Paper short abstract:

This analysis of the dynamics of social ties in Fukushima and Miyagi prefecture employs sociological institutionalism to investigate the role of cultural aspects for post 3.11 social recovery and challenge the understanding of "recovery" as a restoration of the pre-disaster state of communities.

Paper long abstract:

The triple disaster that hit the north-eastern coast of Japan in 2011 displaced several ten-thousand people. In 2017, many communities are still living dispersed across the country. This raises questions about how people try to strengthen communal ties, despite the disruption of their communities caused by forced migration.

Cultural institutions - such as festivals and events, concepts which explicitly relate to communal ties, and food culture - can provide a frame of stability and a basis for forming a common identity in a time when the physical frame of the community is literally washed way. The role of these cultural institutions has often been emphasized as a means to strengthen social ties among international migrant communities. Although there are clear similarities in the way domestic migrants, and in this case the survivors of the disasters, rely on cultural aspects, the case of domestic migration is still understudied.

By comparing Natori in Miyagi prefecture, which has been mainly affected by the Tsunami, with Namie in Fukushima prefecture, which has been mainly affected by the nuclear disaster, I hope to show how the type of disaster affects community building and the employment of local cultural aspects. I argue that in regions that have been mainly affected by the tsunami the employment of cultural institutions is helping the survivors to (re)build their communal bonds. Yet, they had to be changed and adapted partially to work in the new situation and thus are not as stable as often expected. In Namie, however, even the institutionalized aspects of everyday culture become subjects of discussion after the nuclear accident. While some people consider celebrating festivals a way to rescue their local culture, others see it as a threat to their children´s health. This study will hopefully contribute to a better understanding of the role of cultural institutions for community building and recovery, as well as the different impacts of natural disasters and nuclear disasters on communities and social ties.

Paper short abstract:

This paper intends to analyze how contrasting discourses on risk in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident have created a drift in the meaning of social roles within families affected by the accident, especially in the case of self-evacuees, using sociological and discursive institutionalism.

Paper long abstract:

In the aftermath of the 3.11 triple disaster, evacuation in and from Fukushima prefecture has been a central issue, crystalizing debates and conflicts concerning the question of long-term exposure to low-level radiations. Coming from the grey-zone surrounding the official evacuation zone, self-evacuees have been challenging the official narrative concerning radiation related risk assessment and management by evacuating without being invited to by the authorities.

After the accident, the government has used scientific tools to organize evacuation and compensations. The decision-making process has been influenced by an epidemiological approach to risk assessment, driven by the necessity to decide who is entitled to public support. Self-evacuees criticize and challenge this discourse through their own, individual risk perceptions, which are not based on statistics and quantified levels of hazard and risk, but on a personal, direct reflection on risks.

This research intends to shed light on the perception of risks in post-Fukushima Japan and how it has impacted family as an institution. It aims to show how different logics of appropriateness have appeared in the aftermath of the accident by asking the following question: Did differentiated risk perceptions, embedded in conflicting discourses, provoke a drift in the meaning of social roles within families affected by the nuclear accident, especially in the case of self-evacuees? The case of self-evacuees is compelling as it underlines the existence of challenging narratives and understandings in the aftermath of a major disaster.

Through semi-structured interviews, this project will highlight personal trajectories and experiences, in order to grasp the rationale behind evacuation. The goal is to understand how self-evacuees (re)construct appropriate behavior in an uncertain environment and how they face the national discourse on safety, and more generally recovery.

Relying on literature related to risk, disasters and family in Japan, analyzed through the lens of sociological and discursive institutionalism, I will try to present a sample of the large range of personal narratives in order to highlight, more broadly, the diverse consequences of a highly social disaster.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the field of children psycho-trauma following natural disasters with relevancy to the Japanese socio-cultural context in general and the Tohoku Disaster in particular, aiming to shed further light on this field's current needs and methodological implications in Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Disasters may hold profound and long-term implications on childhood, a crucial period for psychological development. On the social level, dramatic mass disasters can significantly affect the lives of not just one child but possibly also of her or his entire generation. Japan is the most disaster-prone country in the world, containing traditional and contemporary attitudes and practices both towards nature and mental suffering. Yet, psychological research of children following natural disasters in Japan seems relatively limited. Moreover, most of the existing psychological studies do not address the socio-cultural aspects of coping with disasters thoroughly, mainly due to the field's dominant positivist research approach. As a necessary complement, the unprecedented 2011 Tohoku's chain of disasters requires a comprehensive and in-depth investigation of this disaster psychological implications on childhood.

This paper is based on an ongoing psycho-cultural research of childhood following the Tohoku disaster (2011) and the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004). It will refer to commonly studied psychological responses to disasters as well as to children's place in the psycho-trauma discourse, focusing on this field's limitations and current needs for further research with relevancy to Japan. The paper will also discuss principles of the narrative research approach which this study employs, while reflecting on the Japanese context. In particular, in this opportunity I will also embrace the perspective offered by this section, and address theoretical and methodological aspects of this study also through the lenses of bodily expressions, affect and non-verbal communication. This will include for instance, physical displays of distress in Japan and among children, as well as the unique nature that narrative interview encounters may take in Japan, as unfolding much more than words.