The event had no direct influence on me since Salt Lake is far from New York, and it was a kind of a fire on opposite bank of a river. The symposium itself suffered, however, very big influence. The terrorist attack was on Tuesday, and the symposium was held from Wednesday until Friday. So, though speakers on the first day had almost arrived at Salt Lake, many of those on the second and third day had lost means to attend the symposium.
Through the event, I have experienced many things that may not be understood if I am not there. My nephew and I lined before UA counter for check in. The check in procedure became gradually slow and finally stopped completely. When I asked the staff of UA, they said the airport had been closed and we should go home. To my surprise, the passengers followed the direction and began to go back home meekly. There might be a few people who were urgent for explanation, but they followed the direction calmly
After coming back to my hotel, I watched TV report. They were concentrating their effort to report the fact, and no criticism to the authorities concerned and their policy are reported. In Japan, various kinds of critics appear on screen and speak all kinds of opinions. Usually, the audiences are left in confusion. This kind of thing never took place. Gradually, the unity of the whole country was formed with the president as its center. It is really wonderful.
Some people doubt the legitimacy on the last presidential election. Nevertheless, the evaluation that the president is a right president elected by right procedure is firm. There seems to be a big difference compared with Japanese case where an impression that the procedure to choose the prime minister is not fair enough can't be swept away.
And there is a very big difference between the journalism in both countries. Japanese journalism tends to prefer sensationalism. In a word, there may be a difference in the maturity of democracy.
Watching the event in Japan, we are apt to think that there is some truth in what terrorists say. However, the understanding is completely different. People in the United States are very through that the terrorism is a crime. According to church, terrorists are devils and should be erased from the surface of the earth. There is no ambiguity that terrorism and politics behind terrorism should be distinguished clearly and terrorists are murderers. There is no hesitation that the murderers should be found out by all means and brought to trial.
Through the terrorist attack, I experienced many things. The most incomprehensible thing is the terrorist idea that the world can be changed by terrorism. It is an unrealistic madness that they sacrifice themselves. When they govern the world by any chance, it is certain that the modern civilization collapses and the history goes back several hundreds years. It is really terrible!
Link： http://www.teruya.co.jp