INTRODUCTION
Since March 11th, 2011, all the research institutes of the National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU) have worked on recovery and reconstruction support for the stricken areas in the Tohoku region. Each institute, building on its specialized knowledge and experience, has made good progress. On the other hand, it has become clear that restoring a local culture destroyed in a catastrophic disaster involves complex tasks and entails tremendous effort. To provide effective support, it is essential to deal with a local culture not piecemeal but as a whole. This requires careful consideration and the respect for diverse views that is characteristic of the “human sciences,” covering studies of history, literature, folklore, linguistics, archives, museums, information, and environment. In order to accomplish this mission, in April of 2012 NIHU started a collaborative research project entitled “Research in the Human Sciences on Catastrophic Disasters.”
This project is divided into three sections, and each section has two sub-sections.
A Research on reconstruction and revival of local culture and environment
Theme: Restoring ties between people that have been severed by a disaster
Goal: To revive and rebuild communities through dialects and festivals
- Transdisciplinary Study on Environment and Culture-conscious Reconstruction in the Sanriku Coastal Area (Lead researcher: KUBOTA Junpei)
- Study on the Preservation and Use of Dialects, with Particular Attention to Social Service, through Dialects in Disaster Areas (Lead researcher: KIBE Nobuko)
B Research on museum activities and collaborations
Theme: Protecting material cultural against disasters
Goal: To develop an effective system for preserving and restoring materials and for cooperation
between museums
- Museums and the Revitalization of Cultural Heritage: Towards the Practical Involvement of Inter-University Research Institutes in the Reconstruction process after the Great East Japan Earthquake (Lead researcher: HIDAKA Shingo)
- Study on the Catastrophic Disaster and Activity of the Museum in Large Area. (Lead researcher: KOIKE Junichi)
C Research on the preservation and use of materials
Theme: Maintaining documents and other paper-based materials and putting them to practical use
Goal: To implement a system for protecting paper documents against disasters and for restoring
documents that have been damaged
- Preservation and Use of Paper Documents after Disastrous Earthquakes (Lead researcher: NISHIMURA Shintaro)
- Solutions for Preserving and Using Paper Documents Damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake (Lead researcher: AOKI Mutsumi)
LINKS
- National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)
- National Museum of Japanese History (REKIHAKU)
- National Museum of Ethnology (MINPAKU)
- Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)
- National Institute of Japanese Literature (KOKUBUNKEN)
- National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL)
- International Research Center for Japanese Studies (NICHIBUNKEN)