Dealing With Disaster in Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash
Christopher P. Hood
Just as the sinking of the Titanic is embedded in the public consciousness in the English-speaking world, so the crash of JAL flight JL123 is part of the Japanese collective memory. The 1985 crash involved the largest loss of life for any single air crash in the world. 520 people, many of whom had been returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival, were killed; there were only four survivors.
This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for many Japanese. It shows how the Japanese responded to the disaster: trying to comprehend how a faulty repair may have caused the crash, and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site; how the bereaved dealt with their loss; how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster; and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. The book highlights the media coverage of anniversary events and the Japanese books and films about the crash; the very particular memorialization process in Japan, alongside Japanese attitudes to death and religion; it points out in what ways this crash both reflects typical Japanese behaviour and in what ways the crash is unique.
This book is likely to provide a useful framework for students and others writing dissertations, essays and other work on the Great East Japan Earthquake.
For further details see http://www.hood-online.co.uk/JL123/Book1/contents.php
A 20% discount flyer is available at http://www.hood-online.co.uk/JL123/Book1/flyer.pdf
A review copy can be requested at http://www.routledge.com/resources/review_copy_request/9780415456623/
A library request form can found at http://www.routledge.com/resources/librarian_recommendation/9780415456623/
There will also be a book launch on 28 October at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in London. Further details will be on their website in due course.
Regards,
Christopher Hood
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Dr Christopher P. Hood
Director, Cardiff Japanese Studies Centre, Cardiff University