Freie Universität Berlin – IRIDeS Summer School Navigating Narratives: Understanding Institutional Dynamics in Disaster Recovery

Jun Mitarai (Disaster Resilient Society Promotion Lab)—covered a wide range of topics, including the impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake, changes in the living environment of survivors due to recovery and relocation policies, decontamination and revitalization policies in Fukushima, and disaster risk reduction from the viewpoints of minority groups. [...] On September 24, participants were divided into two groups for fieldwork: the "Natori Group" and the "Fukushima Group." The “Natori Group,” led by Researcher Kitamura, explored the damage in the Yuriage district of Natori City and visited the disaster memorial Mémoire de Yuriage. [...] Meanwhile, the “Fukushima Group” began with a walking tour in the reopened area of Futaba Town to learn about the nuclear disaster, life before the disaster, and the current state of recovery. [...] In his talk, Kimura shared his feelings about the loss of his family in the tsunami, his thoughts on the nuclear disaster that prevented the search for missing people, and what the provision of the former residential area to the interim storage facility means to him, exemplifying the ongoing human impact of the nuclear disaster and recovery policies. [...] On the first day, the group visited Kadonowaki Elementary School in Ishinomaki, where they learned about the history and current state of recovery of the city, as well as disaster memorials in general and the Kadonowaki Elementary memorial in particular, from memorial director Richard Halberstadt.