An overwhelming 86 percent of people felt the presence of human bonds in society following the Great East Japan Earthquake, while 85 percent supported disaster victims through donations or other activities, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
An overwhelming 86 percent of people felt the presence of human bonds in society following the Great East Japan Earthquake, while 85 percent supported disaster victims through donations or other activities, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
The figures indicate that the disaster that struck on March 11 last year has brought people closer together, at least for now.
The Asahi Shimbun conducted the nationwide survey from early February to mid-March and received valid responses from 2,308 people.
Asked to pick one of four choices about how much they sensed bonds between people in society, 36 percent said they “greatly felt” the bonds, 50 percent said “somewhat felt,” 11 percent “did not feel so much,” and 2 percent “did not feel at all.”
They were allowed to give multiple answers when asked what support activities they engaged in for victims in the Tohoku region.
Fifty-six percent said they “donated money through organizations” while 42 percent “donated money on the street.” Twenty-nine percent “bought products from disaster areas,” 25 percent “bought products with proceeds donated to disaster victims,” 9 percent “sent relief supplies” and 2 percent engaged in volunteer work.
Only 12 percent said they did nothing in particular.
When asked about the overall trend in human bonds in Japan regardless of last year’s quake and tsunami, 14 percent said such bonds are “strengthening” while 26 percent said they are “unchanged.” The majority of respondents, at 54 percent, thought the bonds are “weakening.”
But 85 percent of those who said “weakening” also said they “felt human bonds in Japanese society after the disaster.”
Fifty-three percent of the respondents said bonds with neighbors and within their communities are “weakening.”
However, when asked if people can help each other in their communities in the event of a major disaster, 68 percent said they “think they can,” compared with 26 percent who said they “don’t think so.”