Earthquake in Japan – Yakuza Helping Out

It seems that the social fabric in Japan is still holding together in the midst of the awful 2011 Sendai Earthquake. In regions where official rescue/aid teams have not established a foothold, yakuza are setting up mobile aid tents to give out supplies and provide shelter for the disaster victims.

The cynics might say that they are just looking after their best interest – their ‘customer’ base and its all economically-driven. However, I prefer to see it as an affirmation of the ties in society that goes back decades if not centuries, where shady dealings are as much a part of legitimate business as the mom-and-pop shops so commonly seen in small towns and increasingly marginalized by larger chains in the big cities.

Also seen in a quote from JapanSubculture.com, “Even the yakuza are chipping in, with the Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai opening their offices as shelters and sending supplies to the reactor site,” this seems that its not an isolated news report.

Quite a change from the usual no-nonsense, violent, crazed murderers stereotyped in the media most of the time.

EDIT: More news from a twitter feed

* 日本ってすごい

http://twitter.com/tksksks/statuses/46403815397801984

日本って凄い。官僚も民間も、皆で助けようとしてる。トラックの運転手も有志で物資運んでるらしいし、東北の交通整備をヤクザさんがやってるという話も聞いた。最近、日本に対して誇りを持てないことが続いていたけれど、そんなことない。日本は凄い国だ。素直に感動してる。日本国の皆さん頑張ろう！
Japan is a wonderful nation!
Both the government and the people, everyone is helping one another today. There are truck drivers helping evacuees move. I even heard that the “yakuza” (gangsters, organized crime groups) are helping to direct traffic in the Tohoku region! There have been many recent developments that have made me lose my sense of pride in my country, but not anymore. Japan is an amazing place! I’m just simply touched. Go Japan!

Earthquake in Japan – Tweeting about the Relief Effort Twitter has proved invaluable not only in aiding communication efforts in disaster-hit Japan, but......

Earthquake in Japan – Fragile Country at the mercy of Nature Here is a great write-up from BBC about the historical perspective of natural disasters......

Earthquake in Japan – Volcano in Southern Japan Erupted And just when you think things couldn’t get worse, they did. It seems a......