Nuclear Ghost: Atomic Livelihoods in Fukushima's Gray Zone"There is a nuclear ghost in Minamisōma." This is how one resident describes a mysterious experience following the 2011 nuclear fallout in coastal Fukushima. Investigating the nuclear ghost among the graying population, Ryo Morimoto encounters radiation’s shapeshifting effects. What happens if state authorities, scientific experts, and the public disagree about the extent and nature of the harm caused by the accident? In one of the first in-depth ethnographic accounts of coastal Fukushima written in English, Nuclear Ghost tells the stories of a diverse group of residents who aspire to live and die well in their now irradiated homes. Their determination to recover their land, cultures, and histories for future generations provides a compelling case study for reimagining relationality and accountability in the ever-atomizing world. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Estimated prefectureaverage effective doses to infants | 30 |
Minamisōma in 2014 | 39 |
figures | 45 |
A radiation monitoring post at Kita Hatohara Community Center | 63 |
Tengo preparing a garden at his temporary residence in Kashima | 86 |
The Compensation Game | 97 |
A conceptual diagram of the compensation game in Minamisōma | 108 |
Cloud Chamber at the Ibaraki Science Museum of Atomic Energy | 115 |
The front page of the booklet First Held in Minamisoma Radiation | 129 |
An evacuated room in Futaba town | 157 |
Accumulation of frecon baggu flexible containers in central Odaka | 166 |
Decontaminated waste in a temporary storage facility in Odaka | 172 |
A Wild Boar Chase | 211 |
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Common terms and phrases
Archive of Half-)Lives atomic Chornobyl Chornobyl accident city’s coastal Fukushima Compensation Game cultural damage decontamination decontamination workers dent despite environment environmental ethnography evacuation order evacuation zones experience fallout frecon baggu Fūhyō and Fūka Fukushima Dai-ichi Fukushima Nuclear Fukushima Prefecture Futaba Futaba district Futaba town Geiger counter genpatsu gray zone half-life half-life politics Haramachi haruki murakami Hatsumi higai human imagined individuals inside invisible issues Japan Japanese Kaleidoscopic Harm kasetsu Kashima Kashima district kilometers land livelihoods locals March Minamisōma Minamisōma residents Murakami Namie Naming the Nuclear Naoko Naraha Nishiyama nuclear accident nuclear energy nuclear ghost nuclear power plant Odaka Odaka district Oshima people’s persimmons postfallout potential presence of radiation radiation levels Radioactive Mosquitos radioisotopes radiological contaminants reactors region reopening resi Saeki scientific sense shapeshifting social Sōma state’s technoscientific Tengo TEPCO accident tion Tokyo told Toru tour town Tsubokura tsunami wanted