Japan - A Study In Courage

Now you can do something about it.

I grew up in the UK in a world where the defeated Axis powers were still seen as potential threats. Xenophobia was widely extant. Postwar Baby Boomers like myself were the children and grand children of families who fought in at least one global conflict. It was also a world where a fair degree of racism existed on all sides from one to another.

What a difference a generation or two makes. I was very fortunate to be able to travel long distances. I was exposed to many cultures and my parents welcomed different cultures, colours and creeds into our home. I gratified to see that most of the Millenials I come into contact with are truly colour blind.

The recent tragic events in Northern Japan - a natural disaster of epic proportions compounded with the issues of the nuclear powerplant - have shown the world the true nature of the Japanese people to deal with such calamities. The world has watched while they dealt with the tragedy in real time. Like many I was transfixed with the images emerging from Japan on March 10th 2011. Most of it was surreal. Our immediate reaction was to reach out and help.

My good friend Morris Sim Co-Founder of Circos Brand Karma has started a website http://japantastic.org/ which I urge you to visit. Morris and his team understand and have been able to demonstrate the value of Brand Management in a Social Media world, so it was only natural for him and his team to harness some of that power for more than just commercial ends. Here is what he says are the goals of the site:

".... our concern is that money isn't all that Japan needs -- they need to continue to have a sense of hope. So we created Japantastic.org, which is a communal wall that invites people to share their positive experiences of Japan and Japanese products. Our goal is to have a mass outpouring of love from the world towards Japan, and to give the site to the Japanese tourism bureau when they're ready to invite people back. No donations are required... we just want people to donate their positive memories."

So go for it. Tell them the Professor sent you.

Domo - Arigato