Lunchtime Lecture Series: Professor Nakano Kiwa on “How Do People Reconstruct Former Disaster Areas? The Case of Genkai Island”


DATE
Wednesday October 21, 2015
TIME
12:30 PM - 12:30 PM

Lunchtime Lecture Series featuring Professor Nakano Kiwa (Daito Bunka University; visiting scholar, Department of Anthropology)

How Do People Reconstruct Former Disaster Areas?

-The Case of Genkai Island : Fukuoka Prefecture Western Offshore Earthquake-

 

ABSTRACT

After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, rebuilding the devastated area became a major challenge. Many areas in Japan have suffered natural disasters, but there are few studies that have recorded and analyzed the social and cultural background of the process of reconstruction over time. It is generally believed that the goal of reconstruction is rebuilding facilities, but I believe that we should continue to observe reconstruction over a long period of time, even after facilities have been rebuilt.

 

For residents, their new lives start after rebuilding facilities, and they may face various problems at that time, I believe that these problems are not limited to one particular area, but are shared by all disaster areas. Therefore, we must first recognize those problems as well as the cultural and social background of the disaster areas, and then record them. Therefore, I have chosen to research former disaster areas from this perspective.

 

I would like to focus on Genkai Island in Fukuoka Prefecture. This island is a community that was affected by the Fukuoka Prefecture Western Offshore Earthquake on March 20, 2005, but it was reconstructed in just three years. Its path to recovery is viewed as a model of reconstruction for Tōhoku communities.

 

How did the residents on this island handle their situation, and how did they try to reconstruct and rebuild their lives? Looking at the island over time, what kinds of things did the residents prioritize during reconstruction, and what kinds of new problems occurred after they started their new lives? I would like to consider their path to recovery in detail over time.

 

過去の被災地はいかに復興されたのか?

-福岡県西方沖地震の被災地・玄界島の事例から-

 

【概略】

東 日本大震災が起こって以降、被災地の生活基盤の再生が大きな課題となっている。日本には災害被災地域は複数あるが、災害復興過程に関する先行研究はけっし て多いとは言えない。被災直後の各地の取り組みに注目した研究はあっても、一定の時間が経ったときに浮上する問題についての記録と分析はきわめて少ない。 これは、かなり長期にわたる観察が必要となること、建物や土地の復興が一つ区切りとみなされてしまうからだと考えられる。

し かし、当事者にとってはそこから「日常」が始まるのであり、そこで直面する問題も多い。それらの問題は一地域にとどまるものではなく、災害被災地の各地で 共有すべき問題もあると思われる。まずは問題の把握とその文化的、社会的背景について明らかにすること、それらを記録することが重要であろう。このような 問題意識から、今なお災害が続く複数の地域の聞き取り調査を進めているところである。

本発表では、その一部として、2005年の福岡県西方沖地震で被災した福岡県の玄界島の復興について取り上げたい。当日の全島避難から復興後の帰島まで、3年 という短期間で現地回復型の復興を遂げたことから、東北でも復興のモデルケースの一つとして取り上げられることが多い。この島がどのように復興を遂げてき たのか、生活基盤の破壊に対し住民がどのように状況を受け入れ、生活を回復、創造しようとしたのか、新たにどのような問題が起こっているのか、一定の時間 を経た今だからこそ、様ざまな課題の検討が可能となる。