[Nyororin]

The more and more I read, I honestly think that a lot of this is down to cultural misinterpretation. (This is true of what Bluejeanslady is saying as well as various media sources.)

To put it simply, let us say that we have 4 cultures. I`ll call them A, B, C, and D. To the exact same event, they each respond a bit differently.
A responds with response 1.
B with 1b.
C with 1c.
D with 2.

Someone in culture A is going to be most familiar with their own culture. They`ll probably know a lot about cultures B and C, and see them as the same or similar to their own culture. They may know a little about culture D, or think they do - especially if the culture *looks* somewhat similar to their own.

But for some reason, culture D is responding in a way that is unexpected! As A, B, and C all respond with variations of response 1, to someone in culture A it is the natural and normal response. To someone in culture A, a response as different as 2 can only mean that the event triggering it must be different.

Japan is culture D here. Because people in Japan are not displaying the "normal" response expected by A, it isn`t hard for people to imagine that there must be some difference in what they know of the event. As panic and fleeing is "normal", the people of Japan must not know enough to have this "natural" response.

In reality, it`s just a different response - it doesn`t mean they don`t know what is happening.

It`s all about applying your own values to someone else.