The Theory of "Tohoku" in Pain: When Memory Turns into History

2024/06/27

This book is an écriture (a bundle of memories) compiled by an editor who gathered short pieces I contributed to magazines such as Gendai Shiso (Seidosha) over the past 13 years, starting from March 11, 2011. It brings back the state of the disaster-affected areas (I am originally from Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture) and my feelings at each milestone—the immediate aftermath, the first year, the second, third, fifth, tenth, and so on. Tracing back through these 13 years of memories, I realize that I feel much more melancholy and despairing now than I did immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, to the point where I wonder, "Am I a pessimist?"

In truth, immediately after the disaster, despite the devastating situation caused by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, there was a surprising sense of optimism. This was because the local residents had resolved to survive and start from zero (or even a negative) now that there was nothing left to lose. However, against the backdrop of a shrinking Japanese society, the reality of repeated disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing wars and conflicts worldwide, and the worsening bashing and hate crimes against "others" on social media and in the news has continued to drag down Fukushima and the Sanriku coastal areas without exception.

It feels as though care has been left undone since 13 years ago, and the pain continues. This is likely a post-catastrophe melancholy that envelops not only the disaster-stricken areas but also a very wide range of this society.

Since the magnitude of the pain was extraordinary, it cannot be healed so easily. There may be pain that one must live with for a lifetime. Even so, while scattering enclaves of "care" here and there, I hope to find another world by leaping over the pain—not by forgetting that event, but through a method that eventually becomes a "form" or a "posture."

2024 began with the Noto Earthquake. I believe that we, living in an era where "the world has already ended," are being tested on our "humanity."

The Theory of "Tohoku" in Pain: When Memory Turns into History

Akemi Yamauchi

Seidosha

296 pages, 2,860 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.