Julia Gerster

The term “disaster-related deaths” describes deaths that – in contrast to direct deaths – are caused indirectly by a disaster, such as due to bad living or

With the proliferation of several dozen new exhibits and museums dedicated to this specific disaster, the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, can be considered a turning point in the preservation of disaster memory in Japan. Although there is limited research on disaster museums, they play a significant role in shaping cultural memory of 3.11, as they are regarded as reliable, objective institutions of memory. Through analysis of 17 government-established 3.11 museums, this research explores the following questions: How do public disaster museums frame their representations of 3.11, and what official narrative is created within the cultural memory of the triple disaster in Japan? Drawing from analysis of the museums’ mission statements and exhibitions, and interviews with curators and museum staff, we argue that most disaster museums support narratives of overcoming hardships to contribute to a better future, showing continuity with narratives typical of other memorial museums such as WWII, or pre-3.11 disaster museums. In contrast to the commemoration of war and its influence on cultural memory, disaster museums have received relatively little scholarly attention. Yet, these forward-looking messages, combined with tendencies of museums to focus on local disaster experiences and emphasize disaster risk reduction with an artificial separation between man-made disasters vs. natural hazards, contributes to an othering of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in cultural memory, as an outlier in Japan’s long history of disasters. Without full representation of the compound disaster, understanding of 3.11 and the effective transmission of the intended lessons is severely limited.

The act of visiting disaster sites by non-locals is often controversial, such as the promotion of so-called dark tourism or post-disaster tourism. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster, the affected communities in Northeast Japan encouraged travel to the disaster sites as a way to support the region financially and pass on lessons learned in the disaster for disaster mitigation. This paper discusses how the promotion of post-disaster tourism through novel brands such as “Bosai (disaster mitigation) Tourism” or “Hope Tourism,” conversely emphasizes the positive aspects of disaster-related tourism rather than the “dark” or negative aspects. Drawing on ethnographic field research, analyses of tour descriptions and contents on websites offered by national and prefectural disaster tourism, participant observation at disaster tours, and interviews with local community members and tour organizers, this paper discusses the framing as well as the potential benefits of disaster-related tourism for local recovery and disaster mitigation, while exploring the challenges and burdens this form of tourism may inflict on the local communities. We argue that, despite the ethical challenges dark tourism may generate, confronting tragedies through dark or post-disaster tourism encourages visitors to connect with uncomfortable pasts, potentially helping to prevent similar tragedies from recurring as a result.

Using photo sessions in combination with three in-depth interviews at a Japanese party called Ankokai in Berlin, we explore how the method of photography along with the participant’s choice of personal objects in the photographs positively influences narrative interviews. Literally meaning “red bean paste meeting”, the Ankokai was originally used as a way for the Japanese gay community to meet in Berlin but nowadays attracts people from all kinds of backgrounds. Keeping the ethnographic research method in mind, our underlying research question asks how translocal categories of migration are reflected in the participants’ choices of personal objects in the photographs. Although larger studies are required to verify this claim, we found that photography can be a strong tool for enacting reciprocity and building rapport in ethnographic research. Furthermore, the participants’ choices of personal objects for these pictures support powerful personal narratives as the research participants’ active participation in the photo session enabled them to reflect on their experiences of migration.