ABSTRACT
The 3.11 disaster reconfigured the real and imagined spaces of Tōhoku. This chapter analyzes fiction that maps the disaster zone via narratives of cultural trauma. Shigematsu Kiyoshi’s Map of Hope: The Tale of 3.11 emphasizes the local experience and constructs a consensual model of relief and recovery along a coastline devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Taguchi Randy’s In the Zone (I &II), however, depict the polarized environment of life in the irradiated areas, making it difficult for her protagonist to take sides in the nuclear debate. Both problematically restrict the disaster to Tōhoku, limiting its scope of relevance. (99 words)
