Trade Center. This repetition reflects the extent of the trauma, which is permanently
engraved in the collective memory.
These representations superimpose the natural and technological dimensions of
the disaster. In the documentary The World after Fukushima [37], a lateral tracking
shot reveals a landscape devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Shots of
abandoned buildings and heaps of debris follow. The commentary indicates that the
accident was caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, but that the real
causes lie in the weaknesses of a system “whose arrogance was matched by its
blindness” [37]. These words modify the images by associating the damage caused
by the tsunami with the consequences of the accident. It is the infinite extension of a
war zone, says the narrator. In the documentary Fukushima, Particles and Mankind
(Fukushima, des particules et des hommes) [38], color drawings show familiar
places: a neighborhood, houses, cultivated fields. A whitish vapor, full of
radioactive particles, spreads over the scene. This represents the ‘invisible evil’. It
emphasizes the deviousness of the threat, and calls into question the reliability of
our senses and reality.
The Fukushima accident is open-ended and illustrates the theory of the risk
society [28]. The documentary Fukushima, a step towards global contamination
(Fukushima, vers une contamination planétaire) [39] reveals that tuna caught off
San Diego (United States) were contaminated with cesium waste from the damaged
plant. The same observation is made in frozen fish sold in Switzerland. The
globalization of risks is such that all consumers are potential victims of Fukushima.
Furthermore, the disaster is shown to be a repeat of history. As the lateral tracking
shot in The World after Fukushima fades out, it is followed by a new shot. This
sequence consists of archive black and white images, recorded on August 6, 1945 at
Hiroshima. The landscape scrolls across the screen and ends with a field of ruins,
which appears to be the continuation of the previous shot. Hiroshima and
Fukushima are therefore merged into one, single atomic energy catastrophe.
11 The
analogy is highlighted by a vertical panorama from the Genbaku dome,
12 where the
sequence ends. The camera rests on the reflection of the building on the surface of
the River Ota, highlighting the parental relationship between the two events.
13
11
The Fukushima crisis accentuates the media conflation between the civilian and military nuclear
sectors, “The nuclear power plant is the twin sister of the atomic bomb: it uses the same, extremely
dangerous substances. Its civilian character does not remove that fact that is the twin of nuclear
weapons. The nuclear power plant is deadly technology that has been tamed” [40].
12
This building, built in 1915, is the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall at Hiroshima. It
was the only building left standing following the explosion of Little Boy. It has been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
13
The media has advanced many reasons for the development of nuclear power in Japan. According
to T. Tanaka, Professor at Hiroshima University, “It is precisely because we were victims of the
atomic bomb that the arguments of civilian nuclear supporters appealed to us. For them, the
technology that killed our loved ones could not only treat cancer, but also bring us comfort”. On the
other hand, for the essayist M. Katayama, nuclear power was developed in response to a desire for
revenge, “Based on the fact that Japan lost the war because of its scientific backwardness, we
concluded that we had to take our revenge by triumphing in exactly that domain” [41].
148
A. Portelli
engraved in the collective memory.
These representations superimpose the natural and technological dimensions of
the disaster. In the documentary The World after Fukushima [37], a lateral tracking
shot reveals a landscape devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Shots of
abandoned buildings and heaps of debris follow. The commentary indicates that the
accident was caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, but that the real
causes lie in the weaknesses of a system “whose arrogance was matched by its
blindness” [37]. These words modify the images by associating the damage caused
by the tsunami with the consequences of the accident. It is the infinite extension of a
war zone, says the narrator. In the documentary Fukushima, Particles and Mankind
(Fukushima, des particules et des hommes) [38], color drawings show familiar
places: a neighborhood, houses, cultivated fields. A whitish vapor, full of
radioactive particles, spreads over the scene. This represents the ‘invisible evil’. It
emphasizes the deviousness of the threat, and calls into question the reliability of
our senses and reality.
The Fukushima accident is open-ended and illustrates the theory of the risk
society [28]. The documentary Fukushima, a step towards global contamination
(Fukushima, vers une contamination planétaire) [39] reveals that tuna caught off
San Diego (United States) were contaminated with cesium waste from the damaged
plant. The same observation is made in frozen fish sold in Switzerland. The
globalization of risks is such that all consumers are potential victims of Fukushima.
Furthermore, the disaster is shown to be a repeat of history. As the lateral tracking
shot in The World after Fukushima fades out, it is followed by a new shot. This
sequence consists of archive black and white images, recorded on August 6, 1945 at
Hiroshima. The landscape scrolls across the screen and ends with a field of ruins,
which appears to be the continuation of the previous shot. Hiroshima and
Fukushima are therefore merged into one, single atomic energy catastrophe.
11 The
analogy is highlighted by a vertical panorama from the Genbaku dome,
12 where the
sequence ends. The camera rests on the reflection of the building on the surface of
the River Ota, highlighting the parental relationship between the two events.
13
11
The Fukushima crisis accentuates the media conflation between the civilian and military nuclear
sectors, “The nuclear power plant is the twin sister of the atomic bomb: it uses the same, extremely
dangerous substances. Its civilian character does not remove that fact that is the twin of nuclear
weapons. The nuclear power plant is deadly technology that has been tamed” [40].
12
This building, built in 1915, is the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall at Hiroshima. It
was the only building left standing following the explosion of Little Boy. It has been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
13
The media has advanced many reasons for the development of nuclear power in Japan. According
to T. Tanaka, Professor at Hiroshima University, “It is precisely because we were victims of the
atomic bomb that the arguments of civilian nuclear supporters appealed to us. For them, the
technology that killed our loved ones could not only treat cancer, but also bring us comfort”. On the
other hand, for the essayist M. Katayama, nuclear power was developed in response to a desire for
revenge, “Based on the fact that Japan lost the war because of its scientific backwardness, we
concluded that we had to take our revenge by triumphing in exactly that domain” [41].
148
A. Portelli