Black Wave
How Networks and Governance Shaped Japan’s 3/11 Disasters
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Black Wave
How Networks and Governance Shaped Japan’s 3/11 Disasters
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.
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.
264 pages | 12 line drawings, 12 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2019
Asian Studies: General Asian Studies
Political Science: Comparative Politics
Reviews
Table of Contents
Tables and Illustrations
Preface
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Story of Three Disasters
Chapter 2: Individual Level: Neighbors Saving Lives
Chapter 3: Village, Town, and City Level: Vertical Ties Bringing Resources
Chapter 4: Prefectural Level: Networks Making a Difference
Chapter 5: National Level: Governance Challenged
Chapter 6: International Level: How Institutions Save Lives
Chapter 7: Conclusions and Recommendations: Building Trust and Tying Us Together
Appendix 1: Interviewees and Surveyed Residents
Appendix 2: Statistical Tables
Notes
Sources
Index
Appendix 2: Statistical Tables
Notes
Sources
Index
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