The Era of Great Disasters

2020-09-25 History

Author : Makoto Iokibe
Release : 2020-09-25
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 25X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Era of Great Disasters by : Makoto Iokibe

Download or read book The Era of Great Disasters written by Makoto Iokibe. This book was released on 2020-09-25. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Era of Great Disasters examines modern disaster response in Japan, from the changing earthquake preparations and regulations, to immediate emergency procedures from the national, prefectural, and city levels, and finally the evolving efforts of rebuilding and preparing for the next great disaster in the hopes of minimizing their tragic effects. This book focuses on three major earthquakes from Japan’s modern history. The first is the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake, which struck the capital region. The second is the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, affecting the area between Kobe and Osaka. The third is the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the magnitude 9.0 quake that struck off the Pacific coast of the Tōhoku region, causing a devastating tsunami and nuclear accident. While the events of (and around) each of these earthquakes are unique, Professor Iokibe brings his deep expertise and personal experience to each disaster, unveiling not only the disasters themselves but the humanity underneath. In each case, he gives attention and gratitude to those who labored to save lives and restore the communities affected, from the individuals on the scene to government officials and military personnel and emergency responders, in the hope that we might learn from the past and move forward with greater wisdom, knowledge, and common purpose.

Imaging Disaster

2012-11-14 Art

Author : Gennifer Weisenfeld
Release : 2012-11-14
Genre : Art
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 246/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Imaging Disaster by : Gennifer Weisenfeld

Download or read book Imaging Disaster written by Gennifer Weisenfeld. This book was released on 2012-11-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on one landmark catastrophic event in the history of an emerging modern nation—the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1923—this fascinating volume examines the history of the visual production of the disaster. The Kanto earthquake triggered cultural responses that ran the gamut from voyeuristic and macabre thrill to the romantic sublime, media spectacle to sacred space, mournful commemoration to emancipatory euphoria, and national solidarity to racist vigilantism and sociopolitical critique. Looking at photography, cinema, painting, postcards, sketching, urban planning, and even scientific visualizations, Weisenfeld demonstrates how visual culture has powerfully mediated the evolving historical understanding of this major national disaster, ultimately enfolding mourning and memory into modernization.

3.11

2013-04-15 Social Science

Author : Richard J. Samuels
Release : 2013-04-15
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 027/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis 3.11 by : Richard J. Samuels

Download or read book 3.11 written by Richard J. Samuels. This book was released on 2013-04-15. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by the shockwaves of a 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake originating less than 50 miles off its eastern coastline. The most powerful earthquake to have hit Japan in recorded history, it produced a devastating tsunami with waves reaching heights of over 130 feet that in turn caused an unprecedented multireactor meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This triple catastrophe claimed almost 20,000 lives, destroyed whole towns, and will ultimately cost hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction.In 3.11, Richard Samuels offers the first broad scholarly assessment of the disaster's impact on Japan's government and society. The events of March 2011 occurred after two decades of social and economic malaise—as well as considerable political and administrative dysfunction at both the national and local levels—and resulted in national soul-searching. Political reformers saw in the tragedy cause for hope: an opportunity for Japan to remake itself. Samuels explores Japan's post-earthquake actions in three key sectors: national security, energy policy, and local governance. For some reformers, 3.11 was a warning for Japan to overhaul its priorities and political processes. For others, it was a once-in-a-millennium event; they cautioned that while national policy could be improved, dramatic changes would be counterproductive. Still others declared that the catastrophe demonstrated the need to return to an idealized past and rebuild what has been lost to modernity and globalization.Samuels chronicles the battles among these perspectives and analyzes various attempts to mobilize popular support by political entrepreneurs who repeatedly invoked three powerfully affective themes: leadership, community, and vulnerability. Assessing reformers’ successes and failures as they used the catastrophe to push their particular agendas—and by examining the earthquake and its aftermath alongside prior disasters in Japan, China, and the United States—Samuels outlines Japan’s rhetoric of crisis and shows how it has come to define post-3.11 politics and public policy.

Black Wave

2019-07-10 Political Science

Author : Daniel P. Aldrich
Release : 2019-07-10
Genre : Political Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 43X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Black Wave by : Daniel P. Aldrich

Download or read book Black Wave written by Daniel P. Aldrich. This book was released on 2019-07-10. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the devastation caused by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and 60-foot tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, some 96% of those living and working in the most disaster-stricken region of Tōhoku made it through. Smaller earthquakes and tsunamis have killed far more people in nearby China and India. What accounts for the exceptionally high survival rate? And why is it that some towns and cities in the Tōhoku region have built back more quickly than others? Black Wave illuminates two critical factors that had a direct influence on why survival rates varied so much across the Tōhoku region following the 3/11 disasters and why the rebuilding process has also not moved in lockstep across the region. Individuals and communities with stronger networks and better governance, Daniel P. Aldrich shows, had higher survival rates and accelerated recoveries. Less-connected communities with fewer such ties faced harder recovery processes and lower survival rates. Beyond the individual and neighborhood levels of survival and recovery, the rebuilding process has varied greatly, as some towns and cities have sought to work independently on rebuilding plans, ignoring recommendations from the national government and moving quickly to institute their own visions, while others have followed the guidelines offered by Tokyo-based bureaucrats for economic development and rebuilding.

Catastrophe!

2004 History

Author : Stephen J. Spignesi
Release : 2004
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 587/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Catastrophe! by : Stephen J. Spignesi

Download or read book Catastrophe! written by Stephen J. Spignesi. This book was released on 2004. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than half of the disasters chronicled are natural. These floods, storms, droughts, blizzards, famines and epidemics are fierce reminders that humankind is no match for the devastating force and fury of nature. From the Great Influenza Epidemic of WWI that took nearly 40 million lives to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, there are numerous accounts of catastrophes that could not be averted, and whose destructive power was beyond imagining.

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