Admiration and frustration with Japan media

The first few days of the NHK coverage surprised and inspired many. The restraints and the focus on facts, not on scenes of death and mourning was not the way that Asian media (esp HK Taiwan ones) or Western ones like Assoc Press etc., cover and portrait news like this. There's no shots of floating dead bodies (and you'd have to believe there are lots of those, with 15,000 missing), and no crying at the mass burial. Death is treated with dignity - in front of the camera.

On the one hand, it has a major stablising effect in times of crisis - the more facts people know, the less worried they are. But on other hand, there's clearly a lack of criticism on the government - which only came almost a week into the disaster in Japanese news, after such coverage ran in the Western news for a week.

There's order in the streets, subway stations, supermarkets, etc., even when people are stuck and cant get home, and when food is running low. Restaurants were giving out free food, instead of charging higher prices. Shops were doing the best to stay open for business. As culture context, a Japanese professor explained this by the "shame" culture in the country. Everyone is supposed to behalf, everyone has a role in the society; and if you dont behalf or dont act your role, you embarrass not just yourself but others. And your family and everyone else. Driven by "shame".

There's also big contrast in how grief and support is expressed. Whereas in HK and TW there will be big, "loud" fund raising events immediately, in Japan, support came through manga - a "kid's" media which conjuncts up innocence, but at the same time, a sense of subtle resilience from the core.

The frustration comes here: can things be too subtle for a situation like this? Will the people of Japan benefit from louder dissent, more push for actions, earlier disclosure from TEPCO and the government? When is too polite too polite?