After the Disaster: Returning to Normal Life and Play in Tohoku

28 June 2012

6:00 – 7:45pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:45pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Much western attention on Japan since 11 March 2011 has focused either on the implications of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, or on the recovery of the nation’s economy. While these issues remain of great importance, it seems that the effects of the tsunami on the lives of ordinary citizens in the affected regions are beginning to fade into the background, as the world turns its attention elsewhere. Moreover, due to the large proportion of older people in the population, and the disproportionate effects of the tsunami on them, the impacts of the disaster on children and how they are able to return to normality have sometimes been overlooked. In this seminar, Peter Matanle will look at plans for the reconstruction of the tsunami affected areas and assess progress achieved thus far, and then Helen Woolley will focus in detail on how the tsunami has affected children’s play. In particular, she will show the current state of where children used to play in the outdoors, explain the context of children’s outdoor play in temporary housing areas and begin to address some issues for the future as local citizens try to put the disaster behind them, put their lives back together, and re-establish a normal life for their children once more.

Dr Peter Matanle

Dr Peter Matanle is Lecturer in Japanese studies at the National Institute of Japanese Studies and School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield. His research is in the social and cultural geography of Japan, and the role of employment systems in Japan’s developmental and post-developmental processes. He has published four books and various peer reviewed articles and book chapters in these fields including, Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century: Contemporary Responses to Depopulation and Socioeconomic Decline (co-authored with Anthony S. Rausch and the Shrinking Regions Research Group, Cambria Press, 2011), and ‘The Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown: Towards the (Re)construction of a safe, sustainable and compassionate society in Japan’s shrinking regions’ (Local Environment, 16 (9): 843-847).

Helen Woolley

Helen Woolley is a Chartered Landscape Architect and Reader in Landscape Architecture and Society in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield. Helen’s research is about issues of open space and people. This has related to, and informed, national policy and strategic issues about green and open space with an increasing focus on green space and housing in recent years. She is also an expert on inclusive outdoor environments with a particular interest in children and open spaces. Helen has a strong record of knowledge transfer and consultancy activities working with a wide range of partners including some in the built environment, play and housing sectors. These research and knowledge transfer activities have been funded by research councils, government departments, national organisations and charities. In April Helen visited the Tohoku area of Japan with a colleague from Chiba University to begin to understand the situation of children’s outdoor environments in the post disaster area.

Dr Christopher P. Hood (chair)

Dr Christopher P. Hood is a Reader in Japanese Studies at Cardiff University. His latest book Dealing with Disaster in Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash (Routledge, 2011) is about responses to the world’s largest single plane crash which occurred in Japan in 1985. The book covers a variety of issues, including how the state reacted and the way those who lost loved ones have responded over the years. A chapter related to this work appears in Death and Dying in Contemporary Japan (Routledge, 2012) edited by Hikaru Suzuki. He was a part of the ‘Shrinking Regions Research Group’, whose research was edited by Peter Matanle and Anthony Rausch into Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21^st Century(Cambria Press, 2011). Other publications include:Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan (Routledge, 2006), Japanese Education Reform: Nakasone’s Legacy (Routledge, 2001), andThe Politics of Modern Japan (4 volumes) (editor, Routledge, 2008).

BOOKING FORM

Fukushima Colours

3 May 2012

6:00 – 7:00pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:00pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Fukushima Colours

Published by Langenskiöld

By Elin Lindqvist

The catastrophe on 11 March 2011 has had a deep impact on the Japanese society, and on our global world. Almost twenty thousand people were left dead or missing after the disaster, and the tsunami destroyed entire communities. It will take years for the full extent of the nuclear crisis’ impact on Japan to become clear. Yet, a year after the tsunami, it is possible to see some of the consequences that the disaster has had on agriculture, the fishing industry, people’s health and research about renewable energy sources.

In her reportage book Fukushima Colours, multilingual author Elin Lindqvist has documented the aftermath of the crisis, in collaboration with Japanese journalist Yuko Ota, and Japanese photographer Yoshikazu Fukuda. She has closely followed eight individuals or groups of individuals representing different parts of Japanese society all through 2011, in order to see how people affected by the crisis have recovered. Through these individual stories, we hear the emergence of a common voice striving towards a more sustainable and ecological future in Japan.         

* The book will be available on the day at the discounted price of £18.

Elin Lindqvist

Elin Lindqvist was born in Tokyo in 1982 and currently lives in England. She has studied at New York University in New York and Sophia University in Tokyo. She is an international writer, and has published three novels in Swedish (Tokyo natt, 2002; Tre röda näckrosor, 2005 and Facklan, 2009). She also works as a freelance journalist, dramaturge and translator. In the spring of 2011, she reported about the catastrophe in Japan for Sweden’s largest newspaper Aftonbladet, and she wrote about the aftermath of the crisis for leading daily newspapersSvenska Dagbladet in Sweden and Aftenposten in Norway.

Dr Akira Matsuda

Dr Akira Matsuda studies the relationship between archaeology – and more broadly cultural heritage – and the general public from anthropological and sociological points of view. He is currently doing research into the representation of damage caused by natural disasters in Japan over the last 500 years. Matsuda completed his PhD in public archaeology at University College London in 2009. He worked as a project-based consultant in UNESCO’s Division of Cultural Heritage in 2004 and 2005, and was a Handa Japanese Archaeology Fellow at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures from January 2009 to August 2011. Since 2010, he has been teaching at the School of World Art Studies and Museology, UEA, and most recently co-edited a book, New Perspectives in Global Public Archaeology (Springer, 2011) with Okamura Katsuyuki. He is the Membership Secretary of the World Archaeological Congress, and is now working on the publication of a book on cultural heritage in East Asia.

BOOKING FORM

In Memory of Tsunami Victims

 

In memory of tsunami victims this Blog observes two day silence.

Japan In A Day

Japan In A Day is an extraordinary project to create the definitive self-portrait of Japan today, filmed by you, inspired by Life in a Day. It is dedicated, with our deepest sympathy, to those who lost their lives and those who are suffering as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that struck east Japan last year.

At 00:00 on Sunday 11 March 2012, Ridley Scott and Fuji TV invite you to capture the reality and intimacy of your day.

The resulting film will be a powerful and moving snapshot of Japan today, which will premiere in cinemas, and be screened around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/japaninaday

Fukushima’s animals abandoned and left to die

 

I found very hard to watch the video published on CNN website on Fukushima’s abandoned animals but while watching this sad video I was thinking about all the people who lost their lives, relatives and/or friends and never be able to forget the day Tsunami struck. When I think what human beings had to go through, then the condition of those animals, even if tragic, seems to be less important and I agree Japanese government that it would be far to risky and costly to try to save those animals.

POSTCARDS FROM JAPAN – A Message from Tohoku Artists

12 December 2011 – 31 January 2012
Embassy of Japan, 101/104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT

Admission free; Monday to Friday; 09:30 to 17:30
Visitors are requested to present a form of photographic identification when entering the Embassy.

This month, the Embassy of Japan will host a small exhibition with a rather poignant message.

After the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Tohoku region of north-eastern Japan on 11 March 2011, power supplies, telephone land lines and mobile telephone networks were cut and internet access became impossible.

This made it extremely difficult for people to contact family and friends. The Japanese postal service – Japan Post – was, however, quickly up and running again. It was by postcard, in many cases, that people first heard that their loved ones were safe.

Sculptors, Katagiri Hironori and Kate Thomson, share their time between Iwate and Scotland. They were working in their studios in the countryside of Iwate when the immense earthquake of 11 March 2011 struck. Their home and studio inland were not damaged and they were safe, but they were desperately worried about family and friends along the Tohoku coast. In the days after the quake, power and telephone connections slowly returned. Despite the telephone lines’ being restored, however, they could still not get through to anyone.

Inspired by the impact that the receiving of postcards can have, Katagiri and Thomson invited Tohoku-based artists from Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures to make new work for Postcards From Japan – A Message from Tohoku Artists. Even artists who had lost so much in the tsunami were enthusiastic to celebrate life through art with their communication with the world outside. The results are works made especially for this exhibition and which give an insight into the incredible grace and resilience of the people of North East Japan.

The priority in the devastated regions is to rebuild communities and livelihoods and the recovery will take years. Art and culture will play vital roles in this recovery and in celebrating life itself, helping to nurture imagination, energy and the determination to move on. Many people in Japan have realised that family, friends and communities are their most precious treasures and that they require and deserve the most time and investment. Cherishing the relationships they have, people are re-establishing contact with those with whom they had lost touch.

The project continues and in response, artists from around the world are being invited to make ‘Postcards to Japan’ and post them to Tohoku as tangible messages of support to communities affected by the devastation.

Please see www.postcardproject.org for more information.

Smile Kids Japan

Today only a link.

http://www.smilekidsjapan.org/

 

SAPPORO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SouthBank Centre presents: Sapporo Symphony Orchestra

BOOK TICKETS NOW

Prices:
£30 £25 £20 £15 £10 Premium seats £35

Booking Fee:
£1.75 (Members £0.00)

Concessions:
50% off (limited availability)

Toru Takemitsu: How slow the wind (orchestra)
Max Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor
Interval
Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 in D minor

Tadaaki Otaka conductor
Akiko Suwanai violin

Concert in aid of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Japan Society Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund.

A beautiful and compelling programme from one of Japan’s finest orchestras. They are joined by their ever-popular Principal Conductor, Tadaaki Otaka, and the youngest ever winner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, violinist Akiko Suwanai.

‘It was an unforeseen and terrible disaster, from which all Japanese people are working extremely hard to recover. We, the musicians, wish to turn our London appearance into a benefit concert to support the vital relief efforts in our country. Please join us and help Japan! Thank you.’ (Tadaaki Otaka)

With support from the Embassy of Japan in London, Japan Society, Askonas Holt and Southbank Centre

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23 May 2011, 7:30pm

After the Shock: Prospects for Recovery and Reconstruction in Post-quake Japan

An interesting event at SOAS.

Monday, 16th May 2011, 6.45pm

School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
Khalili Lecture Theatre
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

“Moderated discussion in support of the ‘Japan Society Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund’.”

In Collaboration with the Japan Research Centre (JRC) at the School of Oriental and African Studies

Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis – on 11 March 2011 everything changed for the residents of Northeast Japan. Media reports have emphasized the dramatic, tragic devastation left in the wake of one of the strongest earthquakes in human history. ‘After the Shock’ shifts the discussion towards grappling with the prospects for recovery and reconstruction in Japan’s northeastern rural communities. Participants will have the opportunity to join in a moderated discussion between a geo-physicist with expertise in earthquake mitigation, an NPO director working with community and voluntary organisations in Northeast Japan, a nuclear industry analyst, and an historian whose research examines rural life in Japan and community relationships with the nuclear industry.

Roundtable Participants:

Professor Peter Sammonds is Professor of Geophysics at University College London, Department of Earth Sciences. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and a member of the Royal Society Environmental Advisory Network. He is past Chair of the JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) UK Alumni Association, and was Visiting Professor at the Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo. Professor Sammonds investigates the mechanics of the Earth’s crust and ice sheets by studying the fundamental physics and mechanics of geological materials, particularly research directed towards studying the impacts of climate change and natural hazards.

Phillida Purvis MBE is Founder and Director of Links Japan which was established in 1998 to promote sharing between civil society organizations in the EU and Japan. She has run exchange programmes between NPOs, NGOs and community organisations on a range of social sector issues, such as community regeneration, social inclusion, social enterprise as well as international development cooperation. As a member of HM Diplomatic Service she undertook Japanese language training and served at the British Embassy in Tokyo during the 1980s.

Malcolm C Grimston began work for the Atomic Energy Authority in 1987.  In 1995 he joined Imperial College as a Senior Research Fellow and in 1999 became a Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House, where he is now an Associate Fellow investigating the future of civil nuclear energy. He is author of numerous articles and co-author of two books as well as a regular media contributor on energy and nuclear matters.  He is an elected Member of Wandsworth Council and until 2009 had executive responsibility for environment and leisure.

Dr Martin Dusinberre is Lecturer in the History of Modern Japan at Newcastle University. He specialises in the social and cultural history of modern Japan, including the nuclear power industry. His book Hard Times in the Hometown: A Microhistory of Modern Japan is forthcoming from the University of Hawaii Press. An article on Japanese civil society and the rise of the nuclear power industry, co-authored with Daniel P. Aldrich, is forthcoming from the Journal of Asian Studies.

Moderated by:

Dr Christopher Gerteis is Lecturer in the History of Contemporary Japan at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has held research and teaching positions at Hosei University and Sophia University in Tokyo and Yale University in the United States. He is a specialist in the history of modern and contemporary Japan.

Co-organised by:

Booking Information:
To book your place, please contact the Japan Society office on
tel: 020 7828 6330 or email events@japansociety.org.uk

Nihon Kizuna

Worldwide artists contribute to Nihon Kizuna music compilation in aid of Japan disaster relief effort

Over 40 international artists have donated music for the Nihon Kizuna compilation in aid of the Japan disaster relief effort. Nihon Kizuna, or 日本絆 in Japanese roughly translates as ‘bond of friendship with Japan’.

Following the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the northern coast and prefectures of Japan on Friday March 11th 2011, a small group of Tokyo-based artists (from Japan, Ukraine and France) and one visiting London-based journalist (from Italy) decided to pull their efforts and contacts together to do the only thing they could to help the country and its people – sell music to raise awareness of the devastation that hit the area and raise money for its people and the relief effort.

www.nihonkizuna.com

Daiwa Foundation Tohoku Scholarships

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation announces the launch of a £250,000 scholarship fund to support Japanese students whose lives and studies have been affected by the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the north east of Japan. Scholarships will be made available to undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral students from the Tohoku region for study at universities in the UK. In the aftermath of this terrible disaster in Japan and in keeping with the educational objects of the Foundation, we hope that these new scholarships will contribute to the future of young people in the region. The Daiwa Foundation Tohoku Scholarships are being organised in partnership with the British Council in Tokyo. Further details and application procedures will be available shortly.

Countermeasures for the Great East Japan Earthquake

This event seems to be very relevant for those worried about the situation in Japan.

Detailed information and registration form here.

Thursday, 21st April 2011 13.30-15.00

Venue Address:
JETRO London
MidCity Place 71, High Holborn London WC1V 6AL
Tel: 020-7421-8300, FAX : 020-7421-0009
Website: http://www.jetro.go.jp/uk/contact/

To apply, please fax a registration form to JETRO London by 19th April.
Capacity is 100 people, and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

In further detail, an explanation will be made on the current situation in Japan regarding nuclear reactors, radiation levels in and around the major cities, regulations surrounding food products and tap water, regulation on exports, and the conditions of Japanese harbours and airports. The speakers will in turn explain the countermeasures that are being, and will be taken in response to the damages caused by the disaster.

Wa No Wa

Wa No Wa cultural event event is held on 08/04/11 at Potters Field Park from 11 am to 6 pm.

PURPOSE

The main purpose of this Japanese cultural event is to raise money for the area of Northern Japan affected by the tsunami and earthquake. Every penny of the money raised during this event will be donated to Red Cross’s work in Japan.

According to the Japan National Police Agency (NKH World, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 2nd of April 2011), the death toll from the March 11thquake and tsunami in north eastern Japan has risen to 11,578, with 16,451 people listed missing, bringing the total number of dead or missing over 28,000. This number is anticipated to rise still!

WHAT IS “WA NO WA”?

WanoWa means the circle of peace and harmony in terms of one’s environment and state of mind. The phrase represents all of us coming together to form one large circle of peace to reach out to Japan in this difficult time.

It also represents perseverance and stoicism of the Japanese people in the face of adversity. Wa is the most valued principle still practiced in Japanese society today.

The organisers also hope through this event to spread their passion and desire to connect people in a positive way.

THE EVENT

What:

There will be a variety of Japanese entertainment such as martial arts, calligraphy demonstrations and original art displays.

Several stalls will be selling Japanese food & crafts and top raffle prizes have been donated by The OXO Tower Brasserie, The MontCalm Hotel, Wagamama, ConcreteHair Salon and even a qualified Sports Massuese.

A book of remembrance and hope will be available to allow you to express your feelings and wishes to the Japanese people.

Tsunami Project part 2

More pictures taken from Tsunami Project.

Help Japan

Donation

Beneficiary Bank:Japan Post Bank Account number:00160-3-533 Checking Account Payee Name:Fukushimaken Saigaitaisakuhonbu

<Money transfer from overseas banks>

Please transfer the money at the intermediately bank designated by Japan Post Bank by dollars or Euro. If you transfer the money from an overseas bank to the general account or the transfer account of Yucho Bank, the following information is required. If you omit the required description or make a wrong writing, Japan Post Bank cannot receive the money, and the mediate bank requires the commission free as well as returns the money. You may not transfer the money depending on the money transferring bank and the content of money transfer. Please confirm it in advance at the local bank.

Japan Post Bank and Post Office Intermediary Bank:USD→Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas NY

EUR→Deutsche Bank AG Frankfurt Intermediary Bank BIC:USD→BKTRUS33

EUR→DEUTDEFF Beneficiary Bank:Japan Post Bank

Branch:Head Office Beneficiary Bank Address:3-2, Kasumigaseki 1-chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-8798, Japan Beneficiary Bank BIC:JPPSJPJ1 Beneficiary Bank CHIPS UID:USD→427593

EUR→No need Account number:00160-3-533 Checking Account

Payee Name:Fukushimaken Saigaitaisakuhonbu Payee Address:2-16, Sugitsuma-cho, Fukushima-shi, Fukushima, 960-8670 Japan Payee Telephone Number:024-521-7322 Period of Acceptance:March 15 (Tue), 2011 to September 30 (Fri), 2011

Please inquire the following Division for further details. The Social Welfare Division, Fukushima Prefecture, TEL: 024-521-7322 (Japanese) The International Affairs Division, Fukushima Prefecture, TEL: 024-521-7182 (English)