Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923Focusing on one landmark catastrophic event in the history of an emerging modern nation—the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1923—this fascinating volume examines the history of the visual production of the disaster. The Kanto earthquake triggered cultural responses that ran the gamut from voyeuristic and macabre thrill to the romantic sublime, media spectacle to sacred space, mournful commemoration to emancipatory euphoria, and national solidarity to racist vigilantism and sociopolitical critique. Looking at photography, cinema, painting, postcards, sketching, urban planning, and even scientific visualizations, Weisenfeld demonstrates how visual culture has powerfully mediated the evolving historical understanding of this major national disaster, ultimately enfolding mourning and memory into modernization. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Ansei Ansei Earthquake architectural artists asahi shinbun Asakusa Barakku Barrack Decoration Bijutsukan Buddhist burned catastrophe catfish cityscape commemorative Daigaku dead destruction devastated documentary Earthquake and Fire Earthquake Disaster Earthquake Memorial Hall Edo period event Exhibition film flames gaho gashu Ginza Goto handscroll Hanga Hifukushoato Honjo Clothing Depot imagery images Imperial Capital Reconstruction ink and color Japan Japanese Kant6 Kanto Daishinsai Kanto Earthquake Karyo Kindai Kitazawa Rakuten Koreans manga maps mass media Meiji Miyatake Gaikotsu modern Murayama Tomoyoshi narrative Nihon nihonga Nishizawa Tekiho October Osaka Osugi Sakae painting photograph Pictorial popular postcard postquake Press produced quake Rakuten Reconstruction Memorial Museum refugees representations ruins scene September 1923 Shakai Shinsai Kinen social spectacle spectacular Taisho Daishinsai Taisho Earthquake Takehisa Yumeji Teito fukko Tokyo asahi shinbun Tokyo Municipal Office Tokyo Shinsai tragedy Twelve Stories victims viewer vigilante Western-style woodblock print Yamamoto Yokohama Yomiuri shinbun Yoshiwara