they had not idea what the hell was going on and were very angry that they were not completely informed. they may have been asking but i do believe they got very few answers.
Stereo

Non-sense. What is the most pressing problem in Fukushima? Everyone in Japan knows it because it is repeatedly broadcasted. I can conclude from what you said that you have no idea what it is.
Just tell me what it is and explain how the people you recommended can help.

lovely

now y`all just gettin nasty. i go now let you big brawny brainy guys take care of it.

Fat Tony

“will see this beautiful country become a radioactive wasteland”

I am looking forward to the giant fire-breathing lizards, myself. Seriously, tone it down.
yankdownunder

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/statement/201104/11kizuna_e.html

“I am also determined that Japan will certainly repay, through our contributions to the international community, the cordial assistance we have received from around the world.

To that end, I will work to the best of my ability to realize reconstruction of Japan.”

A friend in need is a friend indeed
kujirakira

Take it to the ICJ

Lamp

It’s funny you say that. Japan doesn’t want to deal with ICJ when they come across Senkaku or Kuril Islands. Reason? Both Russia and China have ICJ jurisdiction and court ruling whereas Korea doesn’t.

kay

I think it’s a very gracious move by the Japanese government, but part of me wonders could the money be put to better use? Or is this all the name of diplomacy?
missingno

This is why everyone loves Japan. Seriously awesome of them to do this.

Japan thanks those who aid it. Libyan refugees burn down the church who takes them in in Lampedusa.

If anything ever happens again we will all help Japan again. Libya can screw themselves for all I care.
Comment

This is a pretty cool thing for the Japanese government to do.
Sylvia Netski

a little “OT”:

JP staff, remember your article aboute that youtube user “Perfume444″ with that strange video?
He have a new account, qith more strangeness! Check out this last video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRTjFRhbyjg

sooo creepy!
jcpb

If I can downrank you into oblivion, I would.
lovely

you`re welcome japan but you still need lots of help in the form of nuclear crisis and clean-up….don`t be hesitant to ask. it is never a bad thing to ask for help when you need it.
Cleo

Are we supposed to know what a kizuna is? What genius decided including that “word” was a good idea?

Simon

It’s one of those “unique” concepts that simply cannot be expressed in languages other than Japanese. There’s no possible expression they could have used in its place. :rolleyes:

More like they were going for the “exotic” look so popular here. You know, like how Uniqlo’s logo is in romaji here, but katakana overseas? Ooh, it’s different so it’s cool!

In this case it seems to be more about that than actually expressing their feelings in the language of their readers.
Skammie

Well, it DOES include a definition of the word right there…
jcpb

Reading comprehension fail.
http://tepido.org/ LB

This the same Cleo from (bash) Japan Today?

If so, your difficulty in understanding the written word probably comes from a lack of animal proteins in your diet.

Try the bacon – it’s delish.

Piglet

Good gesture from PM Kan, however was it necessary to pay for advertisement? I believe that in the current situation, an op-ed with similar content from the PM and the Japanese government would be accepted by the same newspapers, for free.

kujirakira

I don’t even want to think what a paper like NY Times would do with such an editorial.
With the way things are right now, the only way to get a straightforward non-sensationalized no-spin-applied message in most of those papers is to pay for it.
ChaChaCha

*rolleyes*

This is peanuts. Seriously, for a country like Japan it is nothing to pay for some pages in a couple of publications.

helical

I really hope they printed it in Taiwan as well, what with them donating a cool 10 billion yen from that small island.
The current government has been strangely silent in acknowledging the financial aid it received from Taiwan, and the general perception seems to be that they’re ignoring all the goodwill from Taiwan just so they can appease the Communists on the mainland. It’s all just speculation, but I wouldn’t put it past the DPJ …

Hamachiman

You mean, like this:

http://focustaiwan.tw/video/shownews.aspx?cname=engnews&cid=ENG&d=20110412&id=004311280&Type0=Misc&Type1=Latest

Cleo

Oh? So is that a uniquely Japanese symbol or CHARACTER then above the “word” kizuna?

kujirakira

Did anybody say it is?
Looking at the shots, the use of unused space with a large Chinese character and Thank you for the Kizuna is eye catching and piques interest.
Mission Accomplished… advertising achieved.

Cleo

How can a word/concept be so uniquely Japanese and untranslatable (all the same thing, huh?)if it isn’t originally Japanese and had to be translated to the Japanese themselves?

I call shenanigans on making foreign countries you are thanking to bother with LEARNING your oh so special language and unique emotional perspective.

ryuubu

Go be an idiot somewhere else. They are offering a genuine thank you.

The word kizuna is a Japanese word and idea. The Chinese symbol for it is not.

As for translating these types of words, there exists no exact equivalent in the English language that would do justice to the connotations and nuance of the word Kizuna.

Therefore, it isn’t such a bad idea to offer this precious word in thanks.

Japanese Government Buys Newspaper Ads Thanking Foreign Countries For Quake Relief

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