Hazuki Kajiwara

Based on an oral presentation at the International Conference of Japanese Studies: ANIMALS IN JAPANESE CULTURE AND RELIGION The IX Days of Japan, the University of Warsaw, Poland, November, 2015.

This paper reports the contents of author's presentation at the International Conference of Japanese Studies: “Animals in Japanese Culture and Religion” in 2015. The purpose of this study is to consider some of the insights found in the academic literature and the popular print media concerning changes in the role of pets and in thinking about animal rights in Japan.

The study of disasters and animals has developed as a field for research in recent years. However, few studies have dealt with human-companion animal interaction after a nuclear disaster. This paper focuses on the problems faced by guardians seeking to maintain their relationship with their pets after Fukushima's nuclear disaster in March 2011. The fact that several hundred dogs and cats are still left behind even now five years later in 2016 in contaminated areas is overlooked even in Japanese society. This presentation explores the impact of the nuclear plant melt-down on owners and their pets.
The presentation reports on data collected from ten field trips to Fukushima between 2012 and 2015 that included interviews with 32 pet owners aged 30-85 (10 males and 22 females) and 3 animal rescue activists. Trap-Neuter-Return activities, feeding, walking and the sheltering of dogs were observed in the government-restricted areas. That data is further supplemented by a questionnaire survey to 200 evacuating pet owners.
Several findings emerged. First, most pet owners strove to maintain a relationship with their pets even those they risked being exposed to radiation. Second, most owners found it difficult to plan for the future owing to the lack of specific policy being provided by the authorities about rebuilding areas, seen cynically by many residence as an on-going campaign of misinformation and concealment. Third, information on the variation in levels of nuclear contamination, as released by the government, nevertheless influenced guardian-companion animal relationship in a complicated manner. Fourth, collectively these findings point to the fact that pet owners in Fukushima refuge areas are searching for a way to establish the right of pet owners to maintain their bonds with their pets. Since many nuclear power plants presently operate around the world, the ethnographic accounts of pet owners as nuclear refugees provide important knowledge for planning evacuations and social support for evacuees in the future.

In recent years the relation between humans and companion animals has been gotten increasingly affective. This paper explores the interaction between human and animals after a disaster. This presentation focuses on findings from a case study of owners and their companion animals after the nuclear disaster. On 11 March 2011 the northeast coast of Japan was struck the earthquake and tsunami. The Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant was seriously damaged by tidal waves and released much radiation. The large area in Fukushima　prefecture has been specified as the refuge area by the government. The evacuation area was divided into the three levels by the influence of radioactivity, such as 'Difficult-to-Return Zones', 'Zone in Preparation for The Lifting of The Evacuation Order' and 'Residence Restriction Area'. While some dogs and cats live in the temporary housing complex with their guardian, many companion animals are still left behind to　evacuation zone. Some guardians return to their own house at the evacuation area every day, in order to feed their companion animal. Moreover many activists of animal welfare are also working in this area in spite of the influence of radioactivity. Interviews, observation and fieldwork were used to assemble ethnographic accounts for 11 owners of companion animals who were assigned to temporary housing complexes where they are still living Three findings emerged and are the subject of this presentation. 

          First, even if the situation of animals is critical from a viewpoint of animal welfare, they never abandon the ownership of their companion animal. In the root of their behavior, there is a local philosophy for companion animals that very different from urban pet owners. Second, particularly the attachment of elderly guardians for their companion animal is very strong. Furthermore, the elderly people are seldom worried about the influence of radioactivity compared with the young people. Therefore, some unsolvable problems are left behind by the usual support method such as the animal shelter work. Third, the division of refuge zone has influenced the owner's behavior greatly. The guardians do not know whether or not they are able to go back to their own home. Though they may return to home, the time that their refuge life end is uncertain. Since their future is ambiguous, they hesitate to make decision about their companion animal.

It is hoped that the findings will contribute to the small but growing amount of qualitative research on human-animal relationships and interaction during and after nuclear disasters.

Note;
In this presentation, "companion animal" and "pet" are used interchangeably in the same way "guardian" and "owner". It is mainly for the sake of convenience.

This paper reports on the experiences of pet owners in Northeast Japan who were displaced by a large tsunami in March 2011. It comments on the rapid increase in pet ownership in the 1990s, and argues that a shift in attitudes regarding the role of pets in Japanese society may put Japan on a trajectory found in many other Western societies. At the same time, the paper argues that forces associated with a resurgent nationalism slow that transition conflict with the liberalizing influences associated with globalization.

The chapters in Part II and Part III seek to answer the research question 1: How did guardians and their companion animals survive the large disaster? In Part II, Chapters 3 and 4 give detailed accounts of guardians’ experiences in the northern areas hit by the tsunami, namely Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. Chapter 3 describes Mr. Ryoichi Suzuki’s experience of surviving the tsunami with his wife and their Shih Tzu dog, Baron. He spoke his belief that the baron saved his life from the tsunami. Since companion animals were not allowed in the initial accommodation for refugees, Ryoichi and his wife spent two months in their car with Baron before moving into temporary housing. Once accepted into the temporary housing complex, Ryoichi worked hard to establish a pet-centered community. The most noteworthy aspect of Ryoichi’s story during and after the disaster is that he always made decisions that prioritized Baron. His story is representative of those for whom their companion animal sits in the center of their life.

This paper explores the interaction between humans and their companion animals after the large tsunami which hit the northeast coast of Japan on 11 March 2011. Interviews, observation and fieldwork were used to assemble ethnographic accounts for 35 owners of companion animals who were assigned to temporary housing complexes where they are still living. A notion of “companion animal first” could be detected in the data.  This way of thinking might be defined as an ethical stance whereby the companion animal is given a very high value or net worth. Since there are few studies on companion animal in Japan at times when large-scale natural disasters occur, this research may contribute to the small but growing amount of qualitative research on human-animal relationships and interaction during and after disasters in an Asian country, thereby adding a sense of urgency to the need for comparative research in this important sphere of social life in most societies.

In this chapter, the factors of the complexity of Fukushima guardians’ behavior are considered. There interview data was further supplemented by a questionnaire survey completed by 74 guardians evacuated from the Fukushima area. As essential matters when nuclear power disasters occur, the following three factors are explained: (i) the lack of information and the safety myths, (ii) the uncertainty of reconstructing one’s life, and (iii) the uncertainty of “scientific” discourse on radioactivity. Whether the owners evacuated with their companion animals or left them behind was related to many factors, including the availability of a private car, the number of animals, the owner’s personality, social capital, etc. Simply focusing on owner attachment and disaster preparedness overlooks perhaps the most significant factor, the social framework of the nuclear disaster. The author suggests interpreting the complexity of owner behavior as an essential issue in a nuclear disaster rather than...

This chapter describes the action of 19 guardians in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures affected by the tsunami. In addition to the 19 guardians, 3 animal rescue activists and 6 other individuals involved were also interviewed, such as representatives of an animal welfare organization, a pet beauty parlor owner and a city bureaucrat. From the qualitative data, this chapter discusses the way the guardians survived. Furthermore, it narrates how those who lost a companion animal in the ordeal coped with grief. The author outlines four characterizing behaviors for survive in which the guardians can be groups. Four approaches are detected: confronting the system, making alternative arrangements, returning to a destroyed residence, and suffering in silence. Whatever they did, they prioritized companion animals at the expense of their own quality of life. The chapter ends by considering the qualities that defines the relationships between owners and their companion animals. Based on their evacua...

This paper explores the interaction between humans and their companion animals after the large tsunami which hit the northeast coast of Japan on 11 March 2011. Interviews, observation and fieldwork were used to assemble ethnographic accounts for 35 owners of companion animals who were assigned to temporary housing complexes where they are still living. A notion of "companion animal first" could be detected in the data.  This way of thinking might be defined as an ethical stance whereby the companion animal is given a very high value or net worth. Since there are few studies on companion animal in Japan at times when large-scale natural disasters occur, this research may contribute to the small but growing amount of qualitative research on human-animal relationships and interaction during and after disasters in an Asian country, thereby adding a sense of urgency to the need for comparative research in this important sphere of social life in most societies.

This March 11, marks 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Of course, we are now struggling coronavirus-related issues across the globe. Nevertheless, we should not forget about that Fukushima Daiichi (No.1) Nuclear Power disaster is still on going problem in Japan.
It is time to think of the victims and explore again what we have learned from the 2011 triple disasters.
The preface of my book, Surviving with companion animals in Japan: Life after a Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster (Palgrave Macmillan 2020.)

This book examines how relationships between guardians and companion animals were challenged during a large-scale disaster: the tsunami of March 2011 and the following nuclear disaster in Fukushima. The author interrogates: 1) How did guardians and their companion animals survive the large disaster?; 2) Why was the relationship between guardians and their companion animals ignored during and after a disaster?; and 3) What structures and/or mechanisms shaped the outcomes for animals and their guardians? Through a critical realist framework, combined with a theoretical perspective developed by Roy Bhaskar and his colleagues, the author argues that despite the trivialization of companion animals by government officials, relationships between animals and guardians were often able to be maintained, in some cases through great pains by the guardians. While the notion of human-animal relationships in Japan has thus far been dominated by economic logic, the author reveals dynamics between guardians and companion animal transcend such structures, forging the concept of “bonding rights.”