Poetry in an era of nuclear power

The March 11, 2011 disasters also released shock waves through the Japanese poetic world. After 3.11, poets writing from the disaster zone found a prominent place in the discourse unfolding across the nation. For instance, the Fukushima native Wagō Ryōichi turned to Twitter to distribute poems about his experiences, quickly gathering tens of thousands of followers. This chapter examines the critical responses to the disaster from Wagō, as well as from Takahashi Mutsuo and Arai Takako, two poets from outside the disaster zone. I argue that although they differ greatly in their approach, Fukushima forced all three to reconsider of the relationship between art, representation, and lived experience. (108 words)