2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
The integration of negative heritage in rehabilitation strategies in Fukushima Prefecture: Bosai Tourism and Social Services Improvements in depopulated regions in Futaba, Namie, Minamisoma and Soma.
Project/Area Number |
19K23126
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
0104:Geography, cultural anthropology, folklore, and related fields
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Research Institution | Tohoku University |
Principal Investigator |
GERSTER Julia 東北大学, 災害科学国際研究所, 助教 (90842716)
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Project Period (FY) |
2019-08-30 – 2023-03-31
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Keywords | Disaster / Revovery / Cutural Memory / Negative Heritage / Tourism / Fukushima / GEJE / Tsunami |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This research analyzed post-disaster tourism and negative heritage preservation after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. It could clarify a tendency to foreground positive narratives within the disaster response and recovery as featured in tour branding, the selection of disaster heritage sites, and contents of disaster memorial museums. These tendencies led to a greater acceptance of tourism by local communities. Yet, the exclusion of dark topics limits critical educational aspects. Further, this study found vital differences in the challenges faced by Fukushima Prefecture, due the political aspects of the nuclear disaster, that were only partially addressed in tourism content. Finally, this research confirmed tourism as an essential contributor to local economies, and giving agency to disaster-affected people to shape narratives of recovery. Yet, the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the risk of over-relying on tourism as a revitalization method.
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Free Research Field |
Japanese Studies; Cultural Anthropology
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
This study clarified the risks and merits of post-disaster tourism as a recovery and revitalization method. Insights can be useful for similar cases in other countries and help to understand the importance of diversity in disaster cultural memory and disaster education.
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