This book examines the issue of disaster recovery in relation to community wellbeing and resilience, exploring the social, political, demographic and environmental changes in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The contributors reflect on the Fukushima disaster of earthquake, tsunami and radiation contamination and its impacts on society from an interdisciplinary perspective of the social sciences, critical public health, and the humanities. It focuses on four aspects, which form the sections of the work
Living with Risk and Uncertainty
Vulnerability and Inequality
Community Action, Engagement and Wellbeing
Notes from the Field
The first three sections present research on the long-term consequences of the disaster on community health and wellbeing. These findings are enhanced and developed in the ‘Notes from the Field’ section where local practitioners from medicine and community recovery reflect on their experiences in relation to concepts developed in the previous sections.
This work significantly extends the literature on long-term wellbeing following disaster. The case study of Fukushima is a multi-faceted process that illuminates wider issues around post-disaster regeneration in Fukushima. This problem takes on new importance in the context of Covid-19, including direct parallels in the issues of risk measurement, social inequality, and wider wellbeing impacts, which public health disciplines can draw from.
Author(s): Sudeepa Abeysinghe, Claire Leppold, Akihiko Ozaki, Alison Lloyd Williams
Series: Routledge Studies in Hazards, Disaster Risk and Climate Change
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 229
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Editors
List of Contributors
Chapter 1: The Reconstruction of Community and Wellbeing in Fukushima – Situating the Case within the Field
The 3.11 Disaster
Defining Health and Disaster
The Health Consequences of 3.11
Reflections on the 3.11 Disaster
References
Part I: Reflections from the Field
Chapter 2: Reflections from Frontline Healthcare Workers
My Ten Years after Experiencing the Great East Japan Earthquake and Experiences from Now On, by Katsuka Onoda
The Ten Years Since Then, and the Next Ten Years, by Rika Sato
Chapter 3: Psychiatric Care after the Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima
References
Chapter 4: Fukushima Hamadō ri (Coastal Area) High School Academy : Learning and Understanding about Nuclear Disaster with Fukushima High School Students
Introduction
Overseas Study in Belarus
Overseas Study in the United Kingdom
Domestic Study in Rakkasho Village
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Increased Disaster-Related Deaths after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the System for Their Compensation
Introduction
Study Sessions with Doctors
Systems for Compensation
Listening to the Deceased
References
Part II: Living with Risk
Chapter 6: Getting the Measure of Radiation Monitoring in Fukushima, Ten Years On
Introduction to Radiation Monitoring in Fukushima
‘What is it for?!’
Between Measuring and Monitoring
Initial Questions of Safety and Later How to Live Again
Unique Markers and Navigating New Ways of Knowing
Allowing Discussion, Validating Concerns and Other Ways of Knowing
(Re)building Communities
Indicating Improvement, Stability and Decline
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Prioritising Health Risks after the 3.11 Disaster: The Application of Wellbeing Indicators
What Is ‘Risk Research’?
Multiple Health Risks after a Nuclear Disaster
Indicators for Risk Comparison
Application of Happy Life Expectancy to Compare Risks between Radiation Exposure and Psychological Distress after the 3.11 Disaster
How to Determine Which Risk Issues to Prioritise
Measures that Contribute to Post-Disaster Wellbeing
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Commensurability and Post-Disaster Mental Health after 3.11
Introduction
The Fieldwork
Commensurability in Practice
Screening Scales and Diagnostic Tools
Kokoro no Kea
Conclusion: Towards the Subjunctive in DMH
References
Part III: Social Difference and Inequality
Chapter 9: Japan’s Gender Perspective after the Explosions at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Introduction
Reflecting on My Own Experience in Relation to the Field
Disasters and Gender
Disasters and Gender in Japan
Divisions and Discrimination after the Nuclear Disaster
The ‘Gendering’ of Voluntary Evacuation
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: Social Vulnerability and Inequality in Disasters: Marriage-Migrant Women’s Experiences in the Tōhoku Region
Introduction
Contextualising Marriage-Migrant Women in the Tōhoku Region
The 3.11 Disaster and Marriage-Migrant Women in Tōhoku
Key Issues in the Long-Term Recovery
Grass-roots Efforts to Support Migrant Communities
Self-Organising and Empowerment
Disaster Social Capital and Migrant Women’s (Un)sustainable Empowerment
Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: The Social Amplification of Stigma in the Media after the Fukushima Disaster
Memory and the Stigma of Fukushima
The Power of a Map: Arranged Stigma
The Map and the Fukushima Disaster
The Trajectories of the Radioactive Contamination Maps
The Framing Effect of Maps
Resisting the Framing of Maps
The Rise of the ‘Fukushima 50’ Myth as Counter-Stigma
The Advent of the Fukushima 50 Myth and Its Recurrence
The Rise of the Epic Tale
Establishment and Amplification of Epic Tables by Press
The Enhancement after Defamation: The ‘Yoshida Testimony’ Case
Ways to Mitigate Stigma within the Disaster Narrative
Epilogue: Stigma in the Age of Hybrid Media
References
Part IV: Community Engagement and Wellbeing
Chapter 12: Theatres of Resilience: Schoolchildren as Actors in Community Development in Fukushima
Introduction
Children and Schools as Actors in Resilience Building in Fukushima
Participatory Theatre as a Way to ‘Map’ Children’s Lives in Fukushima
Phase 1 of the Project: Exploring the Methods with Children
Phase 2: Developing the Participatory Pedagogy with Schools
Next Steps
Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: Bonding after Fukushima: The Role of Trust Relationships between Non-Profit Organisation Volunteers and Disaster Victims in Building Resilience amidst a Nuclear Catastrophe
Social Capital after 3.11
The Role of NPOs in Times of Crisis
Kizuna Narrative after Fukushima
Being Oneself, Connecting with Others and Trusting Again
Hope for a Better Future
Vulnerability, Resilience and Empowerment
Transformed Civil Identities
References
Chapter 14: Fukushima’s Reconstruction after the Nuclear Accident and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) Decommissioning Policy
What Lessons Have We Learned from Fukushima?
1F Decommissioning Policy and the Coexistence of Reconstruction and Decommissioning
Formation and Development of 1F Decommissioning Policy
Mid-and-Long-Term Roadmap and the Coexistence of Reconstruction and Decommissioning
The Necessity of Collaboration between Expert and Local Knowledge in the 1F Decommissioning Policy
Work Needed to Make the Coexistence of Reconstruction and Decommissioning Possible
References
Chapter 15: The Long-term Impact of Disasters and Looking Forward
Disaster Recovery – Where Have We Been, and Where Are we Going?
Looking to the Future
References
Index
