European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 the japanese Way of dealing with disaster associated press hours after a Japan air lines jetliner carrying 524 people crashed into a Remote Jal president Yasumoto Takagi stood at the Bottom of an airline bowing and apologizing to relatives boarding a Jal plane that would take them near the scene of the when relatives and friends arrived in Central Japan to await news of the crash and the return of Takagi held a news conference to apologize publicly from the Bottom of our hearts for the the Jal crash illustrates How the sometimes rigid customs of japans highly group oriented society take Many forms and How people who fail to live up to them May face shame or in times of japanese custom dictates unique and often dramatic response from those responsible or otherwise the government official or company president apologizes quits his Post or even commits relatives Rush to be As close As possible to their lost loved Takagi told reporters two Days after the crash that he was determined to resign to take responsibility for the and would step Down when the Accident investigation appeared to be settled and his presence was no longer although preliminary reports indicated that nobody had survived the crash four people were later found a photo Jal president Yasumoto Takagi offered to resign to take responsibility for the air crash that killed 520 the avowed first priority of Many passengers families was to reach mount the crash some hoped to climb the but most were Content just to Jal using company planes and buses and hired transported the relatives from Osaka and Tokyo to a town near the crash where they were to be housed until the remains were recovered and the motivation for this gathering near the scene of calamity is said to Stem partly for Buddhist belief that the spirit does not separate immediately from the body and remains an integral link to the deceased buddhism also teaches that a person must have a proper burial so that the spirit May rest in a teaching that accounts for 40 years after the end of world War japanese continue to make pilgrimages to Remote South Pacific islands in search of soldiers shortly after korean air lines now korean air photo relative and to the after the jumbo Jet into Tsutaka flight 007 was shot Down by a soviet Jet fighter in september relatives hired fishing boats to go to the approximate spot where the plane went where they cast wreaths upon the a year Many returned to do it japanese custom also obligates companies to offer Consolation payments to an act that in some countries might be interpreted As an admission of liability but in Japan is simply an act of Good a Jal company who asked not to be said it was Likely that the airline eventually would make such after a mentally deranged Jal Pilot purposely crashed a dc8 jetliner into Tokyo Bay on the company reportedly offered More than to relatives of each of the 24 people who were available records do not show How much actually was news reports at the time said the figure was Well above the maximum amount of set by the transport but Takagi was said to believe the unusual circumstances of the crash warranted additional there were reports that Otagaki would and one daily paper said he would take 17 other company executives with that didst but he did fulfil obligations of responsibility by making personal with Token to each of the bereaved families at their in times of people think that the president should apologize to the people to take said Yoshiyuki a professor working with a government study group on japanese National other recent examples also show How the japanese accept on the same Day As the Jal Toshio a powerful politician who is founder and exp resident of the worlds largest Tanker resigned As Cabinet minister without portfolio to take blame for the firms on a prefectural state police chief in Western Japan committed suicide by apparently because of his departments failure to arrest the Man with 21 focus gang that has tried to extort Money from Candy makers by poisoning their someone has to take said Hiromitsu Muta of the governments educational planning research the president is a like the Tenno and the group is the Strong even if the president the group int and politically or socially it has he