Three weeks has passed since the quake, and what surprised me the most was the affection Japan has been receiving from other countries. In this three weeks, various countries have been offering humane support towards Japan, including Korea, China, Taiwan, U.S., France, Germany, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Venezuela, Philippines, and Pakistan.
Donation from Taiwan exceeded 10 billion yen (This IS the correct amount), and Thailand announced to relocate and rent the whole power plant to Japan for free. China sent tankers and supplied us with gasoline. Not to mention, America has been replenishing Japan with qualitative and quantitative support.
Among all, first I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you living overseas. In the past, Japan has been active in international cooperation such as implementing official development assistance towards other nations. I personally had doubts about the fact that the tax I paid were flowing out from Japan, despite Japan being the world's largest debtor nation due to the increase of bankruptcy and unemployment for the past 20 years. However, through this incident, I was touched by the intention and support to "return the favor" which made me realize my shallow views.
Direct damage was limited to coasts of Eastern Japan. But there is already an on-going discussion on tax increase for the recovery. As we lack electricity, factories and stores are not capable of resuming their business in a satisfactory level. Currently Japan is not certainly not in a state to export any agricultural or marine products, and are likely increase food imports. Consequently, it is inevitable to see considerable decline in GDP, as well as bankruptcy, joblessness, and financial deterioration. The indirect damage from this point onwards will affect all Japanese. Moreover, I feel extremely sorry about our country being a nuisance to the world by causing problems such as radiations or inability to supply cars, electronic products, and the necessary components. In this situation, I gained great hope and courage by knowing that we can help each other beyond borders when a country is under a crisis.
From now on, I think that we should create a new Japan, instead of regaining the condition we had before the earthquake. The new Japan will be a warmhearted and compassionate nation that would build a better and stronger bond with your country.
To wrap up, I will attach an advertisement on Thai newspaper posted by the local Japan Embassy. This is written in Thai, English and Japanese.