Problems of disaster recovery in a shrinking society : Overcoming collective denial

ジンコウ　ゲンショウ　シャカイ　ノ　サイガイ　フッコウ　カダイ　シュウゴウテキ　ヒニン　ト　リョウロン　ヘイキ

Miyamoto, Takumi

サイガイ　ト　キョウセイ　ケンキュウカイ

災害復興

集合的否認

depopulation

disaster recovery

collective denial

A shrinking society, which experiences depopulation, aging and a low growth economy, poses new problems for disaster recovery. When people have fewer resources to solve problems of disaster recovery, they tend to deny the damage that a disaster caused. This paper introduces examples from recent disasters including the Osaka Northern earthquake (of June 18, 2018) and the West Japan flood in 2017. The concept of “collective denial” will be introduced and illustrated with the interpretative guidance of a movie entitled “Denial” which describes an historical revisionism around the Holocaust and notes “controversial arguments" for malicious purposes. This paper suggests that disaster recovery in a shrinking society must involve people who boldly embrace the need for recovery, even if it seems to be too tough to tackle.