SALT LAKE CITY -- It's estimated that nearly half a million people are in temporary shelters, and millions have little food and water following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. There are fears of a nuclear meltdown and radiation exposure. With the situation looking so grim, how can the Japanese remain so calm?

When natural disasters strike, looting and lawlessness tend to follow. That's what happened following Katrina and after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. But that's not the picture you'll see in Japan. Instead people wait patiently in lines for hours for limited groceries and gas.

"We're taught that this world is for the people, and the people are what make this world go round," explained Miho "Mimi" Ujiie, founding president of the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce.

Honor. Loyalty. Brotherly kindness. These are all part of the Japanese culture.

"What can be more giving than life itself," says Ujiie.

Ujiie just heard from her cousin Wednesday morning. Some of her family is missing after the tsunami and earthquake. Her 70-year-old mother is headed to Canada. But she trusts the Japanese government.

"When I saw the news and they said 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan," explained Ujiie, "my first thought was 'Oh they are prepared to deal with this. There will be no looting.'"

Culture encourages helping others

The Japanese culture can be described as a "collective" one. Ujiie explains that people are taught to help each other. Amidst the devastation happening there now, Ujiie says people are willing to die for strangers.

"They do value their lives," she says. "That doesn't mean they don't want to live. They do value their lives, at the same time they think about others."

People generally trust each other. It is part of that trust, says Ujiie,that allows Japanese families not to feel the pressure to take advantage of a situation.

"So they know, they have trust that the government will rescue them," she said. "The law enforcement agency will rescue them. Somebody will come."

Ujiie says people look out for each other because of the Shinto and Buddhist religious cultures, which teach people to co-exist in peace. It is so peaceful that police officers don't even carry guns. Crime is so low that, according to Ujiie, police officers often go house to house and have tea with families and find out what's going on in that household.

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"They have the luxury to do so because people do not commit crime," explained Ujiie. In fact, almost like in days past, they have police officer booths in every township.

"A police officer is there 24/7," explained Ujiie. "When anyone is lost, they can go in there and talk to the police officer."

Ujiie says instead of guns, police have to be trained in martial arts.

Downside to the collective culture

Ujiie says there are positives and negatives to each culture. She says great as her culture is, there is a downside to having a "collective" culture.

"We are not a country to produce geniuses," explained Ujiie. "As much education as we have, we're not equipped to produce the best of the best."

That's because part of their culture teaches their people to suppress the desire to be individualistic and rather embrace a nationalistic, collective approach to life. In other words, whatever an individual does happens for the good of the community.

"We are equipped to handle collectiveness," explained Ujiie. "And so nobody is ever going to be super rich."

Right now Ujiie is concerned about her family. There's limited access to food and supplies in Japan. It's tough for her to watch the destruction every day and not be able to help her family as she's been taught to do.

E-mail: niyamba@ksl.com

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