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The earthquake, the tsunami and now fears of a nuclear meltdown: Japan is in a state of emergency. And yet, in many parts of the country it seems that life is going on almost undisturbed. Raimund Wördemann is the head of the Goethe-Institut Tokyo. In an interview, he reports about the disciplined way the Japanese people deal with suffering.

Mr Wördemann, when you leave the house in the morning, how can you tell that you are in a country in a state of emergency?

It’s not so apparent at first glance. It is a sort of reduced normality. There is far less traffic and there are queues in front of shops that are lacking their usual abundance of goods. But, then there are smiling people and the very normal daily routine. I have spoken with Japanese people who shake their heads over the concerns of the westerners. I am amazed when I see German media reports describing chaotic scenarios in Tokyo. The greatest distress is in the tsunami region. I hope that the focus of attention in the west will soon shift back to aid for the region hit by the disaster – with all due concern for Fukushima.

How have you experienced the days since the earthquake? Are you frightened?

Once last week I was on my way to the underground and just when I was putting my foot on the ground, the ground moved away from it and the high-rise next to me leaned over towards me. I thought then, ‘man, what’s going on now?’ Even though callers and emails suggest to me that I am in a city in the process of falling apart, I sometimes had to pull myself back together.

How are your colleagues handling it?

The scale ranges from great fear and worry to composure and sereneness. Some of the German colleagues have temporarily left the country. In the meantime, some Japanese colleagues are also visiting their relatives in the south, at least for a few days. Many of them, though, are working as usual, in administration, for instance. Salaries had to be paid and it was a matter of course for the colleagues there to fulfil their duties – although we clearly informed them that no one was required to come to work.

The Foreign Office recommended that all Germans in the Tokyo metropolitan area go to Osaka or overseas. Why on earth are you still here?

It was a recommendation to leave the Tokyo area for the time being, not an order to leave the country. I have been in Kyoto since the middle of last week, at our Goethe-Institut here. I am currently working from here and can be reached by the staff members and partners of the Goethe-Institut on all channels. Now I am waiting for permission to return to Tokyo. The first complaints from course participants are beginning to reach us; when will classes finally begin again. We are waiting for a building inspection, although the Goethe-Institut Tokyo is one of the city’s most earthquake-safe buildings. I need to supervise that on site as soon as possible as well as the staff members who remained in the city at their own request.

When will the time come for you to leave the country?

I would leave Japan if the situation called for it. The situation is constantly being assessed by the crisis management group of the embassy with experts from Germany, with the Foreign Office and the head office of the Goethe-Institut. When the crisis management group recommends that we leave the country, then I will do so.

How about the Tokyoites? Is there already a proper flood of refugees heading south?

Apparently that was expected. When I travelled to Kyoto, I asked myself whether thousands wouldn’t be trying to travel in the same direction. But instead of a chaotic Shinagawa railway station, operations were entirely normal, wonderful service, everything as usual; I had my ticket within ten minutes and ten minutes later I was on the train, which reached its destination as speedily as ever, next to me unexcited Japanese were quietly emptying their lunch boxes. It was conspicuous however that a rather large number of mothers were travelling with small children.

We are hearing a great deal about the astonishing composure with which the Japanese people are reacting to this disaster. Are they really so calm?

The Japanese behave with incredible discipline – it’s a coupling of responsibility and the composure to face up to the hardest times. Like a Japanese woman said to me recently: “We just pull ourselves together!” And a Japanese artist friend of mine explained: “I am a samurai, so I can’t flee overseas now. I want to help the Japanese people.”

For the first time ever the Japanese emperor spoke to his people directly in a video message, if only for 65 seconds. How did the Japanese people receive this symbolic act?

The Japanese found it very beneficial. It gives them a feeling of security and wellbeing. It is really very rare for the emperor to get involved.

In Germany the recent events have triggered debates on the future of nuclear power here at home and even resulted in uncommonly rapid political decisions. Is the same debate going on in Japan as well?

The fundamental debates won’t begin for quite a while surely. At present, discussion in Japan is focussed on the acute issues: How can we get supplies to the many victims of the tsunami? How can the radioactivity be contained? The power supply is, of course, another big topic: When we will have electricity again 24 hours a day?

Are the power cuts communicated well or are you suddenly surprised by darkness?

Our institute in Tokyo is located in Minato-ku, the central district of the capital city, which is excluded from power cuts. Otherwise, communications are good and people are informed in advance; these are scheduled austerity measures.

When will the Goethe-Institut in Tokyo resume normal operations?

We are closed for the time being and according to the latest information until 27 March. Then we’ll see what happens. There are too many uncertainties, too many traffic interruptions and too many aftershocks. We can’t just act as if we can go back to normal. We will also have to examine all of our plans. For example we were looking forward to celebrating 150 Years of German-Japanese Friendship. But you don’t invite a badly weakened friend to a tea dance. Germany now has the great opportunity to prove it is a genuine friend. How we do this will be the first important issue for us.

The interview was held by Christoph Mücher.