The Role of Anthropology in Disaster Japan:
Responses to the 3/11 Earthquake and the Fukushima Accident
Inno-vent Session at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in
San Francisco, November 17, 2012
PROGRAM
1:45-2:05: Junko Habu (UC Berkeley): Introduction: The Role of Anthropology in Disaster
Japan: Responses to the 3/11 Earthquake and the Fukushima Accident
2:05-2:25: Ken'ichi Abe (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto): What Should We
Do? An Anthropologist in Tsunami Affected Areas, Tohoku, Northeast Japan
2:25-2:45 Grant Schechner (UC Berkeley): The Depopulation of Rural Japan: A Case Study
from Akita’s Kenpoku region
2:45-3:05: David Slater (Sophia University): Respondent
3:05-3:15: Break
3:15-3:35: Mio Katayama Owens (UC Berkeley): Food and Distancing in Post-Fukushima,
Japan
3:35-3:50: Yasuo Goto (Fukuhima University): After 3/11 Sociopolitical Actions and
Community Networks
3:50-4:20: Comments from the Floor
- Nobuyo Goto (Fukushima Medical University): Comments on “After 3/11 SocioPolitical Actions and Community Network”
- Hiroko Aihara (Freelance Journalist, Fukushima): Fall of Mainstream Media and
Rise of Citizen Centered Independent Media
- Ayumi Kinazuka (Shizuoka Family Farmers Movement): Fight Against
Radiation Contamination as a Family Farmer in Solidarity with Consumers
4:20-5:10 Daisuke Naito (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature), with Heather Swanson
(UC Santa Cruz) and Ryan Syre (Yale University): To See Once More the Stars: A
Collaborative Book Project
5:10-5:30: Concluding Discussion
ABSTRACT
This innovent stages a discussion about the roles of anthropology and other academic
disciplines in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 and the Fukushima
Nuclear Disaster. Following the earthquake, the news of the tsunami victims and the severity of
the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident attracted worldwide attention. However, the
information available in English was limited even right after the earthquake, and, over the past
year, the news coverage outside Japan has significantly decreased.
We suggest that the discussion of the Fukushima accident cannot be separated from the
needs of relief to the victims of the earthquake and tsunamis in the Tohoku region (the northern
part of the Honshu Island of Japan). The goals of this innovent are thus twofold. First, we
propose that anthropology can play a major role in Japanese and international energy, agriculture
and fishing policies in response to the 3/11 earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Many people have pointed out that, while the earthquake itself was a natural disaster, many of
the problems that followed after the earthquake were human-made disasters. Scholars have also
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pointed out that the earthquake exasperated the previous problems in the Tohoku region,
including economic disparities between large cities and rural communities, the depopulation of
agricultural villages, lack of communication between food producers and urban consumers, and
the dense distribution of nuclear power plants in rural Japan. By providing critical assessments of
the 3/11 disaster and its causes, anthropologists can influence the opinions of the general public
and decision makers at the local, national and global levels. While these have occurred in Japan,
it is our conviction that the triple crises are not only a domestic matter within Japan but they also
have implications when thinking about the future sustainability of human societies, and
anthropologists' role therein.
Second, this innovent also addresses the role of anthropology and anthropologists in the
relief efforts in dealing with both short- and long-term problems of local residents and
communities. Anthropologists can provide specialized knowledge that could aid in the relief
effort. Often, the most significant immediate problems of delivery of aid, supply chain and
distribution, the management of evacuation and relocation efforts are cultural problems
generated through the crisis-management interaction between national or international relief
providers and local communities, problems that anthropologists could contribute solutions to. In
Tohoku, what have we done (and what more can we do) to improve the flows of aid and relief
and to participate in the longer-term process of rebuilding communities after disaster? What are
the ethical and political challenges that anthropologists are facing in dealing with this crisis?
Presentations focus on short- and long-term relief efforts to the earthquake and tsunami
victims, the historical context of the Fukushima nuclear accident and the sociopolitical actions
taken by various stakeholders, and changing perceptions of food in post-Fukushima. After these
presentations, active dialogues between the presenters and the audience will take place.
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