Disasters and Social Crisis in Contemporary Japan Political, Religious, and Sociocultural Responses

by Mullins, Mark R.; Nakano, Koichi

• ISBN13: 9781137521316
• ISBN10: 1137521317
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-11-02
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Japan is still coming to terms with the 'triple disaster' of 2011 – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. Only two decades ago, the country was similarly shaken by the 'double disaster' of earthquake and sarin gas attack in 1995. What can we learn about Japan through the diverse responses to these two critical moments in postwar history when a 'normal' sense of stability and existing social order was severely undermined? This edited collection brings together a multidisciplinary team of scholars to engage this question and explore the wide-ranging and diverse responses by national and local governments, political leaders, citizen activists, concerned mothers, religious organizations, literary figures, and public intellectuals.

Author Biography

Mark R. Mullins is Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the Japan Studies Centre in the New Zealand Asia Institute, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is the author and co-editor of a number of works, including Religion and Society in Modern Japan (with S. Shimazono, P.L. Swanson, 1993), Christianity Made in Japan (1998), and Religion and Social Crisis in Japan (with R.J. Kisala, 2001).
Koichi Nakano is Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Graduate Program in Global Studies, Sophia University, Japan. His publications in English include Party Politics and Decentralization in Japan and France: When the Opposition Governs (2010) and several articles in The Journal of Japanese Studies, Asian Survey, and The Pacific Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Mark R. Mullins and Koichi Nakano
PART I: POLITICAL RESPONSES
1. New Right Transformation in Japan; Koichi Nakano
2. Military Force as Social Good: The Legacies of Operation Tomodachi; Rikki Kersten
3. Downsizing Fukushima and Japan's Nuclear Re-launch; Jeff Kingston
4. Japan's Identity Crisis and the Sino-Japanese Relations; Ria Shibata
PART II: RELIGIOUS RESPONSES
5. Neo-Nationalism, Politics, and Religion in Post-disaster Japan; Mark R. Mullins
6. Mobilizing Gratitude: Contextualizing Tenrikyo's Response after the Great East Japan Earthquake; Barbara Ambros
7. Buddhist Responses to the 3.11 Disasters in Japan; Tim Graf
PART III: SOCIAL RESPONSES
8. Kobe 1995: Crisis, Volunteering, and Active Citizenship in Japan; Simon Avenell
9. Crisis and Opportunity: Social Media in Kobe, Tohoku, and Tokyo; David Slater, Love Kindstrand, and Keiko Nishimura
10. Babysteps Towards Advocacy: Mothers Against Radiation; Phoebe Holdgrün and Barbara Holthus
PART IV: CULTURAL RESPONSES
11. Kobayashi Yoshinori, 3.11, and Datsu Genpatsu Ron; Rumi Sakamoto
12. Beyond Kizuna: Murakami Haruki on Disaster and Social Crisis; Rebecca Suter