Aftermath of the 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Based on witness testimony and eighteen months of fieldwork, this work of disaster ethnography examines the effects of East Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami on the fishing town of Otsuchi. It analyzes how local social systems developed to cope with the destruction and redevelopment and how residents behaved and narrated their own experiences.

Shoichiro Takezawa is professor of social anthropology at the National Museum of Ethnology of Japan.

Introduction: The Tsunami Hits Chapter 1: The Day of Catastrophe: Escaping the Waves Chapter 2: The Weeks Following the Tsunami: Evading Danger, Running the Evacuation Centers Chapter 3: The Months after the Tsunami: The Reconstruction Process along the Sanriku Coast Conclusion