What you are not seeing in Japan is looting. You are hearing stories of vendors who are lowering prices and in some cases giving emergency supplies to people in need. People are waiting in line in an orderly fashion even though gas lines can last for hours. In the Japanese culture, respect is considered to be of the highest importance. The belief system that when you shame yourself you bring shame onto the entire family.
It leaves one to wonder why other cultures cannot do the same during times of trouble? The looting in the aftermath of the earthquake in Chile last year was so severe that troops had to be brought in to get it under control. At one point the army resorted to using water hoses to stop the looting of banks and electronic stores, where people were taking plasma televisions and cash.
The same thing happened after Katrina in New Orleans: A quote from a man who in the flood ravaged city the day after the levees broke.
“To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it’s an opportunity to get back at society,”It would seem to me the difference between the events is only the mentality of the people who were afflicted by the tragedies. In Japan the culture is that you respect authority, it seems in many other parts of the world the culture is that the government owes you something. The next time someone says to you that the culture of a society doesn't matter, remind them of this.