Japan explained- FAQs and SAQs Part 15
Why do the Japanese get into a big flap about every “typhoon” that just blows the roof off a couple of sheds?
First of all, don’t make the mistake of confusing the Japanese people and the Japanese media. Just because the news programmes try to outdo each other with details of the disaster doesn’t mean ordinary people are obsessing on it just as much, it is mainly a sign of the news crews’ gambarimasu (I will do my best) mentality and yet another quiet news day in Japan (if you ignore the news from the rest of the world, that is…). Due to not wanting to step on anyone’s toes covering something controvertial, they do tend to swarm all over trivial stories like this.
There are reasons for Japanese people to worry about every storm and not do the English stiff upper lip “oh, it’s just a puff of wind” thing. For one thing, when nature strikes in Japan, be in volcanoes, earthquakes, storms or tsunamis, it really does strike. For another, they are quite risk adverse. And my latest theory is that it is one of the few socially acceptable times in Japan when you can go home early.