A World Without Pain Is a World Without Heroes

Five months after an earthquake shook Japan, I visited Tokyo — and witnessed how a country copes with tragedy

‘The Great Wave of Kanagawa.’ Credit: Katsushika Hokusai/Getty Images

The fishing village on Japan’s northeastern coast existed until a few minutes past 8 p.m. on June 15, 1896, when the people inside their wooden houses opened their eyes to darkness — and a rumbling noise…