in fact the japanese have very high pride. if you read up on your history the last big quake in 92 japan actually refused foreign...
1995 actually.
And they didn't refuse foreign aid, they
initially refused foreign aid because they thought they had it under control, perhaps in a misguided act of pride from a country who considered itself highly organised/self-sufficient. That and a highly entrenched system of bureaucracy which existed in Japanese government which slowed decision-making even more when they were panicked (so much so the army wasn't even called to alert until 4 hours after the quake!!).
As you said in your initial post above:
"go research on that and you will have your answer".
Anyway, I was interested in your view on the economic reasons for raising money for a country like Japan in this sort of disaster.
The reason to give, and the reason people
are giving, is that human suffering is happening. Short of being right there to help out, offering assistance by way of financial aid to NGOs is the most practical way to give support.
I can see why people would think that because Japan is so wealthy they are somehow less deserving of help but the support they've shown when others have needed help demonstrates exactly why they should be offered help. (notwithstanding specialist nuclear energy help)
It's a sad state but it is human nature for the visual pain/suffering you see on TV to have less and less impact on you over time. This is to the detriment of disaster such as in Haiti which become fading memories for most people sooner than they really should and lose much of the impetus and public sympathy towards aid efforts.
