ABSTRACT
The Fukushima disaster disproved the myriad apocalyptic predictions rampant in Japanese cultural production. DiNitto examines Shiriagari Kotobuki’s discourse on 3/11 in popular culture as conceived in response to Chernobyl. Shiriagari depicts the struggles of the ageing and the young, taking a new twist on Japan’s greying and low birth rate problems as exacerbated by the irradiated environment. While the artist depicts the somatic violence of radiation-induced human mutation as a form of human evolution, DiNitto suggests that futuristic imaginings in manga form recall Japan’s history of the Tokugawa-era isolation, war, and the post-war prosperity promised by nuclear power. At the same time, they reveal the tragic consequences of government lies and mismanagement, censorship and national amnesia.
