The
1950s have become something of a lost decade in historical recollections of
postwar Japan, and while U.S. foreign policy continues to be actively
opposed in certain parts of Japan, the vigorous grassroots protests against
the first security treaty have all but fallen into a black hole of memory.
As a complement to her award-winning documentary ANPO: Art X War,
Linda
Hoaglund looks back to this tumultuous decade as part of her
contribution to Visualizing Cultures, examining Japanese paintings that
critically and memorably engage the political struggles of the time.
What are the lessons of Fukushima for the future of nuclear power in
earthquake-ridden Japan? At a time when the Abe government is pressing for
restarts in the face of deep public opposition, Nassrine Azimi reflects on
the issues and options following a recent visit to some of the hardest-hit
localities in and around Fukushima three and a half years after the triple
disaster. "Years (and billions of yen) could well be spent shifting
topsoil, but would any young family be willing to raise kids there?"
she muses, from the wasteland of localities that may never be repopulated.
