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Thursday Seminar

The 270th Nichibunken Thursday Seminar

Theme

Have you found your space? ――Social Discriminations visualized through the Great East Japan Earthquake

Overview

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Eleven years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake rocked Japan on March 11, 2011. But is there anything that has been resolved? Decommissioning of the FUKUSHIMA Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is not yet at sight. “It's only been four years since I returned to my hometown. That means four years since the earthquake!” And it is only the elderly who return. There are no children’s smile. There are only the elderly who drink alcohol and cry, lamenting that they feel sorry for themselves for having survived. Discrimination, exploitation, and denial. Whose fault are they? When did we become so heartless? It is a shame. What was the postcolonial translation theory for?
The scene that comes to my mind is that of a human looking at a bird in a cage. But suddenly, however, the scene changes completely. “I am the bird; the bird is the human.” Before I knew it, I was inside the cage, and a huge bird outside the cage is staring at me...
My story begins in ISHINOMAKI, which is said to have been the hardest hit by the tsunami in MIYAGI Prefecture, and moves southward. SENDAI, MINAMISOMA along the Joban Line, NAMIE and FUTABA towns around the FUKUSHIMA Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and then to IWAKI-YUMOTO. Guided by the voices of Kenji SAWADA and so forth, let’s listen to the soul voices of the voiceless people. As the dead wish, let’s embark on a last journey to light the lamp of hope. We must do so in order to be human.

* Depending on the future situation of the COVID-19 infection, this seminar may be cancelled. Thank you for your understanding.
For the latest information, please refer to the Nichibunken website (This page).

* If you would like to take part in this seminar ONLINE, please E-mail us with your name and affiliation by Mar 10. URL for the Zoom meeting will be provided by the day before this seminar.

E-mail: kenkyo*nichibun.ac.jp (Please replace * with @)

Speaker   
ISOMAE Jun'ichi
Professor,  International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Commentator   
YASUI Manami
Professor,  International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Moderator   
ŌTSUKA Eiji
Professor,  International Research Center for Japanese Studies

Information

Date: 2022.03.17 (Thu) 
Place: ONLINE (Zoom)
Start time: 16:30
End time: 18:00
Target: Open to researchers, including students
Language: Japanese
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