Are disasters in low-profile Japan a harbinger of modern civilization's darkness?

Are disasters in low-profile Japan a harbinger of modern civilization's darkness?
A unique photo of the 4th destroyed reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant made by the plant's photographer Anatoliy Rasskazov in the first hours after the deadly April 26 1986 explosion. A highly radioactive vapor trail seen coming from the heart of the destroyed reactor. He died in 2010 of Chernoby-related cancer. (AP Photo/Anatoliy Rasskazov)
A unique photo of the 4th destroyed reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant made by the plant's photographer Anatoliy Rasskazov in the first hours after the deadly April 26 1986 explosion. A highly radioactive vapor trail seen coming from the heart of the destroyed reactor. He died in 2010 of Chernoby-related cancer. (AP Photo/Anatoliy Rasskazov)

It was shortly after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 25 years ago that I arrived in France as the Mainichi's Paris correspondent. Located downwind from the stricken Soviet nuclear power plant, Europe was enveloped in fear, and France was no exception. News programs warned consumers to protect themselves from rain and avoid giving milk to young children.

While Europeans were terrified of radiation, they appeared largely uninterested in the accident itself. This was probably due to the line of thinking that the accident was possible only in a "rigid, Communist regime" like the Soviet Union. It was obvious to everyone that Soviet society and economy had stagnated, and the Chernobyl accident was seen -- to some extent -- as having its roots in Communism's shortcomings.

The nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, on the other hand, has had a much greater emotional impact on the rest of the world than Chernobyl did years ago. That the latest accident has taken place in Japan -- known around the world for the quality, safety and reliability of its facilities and products -- has made people elsewhere feel that such a disaster could happen right in their backyard. By proving that nuclear disasters are a universal phenomenon, the Fukushima accident has given us a peek at the deep abyss that exists in modern civilization.


Another occasion in which Japan captured the attention of the world was the cult AUM Shinrikyo's 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system. After the attacks, the world came to know that in prosperous, industrialized Japan, there were financially-comfortable and well-educated young men and women who devoted both mind and body to a single leader, developing sarin nerve gas and anthrax and faithfully obeying orders no matter how antisocial their actions.

U.S. authorities...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110513p2a00m0na001000c.html