• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

The integration of mass trauma in collective identity through negative heritage preservation and disaster tourism in Tohoku after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Research Project

Project/Area Number 21K13164
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
Research InstitutionTohoku University

Principal Investigator

Gerster Julia  東北大学, 災害科学国際研究所, 准教授 (90842716)

Project Period (FY) 2021-04-01 – 2026-03-31
Project Status Granted (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000)
Fiscal Year 2025: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2024: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Keywordsnegative heritage / memorials / disaster heritage / cultural memory / collective memory / dark tourism / disaster recovery / oral history / disaster / recovery / museums / tourism / trauma / collective idenity / disaster tourism / museum / exhibition / Disaster Studies / Recovery / Negative Heritage / Tourism / Collective memory
Outline of Research at the Start

This research analyzes the integration of the 3.11 disasters into collective memory through preserving or erasing sites of negative heritage, and how precedents of negative heritage preservation and tourism related activities can inform revitalization efforts in Tohoku.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

Research activities focused on the comparative analysis of negative heritage and memorialization following the 3.11 disasters, juxtaposed with similar processes observed globally. Specifically, memorials erected for the victims of wildfires in and around Melbourne, Australia, as well as the preservation efforts concerning negative heritage stemming from war and dictatorship in Germany.Through a series of stakeholder interviews and a comprehensive review of relevant literature, findings underscored the critical influence of temporal and geographical contexts on the preservation strategies. In Japan, the occurrence of fatalities at potential heritage sites significantly influence preservation processes.
The outcomes of this research were presented several international conferences. Additionally, I have contributed two peer-reviewed book chapters, and another one currently in the final stages of publication.
Future activities will focus on conducting additional stakeholder interviews on integrating survivor testimonies into tourism initiatives and educational curricula.

Current Status of Research Progress
Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The analysis of exhibitions at heritage sites in Japan is progressing smoothly, and in person meetings, investigations and interviews are easier to facilitate after the lift of Covid-related restrictions. Additionally, comparative research in Germany and Australia helped to contextualize the findings in Japan. Two publications were released this FY, one more is in print and I am currently preparing several other journal articles to summarize and discuss my findings. Presentations at international conferences and discussions with other experts in the field helped me to gain valuable feedback that will be incorporated in the research outcomes.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

The upcoming research phase will concentrate on completing the analysis of disaster-related exhibitions in Japan, with a particular emphasis on disaster memorial museums and negative heritage sites (shinsai iko). Additionally, I will conduct interviews with disaster survivors who serve as kataribe, or disaster storytellers, to gain deeper insights into their role in shaping collective and cultural memory of disasters.

Research activities will extend to Germany, where I plan to engage with organizations involved in dispatching witnesses (Zeitzeugen) of dictatorships or relatives of Holocaust survivors. Through these interviews, I aim to identify strategies for establishing sustainable networks for oral history within educational tourism and school curricula.

Throughout the fiscal year, we anticipate presenting several research papers and participating in conferences focused on war-related heritage and museum studies, thereby fostering ongoing dialogue and scholarly exchange in these critical areas.

Report

(3 results)
  • 2023 Research-status Report
  • 2022 Research-status Report
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (24 results)

All 2024 2023 2022 Other

All Int'l Joint Research (2 results) Journal Article (6 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 3 results,  Peer Reviewed: 3 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (15 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 6 results,  Invited: 5 results) Remarks (1 results)

  • [Int'l Joint Research] Conny Reiher/FU Berlin(ドイツ)

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] Anna Wiemann/LMU Munich(ドイツ)

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] More than mushrooms: Local food culture and place-making after "Fukushima".2024

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Journal Title

      In: Huang, Shumei and Maly, Elizabeth (2024): Place-making in Displacement: Community's responses to disasters from the Pacific Rim. Routledge Pacific Rim Geographies series

      Volume: - Pages: 77-94

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] 福島第一原子力発電所における原子力災害の伝承――ツーリズムの可能性――2024

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Journal Title

      点――原子力災害における政策と人々の暮らし

      Volume: 17 Pages: 584-598

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] ). “Framing negative heritage in disaster risk education: school memorials after 3.112023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster and Flavia Fulco
    • Journal Title

      Heritage, Contested Sites, and Bordered Memories; East and West: Culture, Diplomacy and Interactions Series, Brill

      Volume: - Pages: 165-189

    • DOI

      10.1163/9789004512986_008

    • ISBN
      9789004512986, 9789004512979
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] 「遺構と呼びますか?」2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Journal Title

      震災学

      Volume: 17 Pages: 107-110

    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Japan’s Disaster Memorial Museums and framing 3.11: Othering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in cultural memory2022

    • Author(s)
      Gerster Julia、Maly Elizabeth
    • Journal Title

      Contemporary Japan

      Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Pages: 187-209

    • DOI

      10.1080/18692729.2022.2112479

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Alltag und Erinnerung. Der Nordosten Japans nach der Dreifachkatastrophe von 20112022

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Journal Title

      Blechinger-Talcott, Verena; Chiavacci, David; Schwentker, Wolfgang: Japan - ein Land im Umbruch

      Volume: - Pages: 279-294

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Tohoku University's “Kataritsugi” and the Stories of 3.112024

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster (Akihiro Shibayama, Madoka Ono)
    • Organizer
      Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] 教訓はどのように構築されるのか:東日本大震災の文化的記憶2023

    • Author(s)
      Gerster, Julia
    • Organizer
      Lunch Meeting. MEXT
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Japan’s Disaster Memorial Museums and framing 3.112023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster (and Liz Maly)
    • Organizer
      Association for Asian Studies in Asia Conference (AAS)
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Storytelling and the arts as tools in disaster education: “Kataritsugi” and the stories of 3.112023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster (and Akihiro Shibayama)
    • Organizer
      ISA World Congress of Sociology
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] Whose lessons do we learn?2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      APRU Summer School
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] Japan’s Disaster Memorial Museums and framing 3.112023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster (and Liz Maly)
    • Organizer
      European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS)
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Challenges in Transmitting Disaster Memory in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima after 3.112023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      Memories and “Negative History”: How to convey the 3.11 Disasters?
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] School Memorials as “Lieux de memoire”after The Great East Japan Earthquake2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster (and Akihiro Shibayama)
    • Organizer
      AIWEST-DR 23
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Gender and disaster memory. Examples from the Great East Japan Earthquake.” 2023.11.5 Online, invited speaker.2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      JICA discussion rounds
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Memory Transmission and Disaster Cultural Memory in Japan.2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      Graduate School of East Asian Studies 10 years anniversary conference
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Japan’s disaster cultural memory. Narrating 3.11.2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      RCAS Lecture Series
    • Related Report
      2023 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 「被災3県の災害伝承施設における展示物の総体的分析」2023

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      国際女性会議WAW!サイドイベントジェンダー多様性の視点より災害を「伝える」
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 6.「災害デジタルアーカイブと防災教育の可能性:コロナ禍の中の日本の災害アーカイブ (JDA) ワークショップの3種類の事例」2022

    • Author(s)
      ゲルスタ・ ユリア, 柴山 明寛, 森本 涼, ゴードン・ アンドルー, ボレー・ ペンメレン・セバスチャン
    • Organizer
      日本デジタルアーカイブ学会
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 震災遺構と呼ぶの?2022

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster
    • Organizer
      日本災害復興学会 2022年度京都大会
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 8.Ruptured lives and places: displacements after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster2022

    • Author(s)
      Julia Gerster and Elizabeth Maly
    • Organizer
      EuroSEAS
    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Remarks]

    • URL

      https://www.blog.japan.uni-muenchen.de/2023/02/27/disaster-storytelling-eine-begegnung-mit-katastrophenerzaehlerinnen/

    • Related Report
      2022 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2021-04-28   Modified: 2024-12-25  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi