Japan after earthquake and tsunami

Ever since an earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis unfolded on March 11, the standard uniform for Japanese cabinet ministers has been a bright blue jacket of the sort more often seen on janitors or production workers. Now, however, Yukio Edano, chief cabinet secretary and the government’s crisis point-man, says it may be about time to return to more normal attire.  “Those of us who work in the government have been saying that sooner or later we should be changing our jackets,” Mr Edano says in an interview on Thursday. “I’m thinking of changing into the regular sort of business suit.” This costume change would be of more than sartorial significance. Ministers’ adoption of blue-collar jackets is intended to show that they are in crisis mode and to express solidarity with the emergency workers and engineers fighting to relieve the suffering of tsunami victims and to contain the nuclear crisis. But a return to normal wear would symbolise a return to a more business-as-usual atmosphere in relatively unscathed parts of the country and could help reduce economic damage caused by anxiety suppressing consumer demand. Restaurateurs and taxi drivers in Tokyo, for example, say sales have plunged since the earthquake and tsunami. Observers blame worries about the nuclear crisis and possible aftershocks and a widespread embrace of jishuku, or “self-restraint”, adopted on the grounds that it is unseemly to party when people in the disaster zone are suffering. Such self-restraint has proved valuable in easing the strain on the depleted supply of electricity in the Tokyo area, with individuals and businesses switching off unnecessary lights, heaters and automatic doors to save power. But Mr Edano says too much jishuku can be damaging, praising a recent charity soccer match and the resumption of baseball games as steps back to normality. “Little by little, you see these little actions here and there, and I think that will stimulate the economy,” he says. “If the Japanese economy can be stimulated and lifted upward, that would in turn be able to translate into more capacity to support the disaster-stricken Tohoku area.” Mr Edano’s frequent press conferences, as chief government spokesman, have become the main source of information for the public about developments at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And the former lawyer’s command of technical detail and his matter-of-fact delivery have helped buttress an administration that was suffering perilously low opinion poll ratings before the earthquake. Public support appears to have risen since the disaster, although polls show voters are unimpressed by the government’s handling of the nuclear crisis. Mr Edano acknowledges that communication between the government, the widely criticised utility Tokyo Electric Power and the plant itself was “not satisfactory” in the aftermath of the tsunami that knocked out its back-up safety cooling systems. He insists that Naoto Kan, the prime minister, has since managed to improve the flow of information with a testy visit to Tepco – where the premier at one point demanded executives tell him “what the hell” was going on – and by insisting that a special assistant has full access to the utility’s headquarters. Public doubts about Tepco will only be confirmed, however, by Mr Edano’s suggestion that the government is still having to issue frequent requests to ensure that the utility shares all its information. A rebound in public confidence will require evidence of real progress dealing with the plant’s overheating and radiation-leaking reactors and spent fuel pools. That will take time – weeks at least for even basic stability and far, far longer for a final resolution. The chief cabinet secretary is the first to warn against complacency or over-optimism. The battle to cool Fukushima Daiichi’s reactors and spent fuel has been beset by frequent setbacks, with attempted remedies often creating new problems. So even if Mr Edano marks today’s start of Japan’s new fiscal year, as planned, with a switch into standard business dress, he says he will be keeping his emergency wear close at hand: “If needed, I would immediately change back into this jacket.”