This month’s earthquakes in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture were literally shattering.
Lives have been taken, homes torn up and livelihoods forfeited. Nature, seemingly at man’s mercy at times, has proven once again that ultimately, she calls the shots.
I have not yet been able to visit the quake-stricken areas, but I felt the second quake, albeit just for a few seconds.
Later, when I saw that the quakes and aftershocks had occurred all the way down in Kumamoto — which is more than a 1,000 kilometers away from Tokyo — the magnitude of it all blew my mind.
Yes, it was a tragic, tragic incident, and yes, Tokyo needs as much support as it can get from both at home and overseas. I saw that Korea has already pledged some of that.
But one thing it seems to be offering too much of is media coverage.
Information about the latest earthquakes, the scope of their damage and how the victims are coping or how help can be extended to them are all critical at this point.
And that is a part of what the media all over the world is trying to provide. Hardworking reporters have already visited Kumamoto, despite the lack of adequate transportation or lodgings.
They have taken pictures, talked and cried with the victims. In short, they are trying their hardest to sympathize with them in order to portray the situation as vividly as possible to the rest of the world.
But on the other hand, some of the media, including those from South Korea, are going too far in dramatizing the event.
The headlines for some of the stories I have been were misleading and obviously designed to shock.
Some of them claimed that the “Ring of Fire” — the areas in the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur — had been ignited.
Others said there were over 2,000 quake triggers embedded in Japanese soil, meaning that the country is literally a minefield. Can their existence be scientifically proven, and even so, how much of the crucial facts can be included in a single new article?
Some of my personal favorites are the ones predicting that Japanese companies were “doomed” due to the supply disturbances caused by the earthquakes. Sure, the situation doesn’t look exactly positive, but firms like Sony, Honda and Mitsubishi won’t go down the drain because of this.
These kinds of stories do little more than arouse public unease and cause unnecessary concern.
Then there are the stories that glorify the Japanese people for the way they cope with crises.
There was one documentary in which the narrator constantly marveled at how calm and collected these people were, and how exact they are.
And it’s true. These people somehow keep their cool and refuse to be shaken, even in the worst natural disaster. They line up patiently for rations, share what they have and try their best to stay safe. This is mainly because they are trained to follow the manual.
In more ways than one, such stories should be flattering. And as a reporter, I can ask myself, what else is there to write or film about?
But somehow to me, it seems that this is all a bit premature. People are still in the midst of the nightmare, and I wonder if documenting their post-crisis patterns is a proper thing to do at this point.
I understand that the majority of journalists are just trying to do their job. And it is through their words that people are becoming alerted to what is happening in this part of the world, and how they can help.
But as someone living in Japan, and who will continue to do so for some time, it is not exactly soothing to see the situation amplified and dramatized for the rest of the world to see.
At times like these, part of being a Good Samaritan may mean being a bit more sensitive and keeping some distance.
By Kim Ji-hyun
Tokyo correspondent
Kim Ji-hyun is The Korea Herald’s Tokyo correspondent. She can be reached at
jemmie@heraldcorp.com. — Ed.