Book ID: CBB001420290

The Great Kantō Earthquake and the Chimera of National Reconstruction in Japan (2013)

unapi

Schencking, J. Charles (Author)


Columbia University Press


Publication Date: 2013
Physical Details: xxii + 374 pp.; ill.; maps; bibl.; index
Language: English

In September 1923, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated eastern Japan, killing more than 120,000 people and leaving two million homeless. Using a rich array of source material, J. Charles Schencking tells for the first time the graphic tale of Tokyo's destruction and rebirth. In emotive prose, he documents how the citizens of Tokyo experienced this unprecedented calamity and explores the ways in which it rattled people's deep-seated anxieties about modernity. While explaining how and why the disaster compelled people to reflect on Japanese society, he also examines how reconstruction encouraged the capital's inhabitants to entertain new types of urbanism as they rebuilt their world. Some residents hoped that a grandiose metropolis, reflecting new values, would rise from the ashes of disaster-ravaged Tokyo. Many, however, desired a quick return of the city they once called home. Opportunistic elites advocated innovative state infrastructure to better manage the daily lives of Tokyo residents. Others focused on rejuvenating society---morally, economically, and spiritually---to combat the perceived degeneration of Japan. Schencking explores the inspiration behind these dreams and the extent to which they were realized. He investigates why Japanese citizens from all walks of life responded to overtures for renewal with varying degrees of acceptance, ambivalence, and resistance. His research not only sheds light on Japan's experience with and interpretation of the earthquake but challenges widespread assumptions that disasters unite stricken societies, creating a blank slate for radical transformation. National reconstruction in the wake of the Great Kant Earthquake, Schencking demonstrates, proved to be illusive.

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Reviewed By

Review Alexander, Jeffrey W. (2014) Review of "The Great Kantō Earthquake and the Chimera of National Reconstruction in Japan". Environmental History (pp. 367-368). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001420290/

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Authors & Contributors
Loh, Shi-Lin
Amir, Sulfikar
Chelsea Szendi Schieder
Arupjyoti Saikia
Angela Marie Ortiz
Finn, Megan
Concepts
Disasters; catastrophes
Earthquakes
Technology and society
Tsunamis
Science and society
Nature and its relationship to culture; human-nature relationships
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
19th century
Modern
20th century, late
Early modern
Places
Japan
Tokyo (Japan)
California (U.S.)
San Francisco (California)
United States
Italy
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