What we know about disasters, we know from the media. The medium forms the message, so media forms the disaster, what we think it is and - maybe - what it is like to be in it. While for millenia natural disasters remained engimatic for the very practical reason that...
In Germany as well as in many other countries, images of extreme floods often found their way on postcards. Here is a selection of postcards. (click on the image to find the online source) 1909 1910 1914 1920 1920 1929 2002 undated postcard from Tokyo, Japan undated...
2019 Japanese anime movie "Children of the Sea" (original title: 海獣の子供, which translates roughly as "Children of Sea Monsters") is set in a fictitious island in the Okinawa region of Japan. The movie directed by Ayumu Watanabe puts a lot of effort into creating the...
"Hundreds of tsunami stones stand along the coast of Japan, stark warnings and reminders of the devastating impact of the country’s all too frequent tidal waves. The oldest were erected more than 600 years ago; some have been washed away by ever more powerful waves."...
In her book published in 2013, Sri Lanka born academic and writer Deraniyagala describes her experiences as a flood victim in the Tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean, refered to in English speaking countries as "Boxing Day Tsunami". Much of the book is devoted to her...
Waves are a popular element in Japanese arts and crafts, particularly in the many wood carvings from the 19. century, like the famous "Great Wave" (around 1830) by Hokusai. Here is an example, a small saucer from a random Asian food store in Germany: In an...
Tōrō nagashi ( 灯籠流し or 灯篭流し) is a Japanese ritual usually performed as part of the Festival of the Dead - O-bon (お盆) or Bon - in summer but also in connection to various other important events. In the ceremony people set lit paper...
In his beautifully written account of the 2011 tsunami in Tohoku, northern Japan, and it's aftermath, Richard L. Parry also describes the role of the cult of ancestory in grievance for those who died in the tsunami. Vacant home addresses for example play a recurring...
In japanese culture, disasters are commonly interpreted as a call and chance for renewal. The then governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara published a statement only two days after the Tsunami of March 2011 calling "the disaster a punishment from heaven because Japanese...
Japanese culture has a long history of natural disasters, mostly earth quakes. Also the so called Triple-Disaster of 2011 was caused by an earthquake, which caused a Tsunami and then the explosions at the Fukushima atomic plant. In Japanese culture the catfish...