[JohnBraden]

I wonder where those people who left got their news and information from. Looking back at it, it appears to me the Japanese media were definitely not as alarmist as the "western" media, opting for a "more facts than conjecture" approach and maybe not reporting the news on a timely manner before they got all the information needed. The western media was all about ratings, fear-mongering, and exaggerations. I can't see the Japanese media being so alarmist than to suggest foreigners to "up and leave" as the people appear to have done. If it was because of family pressure from outside Japan, then they heeded warnings from people who didn't know what was going on or have no geographic sense of Japan.

I'm glad you were able to reap the rewards of being who you are and taking those jobs from the companies left in a bind. Perhaps it may be harder for them to find translators in the future and maybe they'll be more discriminating when handling applications.