Imagining an Abandoned Land, Listening to the Departed after Fukush: Second Edition

What can the humanities contribute in the face of catastrophe?The events of March 11, 2011-the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident-profoundly transformed Japan's sense of reality and values. While scientists, medical experts, politicians, sociologists, and journalists responded with concrete measures, the humanities confront a different task: to question the concepts through which we understand humanity, nature, civilization, and history.Catastrophe exposes the fragile boundaries between humans and nature, humans and civilization, and humans and history. It forces us to reconsider our most fundamental assumptions about reality. Language and imagination may seem powerless before an event of such magnitude. Yet it is precisely through this experience of powerlessness that we are compelled to seek new words and images for a reality that exceeds our established frameworks.This book asks what the humanities can offer after catastrophe: not ready-made answers, but critical reflection, new ways of seeing, and the possibility of reimagining our relation to the world.