While reluctant, they agreed to speak with NHK. Some of the rather candid comments confirm that TEPCO, nor the Japanese government where adequately prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. The Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister, Banri Kaieda even made a rather damning remark (around the 4m30s mark in clip 1-A) that he could not deny there was a myth of safety regarding the nuclear power plants and that probably somewhere in their minds, they always felt that measures against emergency situations were unnecessary because such situations would never occur. This 1 hour video is split into 4 parts and hosted on Dailymotion (so you'll need to put up with the advertisements automatically displayed) since it is blocked on YouTube.

Editorial note: At least to me, this wreaks of extreme overconfidence and arrogance and puts into context the sort of thought processes which were occurring early on until those involved finally realized the gravity of the crisis being beyond anything they could realistically imagine (and just how much officials underestimated the problems from the beginning).