Fukushima Fiction

03/06/23 • 43 min

On March 11, 2011, at 2:46pm, one tectonic plate forced its way on top of another 45 miles (or 72 km) off the Eastern coast of Japan. It caused a 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake that lasted about six minutes.

The Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a tsunami—a great wave—that may have reached heights up to 133 feet (more than 40 meters).

The earthquake and tsunami also disabled the reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing several reactors to meltdown.

The government of Tokyo released official death numbers around the tenth anniversary of 3/11 in 2021. It reported 19,759 deaths. 6,242 injuries. And 2,553 missing. Most of the missing are presumed dead.

Hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated the area still haven’t returned home—many never will.

In this episode:

Tohoku and its place in Japan's history and culture
The response by Japanese writers to the 3/11 disaster
Hiromi Kawakami's life and work—especially her stories "God Bless You" and "God Bless You, 2011"

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

Donate to support Tohoku:

Soso Volunteer (Japanese)
Support Our Kids (Japanese)
The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund (English)

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The Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a tsunami—a great wave—that may have reached heights up to 133 feet (more than 40 meters).

The earthquake and tsunami also disabled the reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing several reactors to meltdown.

Hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated the area still haven’t returned home—many never will.

In this episode:

Tohoku and its place in Japan's history and culture
The response by Japanese writers to the 3/11 disaster
Hiromi Kawakami's life and work—especially her stories "God Bless You" and "God Bless You, 2011"

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.

Donate to support Tohoku:

Soso Volunteer (Japanese)
Support Our Kids (Japanese)
The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund (English)

Become an RJL supporter for ten minutes of bonus content.

Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)

Previous Episode

Sexlessness in Japanese Fiction

This episode is marked mature.
Today we'll explore two trends in contemporary Japanese fiction:

Protagonists who don’t want to have sex
And women who want to have babies anyway.

To take a closer look at these trends, we’re going to ask a couple of questions about contemporary Japan:

What is “celibacy syndrome”? Does it even exist?
What role does motherhood play in a shrinking society?
And how do sexlessness and motherhood play out in 21st-century Japanese fiction?

We’ll end with a closer look at Mieko Kawakami’s best-selling novel, Breasts and Eggs.
Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode website.
Become an RJL supporter for ten minutes of bonus content.
Support this podcast by buying from Bookshop.org

Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)

Next Episode

Writing from Okinawa

This episode is marked mature.
In this episode, we're talking about writing from Okinawa. The history of the Ryukyu Islands, especially the Battle of Okinawa. The evolution of writing from Okinawa. And the life life and work of author and activist Shun Medoruma, especially his Akutagawa-winning story "Droplets".

CW: war, forced suicide (historical), violence (historical and fictional), historical rape
Correction: This episode claims Hokkaido is Japan's largest island. I know better and misspoke. My apologies.Honshu is Japan's largest island.

Transcript, notes and sources at the podcast episode page.

Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)