Local reports I have read here from Singaporeans that were in Japan all point to how well composed everybody has been. People exit buildings in an orderly fashion, there is no pushing. Stores and gas stations to not raise prices and everybody waits their turn even as goods are running out.
Nutty, perhaps.. but then everybody should be so nutts...
From:
http://kirksigmon.com/2011/03/japan-being-orderly-even-in-face-of-sendai-earthquake/<i>f there ever was a good example of how well Japanese people can behave themselves, this is it: the Japanese public’s reaction to the earthquake/tsunami issues hitting all over Japan has not been panic, but rather “orderly line”s and patient helpfulness.</i>
<i>The question must be asked: what could America do to elicit this kind of behavior? Unfortunately, this sort of orderliness may be distinctly Japanese — Japanese society benefits from a strong social prohibition on antisocial behavior that has developed from their cultural history, which today has an incredible deterrent effect on criminal or even self-interested behavior. To create such an environment in behavior in modern America would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, as the American emphasis on individual freedom and rational-actor-esque self-interest would discourage such behavior in most circumstances. Nonetheless, one can only hope we learn from the Japanese model over time.</i>