Respect for Japan

Dear Editor:I have been a serious student of Japanese culture and business practices for many years. I worked in international marketing for a Japanese manufacturer of consumer and professional audio products for five years and I am a graduate of the Institute for International Studies and Training of Tokyo, which I attended as a guest of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization). I have met many Japanese people for business and social activities and I am very impressed with their discipline and way of life. A recent message from a Japanese Rotarian shows their mettle, "The people of Japan will overcome this great tragedy and we are hopeful that we can get over the difficulties very soon." If I needed any more evidence about the greatness of this society, I saw it last week at a concert by the Takigawa Daini High School band from Kobe, Japan, which gave a joint concert with our own Warren High School Concert Band. The Japanese kids fulfilled their commitment to visit Warren High School in spite of the difficulties in their country and gave a memorable performance that deserved and got a standing ovation from the audience. I hope that we, as a society, prove to be as reliant as the Japanese have been when the so-much-announced "big one" hits us. -- Jorge Montero, Downey

********** Published: March 31, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 50