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There are strong connections between memories of war and memories of disaster. I have discussed these in ‘Japanese war memories and commemoration after the Great East Japan Earthquake’ (not open access).
The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus has published dozens of articles about 3/11 over the years since the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami. Articles that particularly touch on war themes include:
Masuda Yoshinobu, “From “Black Rain” to “Fukushima”: The Urgency of Internal Exposure Studies”.
Takahashi Tetsuya, “What March 11 Means to Me: Nuclear Power and the Sacrificial System”.
And with a tourism angle too … Vivian Blaxell, “Sorrow, History and Catastrophe in Japan After the 3.11 Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown: A Personal Encounter”.
Fukushima 50
In the aftermath of the disaster, workers undertook almost suicidal missions to help prevent an even greater nuclear disaster. Their exploits drew many comparisons with the self-sacrifice of the kamikaze (see David McNeill, “A young man sacrificing his future to shut down Fukushima”) and were made into a major film.
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