On March 19, 2011, amid the aftermath of disaster, Japan’s railways demonstrated their power in fuel transport, and ordinary citizens and officials displayed selfless intelligence. In stark contrast, the newspapers remained filled with vulgar politics and commentary—proof that true dignity lay with the people, not the ruling class.

This post contrasts the “vulgar” attitudes of politicians and the media during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake with the “noble” and selfless efforts of ordinary citizens, private companies, and public servants. The author highlights the crucial role of JR Freight’s emergency fuel transport and the dedication of special vehicles for continuous water spraying. It praises the on-site workers and their “selfless hearts and intelligence” as the true driving force behind Japan’s recovery, while criticizing the leadership’s ineffectual posturing.

If vulgar politics and commentaries fill the newspapers, then like the sun, refinement still exists in the world.
March 19, 2011.

Someone who gave me a “peta” on Ameba conveyed far more than the current cabinet ever could.
March 19, 2011.
When fuel shortages made the movement of goods impossible, the power of rail transport became evident.
With limited resources, the most efficient way to move goods is by rail.
I hope that from now on, railways will carry not only fuel but also all kinds of supplies.

[Excerpt from article]
On the evening of March 18, JR Freight (Tokyo), in cooperation with JR East, dispatched an emergency freight train loaded with diesel and gasoline from JR Negishi Station in Isogo Ward, Yokohama, to Morioka Freight Terminal Station in Morioka, to relieve fuel shortages in the Tōhoku region after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
This was the first time this route had been used.
The train consisted of eighteen cars—nine with diesel, nine with gasoline—transporting 387 kiloliters of diesel and 405 kiloliters of gasoline refined at JX Nippon Oil & Energy’s Negishi refinery.
Normally, these supplies were transported to Tochigi and Nagano Prefectures on JR Freight’s own lines, but this time they traveled on JR East’s tracks.
The train departed Negishi Station at 7:44 p.m., passed through Saitama, Niigata, and Akita Prefectures, and was scheduled to arrive at Morioka Freight Terminal at 9:51 p.m. on March 19.
Photographs of the transport train are even posted online, so please take a look.

If vulgar politics and commentaries fill the newspapers, then like the sun, refinement still exists in the world.
March 19, 2011.

Yesterday, on WOWOW, I recorded The Counterfeiters, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and after 1 p.m. I headed to Kyoto.
I had planned to decide where to go after arriving—perhaps Chion-in or Tenju-an at Nanzen-ji—but while on the subway, I chose Shisendō.
It turned out to be the best place for my mood that day.

Before leaving, I had read in yesterday’s evening paper that a company president had requested the use of one of only three special vehicles in Japan—capable of pinpoint water spraying from high elevations, remotely operated—and that it was on its way to the site, expected to arrive today.
The Self-Defense Forces planned to keep the vehicle spraying continuously, rotating only the personnel.
Meanwhile, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency’s special vehicles were also heading to the site to conduct unmanned continuous spraying.

Watching these reports, I thought: in the face of an unprecedented accident that no one had even imagined, the only way forward is to improve and refine step by step, through each effort.
In contrast, I cannot forgive those who brandish half-baked knowledge.
Though I hesitate to say it, such reckless behavior cannot be tolerated.
Does he, I wonder, even know what level a university like Tokyo Institute of Technology truly holds?
In Akutagawa’s sense, it would never be above the seven national universities and Waseda or Keio.

And yet, a man who drifted through part-time jobs after graduation before stumbling into politics now speaks as though he were the foremost expert in nuclear power of our time.
He dares to demand twice that the president of TEPCO—one of Japan’s leading companies—be summoned.

Standing in absolute contrast to such behavior, at the front lines, are the employees of private companies and the public officials who gather, risking their lives to protect the nation.
They embody our pride, the highest refinement in the world.
They act with selfless hearts and true intelligence.
That was what I deeply felt as I made my way to Kyoto.