Learning From Earthquake Memorials: the Case of the Great East Japan Disaster

Abstract eng:
This paper is a study of the roles of disaster memorials with a particular focus on the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). In order to deal with the collective experience of disasters such as earthquakes, societies develop various modes of remembering the event and their victims. One of these strategies consists in the erection of monuments where mourners, survivors, politicians, religious leaders and other visitors may express remember and/or learn about the tragic event. Memorials are often also conceived as material testimonies and symbols warning off the next generation of the potential dangers of earthquakes. Despite their popularity and a long tradition of memorials in Japan, critics have argued that stones did little to protect the lives of people during the GEJE. They argued that these stones may be eventually forgotten and ignored by future generation. In response to these critics, our findings show that the roles of depends not only on the monument itself but also on the other memorial practices such as storytelling, commemorative ceremonies, archiving and disaster education in the broad sense of it. We suggest that memorial monuments must be understood, not as an end in themselves, but as part of a culture of disaster culture.

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