Sunday May 27, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Why do we mark anniversaries of tragic events like the March 11 disaster and 9/11? For example, why are six months any different from five months, or 10 years any different from nine years?

Have Your Say Sep. 11, 2011 - 07:24AM JST ( 10 )

Order by Time Order by Popularity

10 Comments

-2

some14someSep. 11, 2011 - 07:58AM JST

difficult question, if i say we should not...they will call me 'insensitive' and shower me with dozen of thumbs down, and if i say Yes, they will say i side with media people and may get a few thumbs up marks. Ok, i will go for the former.
0

FarmboySep. 11, 2011 - 08:03AM JST

I think it's just a custom that was established and is now supported in many languages. Think of the words we have to talk about time: decade, century, bi-annual, score. There is a certain resonance that has been established not only in English, but in many languages. I don't really know which came first, the language or the tendency, but at this point it's a self-perpetuating custom.
0

johninnahaSep. 11, 2011 - 11:12AM JST

This is something that's always puzzled me too.

I can understand celebrating happy events, but not tragedies.

Especially incidents like 9/11, where the cause hasn't been clearly established and March 11 when the tragedy was compounded by bureaucratic ineptitude and lack of foresight and planning.

It's interesting, though, how these things tend to get turned into happy events in time.

In England, November the 5th celebrates a terrorist, Guy Fawkes, who had planned to sabotage the English parliament, but who was caught with several kegs of gunpowder. Children make an effigy of GF, usually by sewing together an old shirt and pants and stuffing it with newspapers and burning this on a bonfire.

The darker side of this story is not emphasized and it's usually a good excuse for fireworks and potatoes roast in the embers of the bonfire.
1

FoxieSep. 11, 2011 - 03:50PM JST

Just milestones.

It has been one decade, and its a time when the terrorists would want to make a point. its just like how 10th birthdays are big in someones life, its the big 1 0. and other various birthdays. With 3/11 it is the same. One year has 12 months and this is half of its entity.
0

DentShopSep. 11, 2011 - 05:39PM JST

10 years is a good length of time to step back and see what has changed.
1

pawatanSep. 11, 2011 - 09:18PM JST

They are nice, round numbers and people like nice, round numbers. Nothing more.
2

Johannes WeberSep. 11, 2011 - 11:16PM JST

We (as human) beings need an artificial frame of reference to put things into context. We don't have a natural feeling of the passage of time beyond a few days or weeks. Even then, our perception gets warped by the events. Putting memorials every once in a while helps us to sort our memories, which tend to mix different times, and helps to keep them separate from imaginations. The reason for the particular choice of time span is the numerical system we think in. We divide by natural numbers. Even a child can do that before learning about fractions. We multiply in steps of ten, because we just shift numbers. We are just shifting digits. These patterns are familiar from a very early age. They give us the impression that we understand things, that we can control things, even though we can't. You'd never get the same feeling with 7 or 13 months. It would seem like something out of control. We avoid prime numbers in everyday life, because they have an odd feel about them. Memories of that kind would foster feelings of helplessness.
-1

tideofironSep. 12, 2011 - 12:01AM JST

I guess we just need to remember things. It's not based on any real logic. I suppose it's tradition. Just like if you asked your wife this very same question on your 10th wedding anniversary, you wouldn't get a very logical argument from her - but I'm sure questioning it would lead to an emotional one!
-1

JapanGalSep. 12, 2011 - 02:27PM JST

The only number that is round is "o"
1

NothingTokubetsuSep. 12, 2011 - 07:14PM JST

I still remember that morning like it was yesterday. I don't need a 10 year or 20 year or 30 year reminder. What i think we could use a reminder on is to be reminded of all the freedoms we gave up based on the fear that washed through the country over this tragedy, and remember it well - so hopefully next time it happens we won't be so ready to make those same mistakes.