Human Error and Human Healing in a Risk Society: The Forgotten Narratives of Fukushima

Every year, on March 11, the nation remembers the tragedy that happened in 2011. For one day, the media is engulfed with stories of survival, heroism, tragedy, lost loved ones, parents still searching for their children's remains, evacuees seeking compensation. But on any other day of the year, these stories are forgotten, only to resurface again a year later. But while stories of grievances over a natural disaster persist, a different type of disaster has a different type of narrative. Human error—design flaws, regulatory failures and improper hazard analyses— was largely to blame for the calamity that beset Fukushima’s coastal communities a day after the tsunami had ravaged its towns. Just when a community had awoken from the worst possible nightmare of their lives, an even more unimaginable accident was transpiring: the nuclear power plant in their neighborhood had just exploded, resulting in the immediate evacuation of their shattered homes. Why was a nuclear power plant built in their backyard? And had its presence over the years outweighed the terrible consequences it had now created? When I first met Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Vice President Yoshiyuki Ishizaki on December 15, 2014, he articulated the great strides his power company had made since the harrowing days of the March 11th, 2011 catastrophe. He spoke candidly on how the antinuclear federal administration—led by the Prime Minister at the time, Naoto Kan—had stormed into his office demanding explanations, eager to put the blame squarely on the owners of the nuclear plant. He hinted on the federal government’s desire to disassociate themselves and absolve responsibility from any damage caused by the multiple explosions at the power plant. This relationship between Japan's political factions, the general public, and the nuclear industry has a long history of contestation since nuclear energy was first introduced in the 1950’s. It was supposed to be a way, or rather the way out of the imprint of devastation left from the ashes of the Second World War. And yet, how can the only country in the world to be subjected to the horrors of the nuclear bomb pave a future that depends on an energy source derived from the very weapon that annihilated its cities? This dissertation is an exploration of the narratives that are born through human error. I examine how marginalized populations perceive risk and investigate the various factors that have contributed to Japan’s embrace of nuclear energy

2011年の東日本大震災を取り上げた5か国の全国版ニュース番組

This study compares the television reporting of the Great East Japan Earthquake/tsunami in equivalent news programs of five different countries (Japan, the UK, Germany, France, and the U.S.A.) on March 11 and 15, 2011. Use of the KJ method finds the content and its presentation in each news program are closely linked to the cultural styles of each region. The relationships of the visual (static, in movement, animated, etc.) and the oral (announcement, report, interview, off-voice narration, etc.) are partially taken into consideration for the news examined. The comparison’s aim is to elucidate the focus of the news content and its linguistic and visual presentation which are biased by cultural norms and assumptions学術論

Mosques in Japan responding to COVID-19 pandemic: Infection prevention and support provision

Religious activities tend to be conducted in enclosed, crowded, and close-contact settings, which have a high potential of transmitting the coronavirus disease, 2019 (COVID-19); therefore, religious communities are expected to take appropriate infection prevention measures. Meanwhile, during past disasters, religious communities have provided various types of support to affected people; hence, their role in disaster risk reduction has received much attention. In this study, we aimed to identify the infection prevention measures and support provision implemented by mosques—Islamic institutions managed and operated mainly by foreign Muslims living in Japan—during the one year from January 2020. We collected information from newspaper articles (18 articles on 19 mosques) and interviews with representatives of three mosques. We found that various infection control measures were implemented in mosques—refraining from mass prayers and closing buildings from an early stage (around February 2020); canceling large-scale events during the month of Ramadan; moving some activities online; and ensuring indoor ventilation and safe physical distance even when continuing face-to-face prayer activities. We also found that various types of support were provided by mosques—donating masks to the local government; listening to problems of people affected by COVID-19 regardless of their nationality; providing financial support to them; translating and disseminating information to foreign Muslims; and providing religious meals for them. This study provides actual examples of infection prevention measures taken by mosques in a Muslim-minority society and suggests that mosques appropriately responded to the needs of religious minorities during disasters, including COVID-19

“Working Autobiography”— Exploring the (Im)possibilities of (Re)presenting “Curriculum” and Teacher “Narratives”

Qualitative research around teachers’ interpreted “experiences” has contributed to an increase and legitimization of “voice” and “experience” of those who have traditionally been excluded from research. Narrative inquiry in the form of autobiography has been utilized as one mode of inquiry to represent such teacher stories. However, such research that attempts to “capture” these “experiences” assume “experience” as fact and transparent, thus neglecting to acknowledge the idea that the “self” is constructed and mediated through discourse and power relations. Furthermore, many conceptualizations around “curriculum” focus on curriculum as “course of study” and neglect to recognize the ways in which “experience” intersects with “curriculum” and how this is manifested in daily school contexts. This inquiry explored the intersections of teachers’ interpreted “experiences” and how their understandings of their professional identities, if at all, spill into their understandings of “curriculum” based on conceptualizations of “curriculum” as discourse. Working from feminist poststructural orientations towards discourse, subjectivity and power, this qualitative inquiry took a particular event in Japan as an entry point and explored if and how teacher’s interpreted “experiences” and their understandings of their “selves” shifted, contradicted, and/or collided and, at times, impacted their understandings of the “curriculum.” Drawing from poststructurally inflected understandings of narrative inquiry, this inquiry explored how specific teachers spoke of their educator “experiences” in relation to their current circumstances of teaching in displacement following a series of natural and man-made disasters, and how they conceptualized “curriculum” in relation to their interpreted “experiences.” Through qualitative data collection and analysis informed by and interrogated by feminist poststructural assumptions, I attempted to trouble how I understood “data” and chose to represent these “data” throughout. Such troublings stemmed from what some qualitative researchers have called the “crisis in representation.” More specifically, through autobiography as one mode of narrative inquiry as self-reflexive practice and processes that I sought to “trouble” from poststructural perspectives, I grappled with the “crisis in representation” throughout this inquiry as I explored and challenged the limits of transparent notions of “experience” and “self.

Beyond Objectivity : Local Newspaper and the Great East Japan Earthquake

ユタ大学University of Utah津波をともなった東日本大震災（2011年3月11日）発生直後からの6日間，石巻市に本社をおく石巻日日新聞の印刷機器は，震災により，完全に停止してしまった。そのため，新聞の編集者たちは懐中電灯やマーカーペンなどを使って，独自の「壁新聞」を作成し，避難者が集まる場所に掲示するという苦肉の策をとった。本研究は，この6枚の壁新聞の分析，さらに記者，そして読者たちへのインタビューにもとづくものである。分析の結果，記者たちは伝統的な事実確認の記事スタイルから，コミュニティーの「連帯」を作り出す記事スタイルへと，効果的に変化させていることが確認された。これは，記者からの一方通行的なスタイルから，読者との「対話」，「共同生産」を生み出すスタイルへの変化と捉えることができる。現実の単なる実態の描写を超えて，悲劇を取りまく周りの状況（ボランティアや救援物資など）に焦点を当てることによって，読み手との共感を作り上げていくスタイルは，読者の態度や心理的状況に大きく寄与する「連帯」の精神を作り上げることに成功したと言えるだろう。この共感，連帯を作り上げるスタイルは，読み手がお互いに繋がっている，連動している，見捨てられていない，といった気持ちを醸し出すことにつながっている。別な言い方をすると，記者は読者に「仲間意識」のメタメッセージを送ったことになり，読者はそのメタメッセージを積極的に受け入れたと言うことができる。For six days following the Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanying tsunami (March 11, 2011) the printing facilities of the Ishinomaki Hibi Shinbun, an evening newspaper in Ishinomaki, Japan, could not be used. Working with flashlights and marker pens, dedicated editors produced handwritten "newspapers" and posted them at local evacuation centers for survivors to read. The present study is a content analysis of the six issues of the handwritten newspaper as well as interviews with the editors and local readers in Ishinomaki. The analysis concludes that the editors effectively constructed a framework of solidarity in the community by shifting from the traditional fact and figures reporting style to a more rapport-building style. This shift can be characterized as a shift from the editors\u27 uni-directional monologue to a "dialogue" or "a joint production" between the editors and readers.The change to the rapport-building style assisted in simplifying reality for the readers by focusing on a subset of disaster-related content (e.g., volunteers and relief goods), which, in turn, constructed an emerging framework of solidarity that had the ability to alter the attitude and emotional well-being of the readers. The rapport-building style of the reporting made readers feel connected, involved, and not abandoned. The editors, in effect, sent a meta-message of camaraderie among the paper\u27s readers and the readers embraced it

Linguistic representations of agency in discourse on the Fukushima nuclear disaster

This Modular PhD thesis argues for a more detailed treatment of agency than has previously been employed in critical linguistics. I present a framework for analysing four aspects of the linguistic representation of agency. The framework classifies the strengths of the different possible representations of agency in each of these four aspects. This framework is then applied to three areas of discourse concerning the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. First, I compare domestic and foreign reporting of the disaster, and argue the less critical stance of domestic reporting is due to a greater emphasis on technological rather than human agency. I then examine representations of responsibility in three official reports into the causes of the Fukushima disaster, and argue that each report diffuses responsibility in different ways, according to their institutional aims. Finally, I look at the kinds of agency attributed to Fukushima in pro and anti-nuclear media opinion pieces, and argue these reflect an interpretation of the disaster as a unique event in pro- nuclear arguments, and as evidence of the inherent danger of nuclear power in anti- nuclear arguments

Invisible Reconstruction: Cross-disciplinary responses to natural, biological and man-made disasters

What does it really mean to reconstruct a city after a natural, biological or man-made disaster? Is the repair and reinstatement of buildings and infrastructure sufficient without the mending of social fabric? The authors of this volume believe that the true measure of success should be societal. After all, a city without people is no city at all. Invisible Reconstruction takes the view that effective disaster mitigation and recovery require interdisciplinary tactics. Historian Lucia Patrizio Gunning and urbanist Paola Rizzi expand beyond the confines of individual disciplines or disaster studies to bring together academics and practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines, comparing strategies and outcomes in different scenarios and cultures from South America, Europe and Asia. From cultural heritage and public space to education and participation, contributors reflect on the interconnection of people, culture and environment and on constructive approaches to strengthening the intangible ties to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability. By bringing practical examples of how communities and individuals have reacted to or prepared for disaster, the publication proposes a shift in public policy to ensure that essential physical reinforcement and rebuilding are matched by attention to societal needs. Invisible Reconstruction is essential reading for policymakers, academics and practitioners working to reduce the impact of natural, biological and man-made disaster or to improve post-disaster recovery

Invisible Reconstruction

What does it really mean to reconstruct a city after a natural, biological or man-made disaster? Is the repair and reinstatement of buildings and infrastructure sufficient without the mending of social fabric? The authors of this volume believe that the true measure of success should be societal. After all, a city without people is no city at all. Invisible Reconstruction takes the view that effective disaster mitigation and recovery require interdisciplinary tactics. Historian Lucia Patrizio Gunning and urbanist Paola Rizzi expand beyond the confines of individual disciplines or disaster studies to bring together academics and practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines, comparing strategies and outcomes in different scenarios and cultures from South America, Europe and Asia. From cultural heritage and public space to education and participation, contributors reflect on the interconnection of people, culture and environment and on constructive approaches to strengthening the intangible ties to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability. By bringing practical examples of how communities and individuals have reacted to or prepared for disaster, the publication proposes a shift in public policy to ensure that essential physical reinforcement and rebuilding are matched by attention to societal needs. Invisible Reconstruction is essential reading for policymakers, academics and practitioners working to reduce the impact of natural, biological and man-made disaster or to improve post-disaster recovery

Science of Societal Safety

This open access book covers comprehensive but fundamental principles and concepts of disaster and accident prevention and mitigation, countermeasures, and recovery from disasters or accidents including treatment and care of the victims. Safety and security problems in our society involve not only engineering but also social, legal, economic, cultural, and psychological issues. The enhancement needed for societal safety includes comprehensive activities of all aspects from precaution to recovery, not only of people but also of governments. In this context, the authors, members of the Faculty of Societal Safety Science, Kansai University, conducted many discussions and concluded that the major strategy is consistent independently of the type and magnitude of disaster or accident, being also the principle of the foundation of our faculty. The topics treated in this book are rather widely distributed but are well organized sequentially to provide a clear understanding of the principles of societal safety. In the first part the fundamental concepts of safety are discussed. The second part deals with risks in the societal and natural environment. Then follows, in the third part, a description of the quantitative estimation of risk and its assessment and management. The fourth part is devoted to disaster prevention, mitigation, and recovery systems. The final, fifth part presents a future perspective of societal safety science. Thorough reading of this introductory volume of societal safety science provides a clear image of the issues. This is largely because the Japanese have suffered often from natural disasters and not only have gained much valuable information about disasters but also have accumulated a store of experience. We are still in the process of reconstruction from the Great East Japan earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. This book is especially valuable therefore in studying the safety and security of people and their societies

Interrogating Households in Anticipation of Disasters: The Feminization of Preparedness

It is now a maxim among scholars and policy-makers alike that disaster preparedness needs to involve community-based approaches in order to be effective. These include preparedness strategies in the household. But how do disaster preparedness policies and public discourses define “the household” in the first place? In this article, we explore how particular gendered notions of the household are reproduced in disaster preparedness policies and activities in Japan and the UK. Drawing on historical and cross-cultural analyses, we suggest that household preparedness efforts place the burden of labor on people coded as women—a phenomenon we call “the feminization of preparedness.” Ultimately, we suggest that when disaster policies discuss “the household,” even if they do not explicitly mention gender, there might be a problematic responsibilization of preparedness on women. Calls for the inclusion of marginalized people into disaster preparedness efforts should also be aware of the possibility of overburdening one group over others