ABSTRACT
In hindsight, it was not by chance that radiation threatened Fukushima. I have argued elsewhere that post-WWII neocolonial policies engineered in Tokyo led to the concentration of high-risk nuclear power plants in the Tohoku region. 1 WWII was devastating for Japan: the country lost one-third of its total wealth, up to one-half of its total potential income, and 40 percent of all urban areas. 2 Pressured by immense post-war reconstruction needs, the capital looked to Tohoku and other rural, poor, and aging regions as the suppliers of energy, food, and labor. This policy gained momentum after the failure of the Manchuria colonization, as Japan sought alternative sources of territories and resources. 3 Although secondary compared to their political and economic counterparts, architects and planners played an important role in steering post-war development. Today, fi ve years after the Tohoku earthquake, an interdisciplinary team has been formed to redevelop Fukushima, this time in the form of dark tourism. As the government’s post-quake reconstruction plans languish and
174,000 people remain in temporary shelters with little prospect of returning home or relocating to permanent housing, the dark tourism plan to capitalize on the triple disasters is attracting attention. 4 Whether a manifestation of shameless neoliberalism, a pragmatic recovery effort, or conceptual art, the proposal offers an opportunity to reveal and rethink the colonization of rural regions for the benefi t of cities.
