What's Worse?
 

Residents of Japan making a big deal about the situation even if they're relatively far from the destruction, or people continuing to downplay the filter effects of the destruction (such as food shortages in Tokyo, power outages, shut down transportation)?

The very real possibility that tens of thousands of people have just died a horrific death in your own country is by definition, a big deal. There are a lot of people in Tokyo (and elsewhere in Japan) that have family in the affected areas. There are even more that have friends in that area.

A partial meltdown (or possible meltdown) of three nuclear reactors that are only about 150 miles from your city is also a big deal.

As for downplaying, I don't see that. I see a nation acting with a high amount of calm and civility. Frankly I'm proud to be married to one of them.

I'm just curious, because I'm literally sitting here watching it from both extremes. I know many people (Japanese and foreigners) who have flipped sh!t and taken off, and also a lot of people (Japanese and foreigners) who keep saying things like "Stop worrying/It's not that bad/Stop being pussies,etc"

The people who panicked and caused real problems?

Food shortages wouldn`t be an issue if people weren`t freaking out and hoarding. A lot of the other issues wouldn`t be as serious if there hadn`t been such an overreaction.

I probably fall somewhere toward the "downplayers" category - at least for Tokyo and it`s direct area - because there IS an area and some issues that cannot be downplayed up north. The people completely freaking out because they had to wait in line to buy rolls of toilet paper, and who think this should earn them some kind of medal aren`t going to get much more than an eyeroll from me when compared to people going through the real damage... Who don`t have electricity at all... Who can`t get any food or supplies (partially because people are freaking HOARDING SUPPLIES in Tokyo despite government appeals not to do so because they want to send them to the hardest hit areas)