著者

中島 みゆき

出版者

地域社会学会

雑誌

地域社会学会年報 (ISSN:21893918)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.32, pp.121-135, 2020-05-25 (Released:2021-11-26)

参考文献数

17

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“Maintaining community” sentiments is said to be essential for communities in the recovery process from large-scale disasters. However, it is never clear just what this “community” can be and how it should be maintained. The community itself becomes divided through displacement and relocation. As livelihood and structure are upended, people become disconnected from their local environment, and symbols representing their local identity (such as festivals) are lost. They are faced with new circumstances in which they have to seek new connections in an entirely different space. This case study is based on research related to the displacement of communities due to mass emigration in the Okawa Area of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, following the devastating tsunami, caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This projected started in 2016 with the interviews of residents while they were creating miniature models of their communities, and formed the data for the analysis. In the Okawa area, four villages (approximately 400 households) relocated toward the inland, about 15 km from where they used to live. Prior to the disaster, each community contained a cooperative association for jointly managing festivals and was also in charge of the surrounding forest areas. However, such activities ceased following the difficulties faced by community members as they remain confined to their temporary housing setups. Okawa Elementary School lost 84 children and teachers in the disaster. Some residents wanted to demolish the school building itself to erase the memory of the disaster, while others wanted to preserve it, indicative of a conflict of interests amongst residents. Under these circumstances, residents were made to participate in five week-long workshops, alongside members of the “Lost Homes Project,” as an attempt to preserve memories of the community by creating miniature models. With an organization of fishermen at its center, the project was run by a group of four university labs, gathering participants across several villages and from different walks of life. Three recurring themes were noticed when residents created narratives using miniatures: natural landscape (the ocean and rivers, and related activities), facets of society (schools buildings, etc.), and lifestyle (daily life, festivals). Community members’ relationship with nature, with each other, and with local organizations were understood through these narratives. As cultural symbols, conventions, and local property had become difficult to maintain due to mass displacement, they strove to preserve their “sense of community” by sharing memories about their communities, while also building new interpersonal connections.