EARTHQUAKE THAT SHOOK JAPAN

Evening Star, Issue 21570, 16 November 1933, Page 8

EARTHQUAKE THAT SHOOK JAPAN

GRIM VISITATION TEN YEARS AGG DISASTER THAT HUMIFIED THE WORLD Ten years ago last month there occurred a most grievous natural calamity. Tho earthquake which overwhelmed Tokio and Yokohama caused the deaths of nearly 150,000 persons. Imagine the Somme battlefields and the ruins of Ypres on a gigantic but concentrated scale, and you have a picture, though even then not realistic enough, of Tokio and the country around on that grim September morning (writes an English eye-witness). Tokio, the capital city, was razed to the ground, ami Yokohama, the great seaport town, was completely destroyed in the disaster that horrified the world. A few facts and figures show how overwhelming was the calamity: Lives lost greater in number than all tho Japanese casualties in the RussoJapanese War. Over half a million houses destroyed, and nearly two million people left homeless. Tokio’s devastated area alone exceeded fifteen square miles—three, times that of the San Francisco visitation in 1906. Loss of national wealth estimated at £550,000,000. UNCANNY SPECTACLE. By day, as far as the eye could reach, were desolation and destruction; by night the sky was lit by the glare of tho great fires, the clouds, smoke, and dust combining to make an awe-inspir-ing scene; while the ever-present stench of thousands of unburied bodies polluted the stifling atmosphere. Numberless small groups, searching for members of their families, or for some remnant of their worldly possessions, added a note of pathos, while at the same time the proverbial courage and stoicisnf of Hie Japanese race were exemplified by attempts to rebuild homes while the ashes of the old were still hot. Queer little wooden signs, which sprang up quickly on many sites announcing the name of the former owner, wore reminiscent of similar notice hoards indicating hoadquartrs of batteries and companies in trenches and dugouts on the battlefields of Franco and Flanders. Another scene, not unlike the exodus of French' peasants from the districts east of Amiens in March, 1918, was the endless procession of refugees blocking the country roads leading away from the ruined capital. The population of Tokio was reduced by over one million souls by this mass emigration, and it was not until 1930, seven years later, that the number of inhabitants again reached the pre-earthquake figure. THE ARMY’S PART. Jn common with most of the foreign embassies and legations, and almost the entire business quarter, the Government offices suffered severely, and many, indeed, were obliterated completely. This fact, coupled with the breakdown .of every mpans of communication, made the promulgation of martial law inevitable. If ever a great city was in the grip of war it was Tokio in September, 1923. ... The normal garrison of two divisions was gradually trebled, and the citizens thankfully gave themselves over to the care of the military authorities, ihe army became responsible for everything. The maintenance of Jaw and order was its first duty, a comparatively easy one among the obedient and discipline-loving citizens, and the restoration of communications the next, a much harder task. Tokio and Yokohama were cut off not oniy from the outside world and the rest of Japan, but from each other, alike by air, by wireless, by telegraph, or telephone, by rail, by tram, and even bv road. . , , . “The arrival of British and American warships at Yokohama first enabled wireless messages to be sent. But tho army had other insistent calls. The feeding of the population, the care of the sick and injured, the provision and control of transport, the blowing up of partially destroyed buildings, the clearing of roads and canals tho repair of bridges—these were all undertaken with an efficiency and cheerfulness beyond all praise. MARTIAL TRADITION. But most valuable of all was the moral effect created on the people at largo by the presence and behaviour ot again the descendents of the old Samurai had the chance to show to the world how well they knew and valued their martial tradition. It is an interesting fact that the Scout Law of to-day bears a marked resemblance to the military code of Japan., Meanwhile a great impression had been made by the spontaneous messages of sympathy, the opening of relief funds, the provision of food and buildiug materials, and offers of help from foreign countries, .notably America and the British Empire. The Japanese, from their statesmen downwards, did all in their power to assist the numerous foreigners. Whether it was in the shape of provisions for the Diplomatic Corps—and that august body can seldom have been in such adversity since the Siege of Legations in Peking in 1900 —or shelter ami clothing for junior employees of Japanese and foreign firms, the m-■n-ained feeling of respect and courtesy for guests was shown in striking fashion. To many the hour of noon on September 1 had appeared as the end of the world, and in particular must it have appeared so to those on board the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Australia, when she was about to cast oft from the wharf at Yokohama for Vancouver. Nothing finer than the conduct of the captain, officers, crew, and passengers could be imagined. As memories grow dim there is a danger that the real and most important lesson of the earthquake, apparent enough at the time, may be forgotten. One of the greatest of onr public servants, in a letter written shortly after the disaster, put his finger on the essential point: “ A people that can emerge from such a catastrophe creditably will certainly bo a great nation.” THE SUPREME TEST. No truer statement was ever written about Japan. Since her recent emergence from age-long seclusion, Japan lias been frequently and greatly tested; and always she believes in her destiny, and in that destiny being for the benefit of humanity. . But no triumph has been more signal than that by which she faced unprecedented natural calamity which had destroyed the very heart and nerveccutrc of her empire.