7 @) O6 _- y1 Y5 f$ D X" }窗帘跳舞，盘子在桌子上溜冰。然后，晃动越来越剧烈。餐具落到地下摔碎了，家具满屋子乱飞。 # A+ f5 J4 m. Z& ~: z5 { `( v1 d$ [ 1 O2 _/ @% z" y. F$ a就是坐着旁观，心里都会打颤。而这不过是在模拟一次中级地震。 G3 d4 e2 j* q& ?; V
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无常之感 " I! f$ p3 g/ b0 j, C; L 2 [* T: N4 e4 M+ F/ a( q1 Z灾难意识，深深地融入日本传统文化。4 f6 t$ d" _, P' x# U. e
( M. L0 M- p: ~3 H日本文化推崇脆弱、短暂带来的“无常感”。从樱花被奉为国花就可见一斑。樱花，从枝头绽放到满地落英，不过几天的功夫。但是，她短暂的生命，却把大自然最美的一面呈现给人们。 " \4 y0 M% {6 b, z: e% B; ]1 B9 G 7 Q; B. \" ]* ?' R5 h8 h和樱花一样，武士，对生命好像也很“不在意”，维护武士道的荣誉更加重要。* O. c8 l; Q( |- L R
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“禅”，对竹子不惧压力、宁折不屈的品格大加推崇。 : c9 K7 Q. B/ _: D2 v% Y @ . k$ k7 [1 e% F# \传统上，日本人选择建造轻盈的木屋作为民宅。他们说，地震了，木屋可能摇晃，但却不会轻易倒塌。) @" _1 j! o# i- B- r
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历史上，东京曾经表现出不寻常的坚强。 - {! l8 }4 O8 q4 l, W F$ t7 F+ X* w/ e2 ]( r8 I
1945年3月，关东大地震20多年后，美国B29轰炸机向满是木屋的东京投掷燃烧弹。一夜间，10万人丧身火海。+ v4 M% p6 P5 ?6 ~9 n
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1945年9月8日，一处为广岛原子弹爆炸难民提供的救助站中，一名妇女怀抱着她的孩子。 & e3 R+ {8 E6 n. z7 K6 a7 m! \3 }& T* s 0 C8 U9 Q' B& i" b/ V' O等着“大灾难”的降临，是日本人生活的一个组成部分。' }3 l9 j: N# s* g1 Y
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历史证明，鲤鱼帮不上忙。和人类一样，鲤鱼也无法预测，什么时候，大难即将临头。 8 Y* r( F1 H: b8 W; e- ~& Y( }' A- }! ~) V
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Japan: A fragile country at the mercy of nature6 A0 d) E9 @6 t/ I/ [
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The world is reacting with shock at the huge quake and tsunami that has devastated Japan, but people there have learnt to expect natural disasters. 4 S" R: c6 m' s: K v 2 D+ T7 c) x7 U7 c$ Z7 h# dThe first indication was a humming and a rattling., q* v. E( Y/ q4 R
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Hundreds of upturned beer glasses on wooden shelves, shook from side to side, then knocked into each other. Conversation dimmed then stopped completely. Faces looked from one to another across the plates of tempura and sushi. 3 W7 ^7 J8 _" g5 j& l( \- o 3 }% W+ I4 V8 D! i* d9 {"Quick," shouted the barman, "turn off the gas."9 p( U1 v! j* w6 q& X
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It was my first experience of a tremor, just a few days after I had gone to live in Japan. And it was typical - everyone trying to gauge just how serious this quake was going to be.* s z( m, E$ ~3 }2 C
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When should we get up and try to run outdoors? Or would we have to dive under the tables? Or seek safety under a door frame - which we all knew was the strongest part of the room? 1 R7 n. u! Q6 B$ M8 a/ t 4 I* C" c# U; P2 h3 f& z: }. D& TAfter a few seconds the tremor subsided, the conversation picked up, the sushi chef started wielding his heavy knife on the chopping block.7 ^* Y& ]" x. Z
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Just a few seconds later, a white subtitle appeared on the TV in the corner - it was on all channels - indicating the size of the quake and the location of the epicentre.- H4 _* t6 Q! x$ I# K/ X
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It was not the "big one". But everyone knew that one was coming. & c5 q( G3 s, c; D% A# b7 q; |1 @6 l
The question was: when? ; S) V" ]& u# K& i$ ? V0 [3 u) m1 T! Y
Tradition held that animals and fish would act strangely ahead of a quake - carp, for example, would jump out of the water.4 y% e+ D0 H2 T; p, v
- ]) p) Y5 n3 N0 N: K9 i2 [The Japanese government even sponsored an experiment to monitor carp activity to see if they could be used to predict tremors." c2 ^3 j: H7 m! {: U# }( q
+ V7 n3 n' z; i9 ?0 ?2 JJapanese people live with an ever-present expectation of natural disaster - floods, hurricanes, fires, and most of all earthquakes and the massive waves they can generate. 7 G1 |! @7 Q7 d! e1 _ / `. D6 u; B9 M( J3 UHell on earth? ~ ?6 _% G# a4 C# E$ u5 e/ G' u4 c8 t, ~$ V% o* T
It is no coincidence that tsunami is a Japanese word. 7 K+ L) _5 \; \# G. H4 N% k5 Q) b( \0 U
The native religion, Shinto, is animist - speaking of the divine nature of trees and mountains, of goddesses who emerged from deep clefts in the rocks. The very earth can seem alive. ! x" Z8 Y5 @7 P- V/ ?- o& r" l6 t: d0 R* Z# @! z
The islands sit on a massive fault line and the classic image of the country is the perfect volcanic cone of Mount Fuji.) L. X. q& O4 v
$ ^5 g! ]) E" d ~$ [# ?Boiling hot water steams up from cracks in the rocks, exploited for the natural hot springs that are one of the country's great wonders.# N" H* w, _; C8 U* e$ D' U
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In the town of Beppu you can see pools of foul-smelling sulphuric waters that emerge from the earth. But the big draw is the dark red pool guarded by statues of ferocious, boggle-eyed deities. It is called Jigoku - Hell.2 K% g: l* ~ e( G* e8 c. g5 {
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All Japanese know that at any time the powers of the earth can turn against them. & @5 X" T1 R, Y2 X; ?8 c& A1 w5 \- J+ b/ R" `1 y
In 1923, the great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo. 3 L$ Q% @& i9 Q- P ) Z9 }7 E# h1 t- d, RFires raged across a city built of wooden houses, killing an estimated 140,000 people.& J5 d Z) G# I" k3 V
{* Y! J* c3 I! H7 WSince then the population on the Kanto plain has grown massively in an interconnected series of cities from the mountains down to the sea. 0 {2 j, _- H3 T7 \ : N& T k$ H4 U% N, \Everyone knows that the pressure between the tectonic plates deep underground will be released sometime.3 g: C" h* r5 Z( }( y" x
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Everyone prepares. Schools and office workers take part in earthquake drills. And these are dramatic. 1 B {- }- L+ `+ X1 o& a % R/ n- m3 Q8 nThe authorities bring along a mock-up of a living room, complete with a sofa and a dining table, with one wall missing so you can see inside.1 B. Z9 K3 F! G3 z& R7 A
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The whole room is mounted on a machine on a truck and gently the mechanism rocks the room from side to side - simulating the usual tremors that you feel every few days. 1 k# [; z3 P% D* d7 ^* m & O4 k+ I: L+ t/ Z7 v8 a1 M* _- oCurtains sway and plates slide across tables. ( W- r: d) A m- A3 d% z5 T* d0 @1 Y4 G
The movement gets stronger and stronger, wilder and wilder. Crockery smashes, the furniture is hurled about furiously.5 u. w% B4 v* O1 u6 b F! K) b
3 ?2 R# a3 ]! l# BJust watching, you can feel the panic rising in your stomach. And this is just a mock-up of a moderate quake.) N& ^) F$ A0 | }! v2 f* ~
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Extraordinary resilience 9 r( \/ z' z) I) @0 J( t# H0 v( ?' e& G( ]; Z
An ever-present sense of disaster is deeply woven into traditional ways.( d8 ~4 Y' x' A8 y1 X' \
P6 j# j0 T; A, J7 \& z$ vJapanese culture has long-prized fragility, impermanence, transience.. U. `; O j- @% x, f0 F: b5 _
- k- `, j9 s7 i: {7 hThe cherry blossom is the most prized of all expressions of nature because it achieves such a brief perfection before falling carelessly. ) q. @/ P+ _% M# k; x, i$ a/ C F& R4 n" [. r, _& R) d
Samurai - so it was said - gave up their lives with similar carelessness, because their honour was more important.: p: T" V/ X% ?/ b) \
- d5 g/ x% ?- C* Y. _2 q- [Zen teaching praised the way bamboo's flexibility gave it a special strength. 8 V% I* k; ~7 u& s9 W( N. l 3 B. p/ d! }: {* R% Y7 S. X+ ASubjected to force it sways and bends. It does not snap. 3 Z4 l7 |; R, z; Y8 t 0 b1 ]" _- H/ f: ?$ aThe Japanese traditionally built their houses lightly out of wood and it is said this is so they would sway in an earthquake rather than simply collapse.* d, ]! X9 D# e/ D4 ~9 h8 Q/ i' H
" Z; A- t2 Y/ J1 Y+ j1 S2 J* y1 SThe city of Tokyo has shown extraordinary resilience.. I/ {; b! R% F9 f! \3 p
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In March 1945, a couple of decades after the great earthquake, American B29s dropped incendiary bombs on the city of wooden houses. 2 e2 m: }7 l6 n- z7 X& k* O $ |* o' d1 A2 o5 \3 RThe resulting firestorm killed 100,000 people in the course of a single night.4 o s- h L s! T( N
. K9 }$ _- _$ c; a- xWaiting for the "big one" is a part of Japanese life and the carp, it turns out, are no help. They have no better idea of when a tremor will strike than the rest of us.
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