A multisectoral anthropological study of how people acquire knowledge of the environment after the nuclear accident in Fukushima

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18523
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Geography, Cultural anthropology, Folklore, and related fields
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Uchiyamada Yasushi 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 教授 (50344841)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 原子力 / 環境の知 / 人類学 / 知の共有

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I have started a fieldwork on what people know about the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima without reducing it to certain sociological ideas, but tried to follow the actors as far as possible. The used fuels from Fukushima were sent to processing plants in La Hague (France) and Sellafield (UK). At the higher levels of the system, knowledge, personnels, processed materials, machines, and ideas circulated and were partially shared. But the circulation was cut-off at the marginal and lower levels. The more you go up higher the ladder, you would find more interchanges and sharing of know-hows, technologies, and finances. But more you go down and out to the marginal areas, you would find more vulnerable people who were not indemnified by exposures. Beside publishing a book and three articles, I have published my findings twice a month in specialized local journal in Fukushima to share my findings.

Free Research Field

人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

原子力災害においてはグローバルなシステムの上部では情報が共有されていたが、下部へ向かうほどに情報は分断されており、補償の面においても、システムの周縁と階層の下部へ向かうほどに、被曝による被害に補償が出ていない。周縁におけるこのような見過ごされた被曝の問題を克服するためには、環境の知の獲得とその共有が必要であることが判明した。中央集権的でトップダウンの知識の伝達は、秘密の多い原子力産業にあっては、労働者や施設の周辺の住民の被曝が光が当てられないという問題と関係が深かった。申請者は福島の浜通りで月二回発行される『日々の新聞』にこの問題を連載して知識の共有を図っている。連載は50回を超えた。