Mar 16, 2011 Ganbare: Japan’s energy conservation posters
Like a lot of you, I’ve spent the last several days keeping watch over the situation in Japan and trying to keep it together. With so much happening and so many questions unanswered, it’s been hard not to lose focus and despair–or, worse, to get sidelined by frustration and cynicism. While the most effective thing most us can do right now is send money (please, send money), we can also support our friends, family and other survivors of this ongoing disaster in a very important way: by demonstrating decency, sympathy and support for what can be done. Yes, I mean we should cheer for them. Online, we all share the same space and, believe it, they can hear you.
The Setsuden Koukoku project on Tumblr and Twitter is one example of the ganbare spirit we should support. It collects some of the energy conservation posters that have emerged since Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc on Tohoku and the nation. The cause is obvious: hundreds of thousands have lost their homes and require the basics to survive. And the underlying message is simple: We’re all in this together. This poster, a simple block image of Japan, says, “It’s what we can do now. Deliver light.”
