Darkest before the dawn?

Tragic upheavals sometimes shock a society out of patterns of behaviour that have endured for decades or even centuries. Could the disaster that has befallen Japan be a case in point, asks David Rowe

One vivid memory of my college days in the mid-1960s was a brief conversation with a Japanese exchange student. This was a time of great upheaval in the US related to the Vietnam War and youthful rebellion against authority of all kinds. My Japanese acquaintance was greatly puzzled by the ethos of the time. He said he and other Japanese youth were determined to rebuild Japan after the terrible devastation wrought by defeat in World War II. The disrespect of American youth for their country and