EAST ASIA WORKSHOP: POLITICS, ECONOMY & SOCIETY

 

 “Samurais and Robots: Reassembling Histories After the Nuclear Accident in Fukushima, Japan”

 

Hiroko Kumaki

University of Chicago Anthropology, PhD Candidate

 

May 29, Wednesday 12:00-1:30 pm

Pick Lounge, 5828 South University Ave.

Light lunch will be provided

Abstract

The nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, has been told through the history of nuclear weapons development, Atoms for Peace, environmental pollution, as well as other nuclear and industrial disasters. Based on my ethnographic research, I shift gears and discuss the patchwork of histories emerging after the nuclear accident in the northeastern coast of Fukushima. I discuss how traditions of feudal times are reimagined and enacted, and how the experiences during imperial and postwar Japan have figured into local narratives, as residents try to make sense of the aftermath of the nuclear accident and negotiate their future trajectories. I situate these narratives in the context of local and governmental recovery efforts that are remaking the post-nuclear environment with, among other things, samurais and robots.

 

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* Abstract or description of each presentation will be posted on our website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/eastasia

* Questions and comments can be addressed to the student coordinators Jongyoon Baik: baikjongyoon@uchicago.edu and Ji Xue: jixue@uchicago.edu

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The East Asia Workshop is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.