The Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown: Towards the (Re)Construction of a Safe, Sustainable and Compassionate Society in Japan's Shrinking Regions

Japan’s rural regions have been shrinking for the entire postwar period, and successive efforts to revitalize rural society have failed. This article asks whether the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, present the Japanese state and society with a watershed opportunity to rethink regional revitalization and national energy procurement strategies. The article begins by summarizing the events of March and April 2011, examines possible approaches to the reconstruction of communities in the Tōhoku region, and critiques problems of governance in postwar Japan that the disaster reveals. The article concludes by pulling together the information and analysis presented into a discussion of the prospects for achieving the three point vision for a safe, sustainable, and compassionate society that Prime Minister Naoto Kan set the Reconstruction Design Council.