One thing that's unsettling is the article said an organized crime syndicate is helping keep order. WTF, that's a good thing? I wouldn't trust a crime organization to have my best interest in mind. From the article, "They make their money off extortion, prostitution, and drug trafficking. But they consider theft grounds for expulsion." Yeah, I'll trust those guys...not.

Anyway, lack of looting could be beneficial in a time like this. On the flip side, people who are accustomed not to loot could invite corruption from the powers that be. I learned in high school that a weak man is quiet (not saying all quiet men are weak). Sometimes, a group has to be boisterous to keep the government (and crime syndicates in this case) honest.

Japan is demographically completely different than the United States. Japan is mostly homogeneous. The United States is a melting pot that has a number of groups that are often not represented in the powers that be. U.S. history has shown that when a group always stays still and doesn't rock the boat, then their rights are trampled eventually. Nobody else really cares either, unless you speak up and make a commotion.