I can relate, my city had an earthquake about the same time as Japan's tsunami/quake. Christchurch is still a mess and Japan was back to normal in a year
I moved from a red zone house in Christchurch to Michigan 5 years ago. Some roads around here are permanently as bad.. So NZ ain't too bad for recovery.
Also, consider the population of NZ passes through the tokyo subway 4 times every day!
In NYC, they turn potholes into small hills so there really is no improvement. My work truck only had 12000 miles and was falling apart, literally, from driving in Brooklyn.
Seriously though, who is in charge of infrastructure?
Also, consider the population of NZ passes through the tokyo subway 4 times every day!