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Radioactive Decontamination in Fukushima and the Fabric of Collective Memory

Research Project

Project/Area Number 22KF0044
Project/Area Number (Other) 22F22764 (2022)
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund (2023)
Single-year Grants (2022)
Section外国
Review Section Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
Research InstitutionTohoku University

Principal Investigator

ボレー セバスチャン  東北大学, 災害科学国際研究所, 准教授 (70751676)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) GAULENE MATHIEU  東北大学, 災害科学国際研究所, 外国人特別研究員
Project Period (FY) 2023-03-08 – 2024-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
Budget Amount *help
¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
KeywordsRadiation / Collective memory / Fukushima accident / Disaster science / Semiotics / Cultural anthropology / Iitate Village / Tohoku Earthquake / 放射能 / 集合記憶 / 福島原子力発電所事故 / 災害科学 / 記号論文化人類学 / 飯舘村 / 東日本大震災津波
Outline of Research at the Start

This research examines the decontamination work following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident. We examines how the Japanese way of dealing with disasters plays a role in the radioactive decontamination and how decontamination form a basis for the construction of a collective memory of disasters.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

This research examined the construction of collective memory of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident and the decontamination process. The researcher collected primary data from the village of Iitate and other neighbouring areas and extensively documented the decontamination process. This study suggests that spatial and symbolic distance (e.g. thinking that decontamination was effective and living in Iitate is safe) allows individuals to end the disaster and move beyond the trauma by transforming it into a memory. In contrast, individuals such distance (e.g. thinking the level of radioactivity is unsafe but still living there) may repetitively experience the trauma and the impossibility of forming a memory. For these individuals, the Fukushima nuclear accident is still ongoing.

Report

(2 results)
  • 2023 Annual Research Report
  • 2022 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (6 results)

All 2023

All Journal Article (2 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Open Access: 1 results,  Peer Reviewed: 1 results) Presentation (3 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results) Funded Workshop (1 results)

  • [Journal Article] Langage & societe, 2021, 172: Anthropologie linguistique: le tournant semiotique2023

    • Author(s)
      Gaulene Mathieu
    • Journal Title

      L'Homme

      Volume: 247 Issue: 247-248 Pages: 267-269

    • DOI

      10.4000/lhomme.48046

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Representation du risque et esthetique du desastre au Japon2023

    • Author(s)
      Gaulene Mathieu
    • Journal Title

      Droit et contentieux du nucleaire. La perception et les representations du risque

      Volume: 1 Pages: 43-50

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] No Future. To be and stay under the bad star2023

    • Author(s)
      Gaulene Mathieu
    • Organizer
      European Researcher’s Night
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] From the Memory to the Imagination of Disasters2023

    • Author(s)
      Gaulene Mathieu
    • Organizer
      Disaster and Memory International Symposium
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] Death, Memorials, and Fukushima. Post Fukushima Studies Workshop2023

    • Author(s)
      Gaulene Mathieu
    • Organizer
      15th Symposium of the French Society for Japanese Studies
    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Funded Workshop] Disaster and Memory International Symposium2023

    • Related Report
      2023 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2022-11-17   Modified: 2024-12-25  

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