Episode 22: Fukushima Fiction

Check out Episode 22 of the Read Literature podcast.

Transcript available.

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”

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.

Support this podcast by buying from Bookshop.org.

• “God Bless You” and “God Bless You, 2011” by Hiromi Kawakami (translated by Ted Goossen and Motoyuki Shibata)
  • In March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown
  • You can also read “God Bless You, 2011” for free via Granta.

More by Hiromi Kawakami:

• Manazuru (translated by Michael Emmerich)
  • Read more about Manazuru from RJL.
• The Nakano Thrift Shop (translated by Allison Markin Powell)
• Parade (translated by Allison Markin Powell)
• People from My Neighborhood (translated by Ted Goossen)
  • Read my review of People from My Neighborhood at Asian Review of Books.
• Record of a Night Too Brief (translated by Lucy North)
• Strange Weather in Tokyo (translated by Allison Markin Powell)
  • Also published as The Briefcase
  • Read a free excerpt at Granta.
• The Ten Loves of Nishino (translated by Allison Markin Powell)
  • Also published as The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino
  • Read a free excerpt at Granta.

• “The Dragon Palace” (translated by Ted Goossen) in Monkey Business, vol. 3
• “God Bless You” and “God Bless You, 2011” in (translated by Ted Goossen and Motoyuki Shibata) in March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown
• “Hazuki and Me”(translated by Ted Goossen) in Monkey Business, vol. 5
• “I Won’t Let You Go” (translated by Allison Markin Powell; read for free at Granta)
• “Mogera Wogura” (translated by Michael Emmerich) in The Paris Review
• “Mysterious Deaths, the Formula, Electricians, Prohibitions” (translated by Ted Goossen) in Monkey, vol. 3
• “Seahorse” (translated by Ted Goossen) in Monkey, vol. 2
• “Simone + Reminiscing” (translated by Ted Goossen) in Monkey, vol. 1
• “The Hut on the Roof” (translated by Lucy Fraser) in The Book of the City of Tokyo
• “Mogera Wogura” in (translated by Michael Emmerich) New Penguin Parallel Text: Short Stories in Japanese
• “Kamisama” (translated for Japanese language learners by Michael Emmerich) in Read Real Japanese Fiction: Short Stories by Contemporary Writers

This episode also mentions:

• The Emissary by Yoko Tawada (translated by Margaret Mitsutani)
  • also published in English as The Last Children of Tokyo
• Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure by Hideo Furukawa (translated by Akiko Takenaka and Doug Slaymaker)
  • Read excerpts for free at Words without Borders.
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
• *Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura (translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida)
• *The Legends of Tono by Kunio Yanagita (translated by Ronald A. Morse)
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Basho (translated by Noboyuki Yuasa)
• Since Fukushima by Ryoichi Wago (translated by Ayako Takahashi and Judy Halebsky)
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (English language)
• *Tono Monogatari by Shigeru Mizuki (translated by Zach Davisson)
  • Read my review of Tono Monogatari in Asian Review of Books.
• *The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe (translated by Dale Saunders)

*These books come up for discussion in the bonus content available to Patreon supporters.

More Fukushima Fiction:

• 2:46: Aftershocks—Stories from the Japan Earthquake (free copy available at Quakebook.org)
• The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase (translated by Alison Watts)
  • Read my review of The Boy and the Dog at Asian Review of Books.
• The Emissary by Yoko Tawada (translated by Margaret Mitsutani)
  • also published in English as The Last Children of Tokyo
• Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure by Hideo Furukawa (translated by Akiko Takenaka and Doug Slaymaker)
  • Read excerpts for free at Words without Borders.
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
• March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown (edited by David Karashima and Elmer Luke)
• The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina (translated from the Italian by Lucy Rand) 
• Sacred Cesium Ground and Isa’s Deluge: Two Novellas of Japan’s 3/11 Disaster by Yusuke Kimura (translated by Doug Slaymaker)
  • Read more about Sacred Cesium Ground from RJL.
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (English language)
• Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles)
  • Learn more about Yu Miri and Tokyo Ueno Station with the RJL podcast.
• Trinity, Trinity, Trinity by Erika Kobayashi (translated by Brian Bergstrom)
  • Read my review of Trinity, Trinity, Trinity at Asian Review of Books.

Find a list of Fukushima fiction available in English at Bookshop.org.

Find Out More

“Quake Moves Japan Closer to U.S. and Alter’s Earth’s Spin” in The New York Times” (March 13, 2011).

“Tsunami, Earthquake, Nuclear Crisis—Now Japan Faces Power Cuts” in The Guardian (March 13, 2011).

“Japan Damage Could Reach $235 Billion, World Bank Estimates” in The LA Times (March 21, 2011).

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Tokyo Weekender’s list of books from every prefecture in Japan. Six of Japan’s 47 prefectures fall in the Tōhoku region: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.

A video of Shinzo Abe’s appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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“A Wave of Imagination Followed Japan’s Meltdown” by Susan Wyndham in The Sydney Herald.

Poetry by Ryoichi Wago available at Poetry Northwest. Translated by Ayoko Takahasi and Judy Halebsky.

“Speaking as an Unrealistic Dreamer”. Haruki Murakami’s International Catalunya Acceptance Speech in July 2011.

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Tokyo Ueno Station author Yu Miri talks with translator Morgan Giles in 2021. Their conversation includes Miri’s reflections on Tōhoku, where she has lived since 2015.

“Fukushima During Coronavirus: Life in Double Isolation” by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles).

RJL on the Fukushima novel Sacred Cesium Ground.

The Books and Boba podcast on Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being. 1 hour, 17 minutes.

My review of Erika Kobayashi’s Trinity, Trinity, Trinity in Asian Review of Books.

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Tokyo Ueno Station author Yu Miri talks with translator Morgan Giles in 2021. Their conversation includes Miri’s reflections on Tōhoku, where she has lived since 2015.

“Fukushima During Coronavirus: Life in Double Isolation” by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles).

RJL on the Fukushima novel Sacred Cesium Ground.

The Books and Boba podcast on Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being. 1 hour, 17 minutes.

My review of Erika Kobayashi’s Trinity, Trinity, Trinity in Asian Review of Books.

–

Anne Meadows interviews Hiromi Kawakami for Granta Magazine. 15 minutes. Kawakami discusses her response to 3/11 beginning around the 9-minute mark.

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“Worldwide Responses to the 20 Millisievert Controversy” in The Asia-Pacific Journal” (2012). As discussed in the episode, Japan raised the recommended limit on exposure to radiation from 1 to 20 mSv in April 2011. This page links a number of responses from various media organizations and NGOs inside and outside of Japan.

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“Strong Women, Soft Power.” Both Lucy North and Allison Markin Powell have translated Kawakami’s work.

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Japanese Literature at Facebook

Japanese Literature at Goodreads

Other RJL Episodes of Interest:

• Episode 14: Banana and the Bubble. The 1980s were a high point for nihonjinron or “theories of Japanese-ness”. These ideas were part of a lot of the Japanese government’s rhetoric after 3/11.
• Episode 15: Translating Japanese Women. Strong Women, Soft Power translators Lucy North and Allison Markin Powell have both translated work by Hiromi Kawakami. 
• Episode 16: Writing about Japan’s “Have-Nots”. The protagonist of Tokyo Ueno Station is a man from the Tohoku region. He and the other homeless residents of Ueno Park have suffered in the aftermath of 3/11. Yu Miri is a vocal spokesperson for the Tohoku region.
• Episode 19: Japanese Magical Realism. Hiromi Kawakami is a prominent contemporary magical realist writer. This episode opens with her story “Weightless”.
• Episode 20: The Akutagawa Prize and Kobo Abe. Kawakami won the Akutagawa Prize for “A Snake Stepped On” in 1996. (“A Snake Stepped On” appears in the English-language collection Record of a Night Too Brief, translated by Lucy North.) The Woman in the Dunes takes place in Yamagata Prefecture of the Tohoku region.

Sources

Ardou, Deibito. “Japan Needs Less Ganbatte, More Genuine Action” at The Japan Times, 2011.

DiNitto, Rachel. Fukushima Fiction: The Literary Landscape of Japan’s Triple Disaster. U of HI, 2019.

Fincher, Alison. “‘Trinity, Trinity, Trinity’ by Erika Kobayashi” at Asian Review of Books, 2022. (free)

Gebhart, Lisette. “Post-3/11 Literature: The Localisation of Pain—Internal Negotiations and Global Consciousness” in Literature and Art after ‘Fukushima’: Four Approaches. Ed. Lisette Gebhart and Yuki Masami, Eb-Verlag, 2014.

Gebhart, Lisette and Yuki Masami, eds. Literature and Art after ‘Fukushima’: Four Approaches. Eb-Verlag, 2014.

Hopson, Nathan. Ennobling Japan’s Savage Northeast: Tōhoku as Japanese Postwar Thought, 1945-2011. Harvard U Asia Center, 2017. 

–. “Systems of Irresponsibility and Japan’s Internal Colony” in The Asia Pacific Journal, 2013. (free).

Ichikawa Makoto. “The Mire and a Shovel” (translated by Christopher Lowy) in Shinsai to fikushon no ‘kyori’: Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthquake. Edited by Yoshikawa Yasuhisa, Waseda, 2012.

Kimoto Takeshi. “Post-3/11 Literature: Two Writers from Fukushima” in World Literature Today, 2012.

Luke, Elmer and David Karashima, eds. March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown. Vintage, 2012.

Mihic, Tamaki. Re-Imagining Japan after Fukushima. Australian National University Press, 2020. (free via Australian National University)

Miyazawa Kaoru. “Becoming an Insider and an Outsider in Post-Disaster Fukushima” in Harvard Educational Review, 2018. (free)

Murakami Haruki. “Speaking as an Unrealistic Dreamer” (translated by Emanuel Pastreich) at The Asia-Pacific Journal, 2011. (free)

Norimatsu Satoko. “Worldwide Responses to the 20 Millisievert Controversy” in The Asia-Pacific Journal (2012). (free)

Pepi, Ronalds. “The Ruptures of Rhetoric: Cool Japan, Tokyo 2020 and Post 3.11 Tohoku” in New Voices in Japanese Studies, 2019. (free via Japan Foundation)

Pilling, David. Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival. Penguin, 2015.

USA Today. “U.S. Donations Not Rushing to Japan” at 11 Alive Atlanta, 2011. (via Archive.Today)

Yoshikawa Yasuhisa, ed. Shinsai to fikushon no ‘kyori’: Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthquake. Waseda, 2012.