Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You

Out of the Rubble

The terrifying images from Japan of tsunami waves, the earthquake, and failing nuclear reactors is sobering, saddening, and heartbreaking. How can the country, especially those people in villages that were utterly destroyed, face another day? Just as any country on the Pacific Rim has had its share of earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and tsunami waves, Japan has endured through previous tragedy, both natural and man-made. The opportunity to rebuild after utter destruction can even have unexpected positive effects, suggest some. Japan may see an economic boost that it hasn't experienced in decades because of the investments in rebuilding the country. And Lesley Downer points to the Japanese national character that will allow them to rebuild bigger and better than ever, as they have done after past disasters.

An earthquake in September 1923 destroyed Yokohama and most of Tokyo, killing 100,000 to 140,000 in the earthquake and resulting firestorms. Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II suggests that the ensuing chaos, which resulted in attacks on Koreans living in Japan, the establishment of martial law, and high unemployment, created a situation ripe for the Nationalist fervor that was to grip the country and make it an aggressor in World War II. Joshua Hammer largely focuses on the American perspective in his book, and it is more on the popular end than the scholarly history end of the continuum of disaster narratives. If eyewitness accounts of tragedy are in your reading pile, this should fit in.

Is there any way to say this politely? This country dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people, and completely destroyed two cities. The situation at the time may have allowed the US to make that decision, but after seeing the consequences, I don't think any nation of conscience could make the same choice. The suffering of ordinary people in war, especially children, is horrible to witness, but the Japanese comic series Barefoot Gen will make you want to keep reading. Author Keiji Nakazawa was seven and living in Hiroshima with his family in 1945. This series is his semi-autobiographical account of the bombing, his harrowing account of survival in the days after, and the long-term effects the bomb has on his family, his friends, and the country. Despite the many losses Gen suffers, his spirit is resilient, and this series will stay with you long after you finish reading.

On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released deadly sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and injuring hundreds of others. The extreme nature of this attack on the crowded Metro at rush hour had profound effects on Japanese society, and the nation was stunned by this group of well-educated people who had turned on the country. While the media was obsessed with the cult, its leader Shoko Asahara, and the trials of the perpetrators, the victims and their continued suffering didn't stay in the headlines. The novelist Haruki Murakami wrote Underground : the Tokyo gas attack and the Japanese psyche to report on the attacks and tell the stories of the ordinary victims of the attack. Most of the stories are shared as pure reportage and read like a transcript. Murakami, already a famous novelist in Japan at the time, was able to craft riveting interviews with his subjects. The first part of the book is dedicated to the attack and includes the voices of many people there that day and affected by the attacks, as well as some of the perpetrators. The second part of the book focuses on Aum, now known as Aleph, which still follows Asahara's teachings but has denounced the attacks.