Seismic Japan History Culture Society

Japan, as recent history has powerfully illustrated, is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. Today it is also one of the best prepared to face such extraordinary seismic risk. This was not always the case. Using earthquakes as a window into Japanese society, this course will examine when, how and why contemporary Japan became the disaster prepared nation we know it as today.

Students who are curious about earthquakes, tsunami, disasters, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction; visual and material culture; as well as vulnerability, resilience, and emotion, will find this course an effective window into learning about Japan, humanity and the world today. By the end of this course, you will have acquired a sophisticated understanding of how disasters have shaped Japanese history, culture and society; how earthquakes have been interpreted, explained, and remembered in Japan; how governments use disasters and the reconstruction processes that follow for political purposes; how and why earthquakes often expose underlying tensions in society and result in competing visions for post-disaster rebuilding and the future; how people experience and recover from catastrophic disasters; and importantly, you will gain knowledge of what to do when an earthquake strikes and how to be prepared for the future.