various capitals (cultural, social, economic, and human) have still not been
recovered. Although the Namie local office planned for the returning process to start
from 2017, many issues and hurdles remains. Officers recognize their difficult tasks
still ahead. When we think of the effects of the NPP accident, we should consider
the complex influences of the NPP accident on the reconstruction process.
1.3 The 3.11 and Information Ecology
Keeping in mind the variety of continued damages and issues described above, we
should start to consider problems of social structure behind the 3.11 from the
viewpoints of “information” and “media.” Huge amounts of information and discourses concerning the 3.11 have persisted, and in our opinion, this is one of the
most significant features of the 3.11.
We surmise that many readers can imagine the effect of the Internet and social
network sites (SNSs) in the 3.11 contexts. Actually, the spread of information via
the Internet enables us to create and use large amounts of information. This situation has been reinforced by SNSs such as Twitter, Facebook, and so on. These
convenient informational tools set the base of information for volunteers in a
disaster.
However, we should take a point of view that there is an information gap
according to social stratum, income, age, etc. Looking at the status of Japanese
Internet usage just before the 3.11, the reports published by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications (MIC) in 2011, we can extract three important aspects:
• Generally speaking, the coefficient of use of Internet for elderly people is lower
than for younger people (e.g., 60–64 age, 70.1%; 65–69 age, 57.0%; 70–79,
39.2%; over 80, 20.3%).
• Families with low annual incomes have a low coefficient of use of Internet (e.g.,
under 2 million, 63.1%; 2 million to 4 million, 68.6%; over 6 million, over
80%).
• Use of Internet depends on the geographical area. The Tohoku region has a low
score compared to other metropolitan areas.
When we think of 3.11, we should take such conditions of the Japanese information society into account, in addition to destruction of information infrastructure.
Generally, the damaged areas from 3.11 are aging and low income communities.
Moreover, in the 1970s, Japanese society attempted to be a society where “all of the
citizens are middleclass.” As a result, many upper-middleclass people appeared.
However, looking at the media usage, the relationship between social class and
usage and thoughts regarding media has been discussed and investigated since the
2000s. Several gaps according to social stratum have been recognized, such as the
term “digital divide.” For example, lower social capital cultures use mobile phones
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recovered. Although the Namie local office planned for the returning process to start
from 2017, many issues and hurdles remains. Officers recognize their difficult tasks
still ahead. When we think of the effects of the NPP accident, we should consider
the complex influences of the NPP accident on the reconstruction process.
1.3 The 3.11 and Information Ecology
Keeping in mind the variety of continued damages and issues described above, we
should start to consider problems of social structure behind the 3.11 from the
viewpoints of “information” and “media.” Huge amounts of information and discourses concerning the 3.11 have persisted, and in our opinion, this is one of the
most significant features of the 3.11.
We surmise that many readers can imagine the effect of the Internet and social
network sites (SNSs) in the 3.11 contexts. Actually, the spread of information via
the Internet enables us to create and use large amounts of information. This situation has been reinforced by SNSs such as Twitter, Facebook, and so on. These
convenient informational tools set the base of information for volunteers in a
disaster.
However, we should take a point of view that there is an information gap
according to social stratum, income, age, etc. Looking at the status of Japanese
Internet usage just before the 3.11, the reports published by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications (MIC) in 2011, we can extract three important aspects:
• Generally speaking, the coefficient of use of Internet for elderly people is lower
than for younger people (e.g., 60–64 age, 70.1%; 65–69 age, 57.0%; 70–79,
39.2%; over 80, 20.3%).
• Families with low annual incomes have a low coefficient of use of Internet (e.g.,
under 2 million, 63.1%; 2 million to 4 million, 68.6%; over 6 million, over
80%).
• Use of Internet depends on the geographical area. The Tohoku region has a low
score compared to other metropolitan areas.
When we think of 3.11, we should take such conditions of the Japanese information society into account, in addition to destruction of information infrastructure.
Generally, the damaged areas from 3.11 are aging and low income communities.
Moreover, in the 1970s, Japanese society attempted to be a society where “all of the
citizens are middleclass.” As a result, many upper-middleclass people appeared.
However, looking at the media usage, the relationship between social class and
usage and thoughts regarding media has been discussed and investigated since the
2000s. Several gaps according to social stratum have been recognized, such as the
term “digital divide.” For example, lower social capital cultures use mobile phones
Deprivation of Media Attention by Fukushima Daiichi …
115