The Japanese word for this is an old fashioned one, "Kannagara." Few people speak of it these days, it is from the Shinto tradition. In times like these we can actually see it.
Unlike America where there is (usually) an underlying Judeo-Christian sense of compassion for your fellow man, in Japan it is more of a tradition to simply act in an orderly manner and soldier on for the greater good, which in the old days was the surrounding community, as is the case now in more rural areas around Sendai.
日本＊ピング＊ (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
However one day, something "clicked" why. Japan are islands the size of California with livable land mass the size of a much smaller state (after mountains and farm land is subtracted). There are 150,000,000+ people packed into this small space. It's been high density population for centuries. If there was not order and calm, the islands could not survive under such crowded conditions. I think, at this point, it is "genetic" almost.
The Japanese word for this is an old fashioned one, "Kannagara." Few people speak of it these days, it is from the Shinto tradition. In times like these we can actually see it.
There's no comparison, obviously, between the recent catastrophic tragedy in Japan and a children's animated film, but I saw some of the attitude you have described in the film "Ponyo" during a scene when a tiny island neighborhood is mysteriously flooded by unusual high tides, and how the community reacted to it.