Reconstructing 3/11: Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown - how Japan's future depends on its understanding of the 2011 triple disaster

by Jake Adelstein

One year after Japan was devastated by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in March, 2011, and all the problems this triple disaster caused are still not fixed. And the hard questions raised by the responses to the 3/11 crisis of both the Japanese government and the media still remain mostly, and unfortunately, unanswered.

“Reconstructing 3/11”, the first eBook from electronic publisher Abiko Free Press, draws on the experiences and expertise of noted journalists, independent writers, and Japan experts to take a close and insightful look at various facets of the 3/11 Disaster. From an assessment of what the Kan administration did right, to a first-hand account of what it took to volunteer for clean-up after the disaster, to an analysis of how Japan’s yakuza gangsters actually proved a force for good during the early stages of disaster recovery, “Reconstructing 3/11” reports on angles and attitudes about that fateful day which you likely didn’t get from your conventional media outlets.

Contributors to “Reconstructing 3/11” include Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein, M.I.T. Center for International Studies researcher Michael Cucek, Japan Times journalist Philip Brasor, and Kiyoshi Kurokawa, chairman and co-founder of Impact Japan, a think tank dedicated to fostering recovery in the Tohoku region through entrepreneurship and technology.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, History, Japanese Literature

101 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 8, 2012

About the author

Jake Adelstein has been an investigative journalist in Japan since 1993 and low-ranking Zen Buddhist priest since 2017--and is unlikely to ever achieve satori. That's okay. He's considered one of the foremost experts on organized crime in Japan and works as a writer and consultant in Japan, the United States and France. He is the author of Tokyo Vice: A Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage) and has written two other books published by Marchialy in France.

𝗝’𝗔𝗜 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗨 𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗔̂𝗠𝗘 𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 (I Sold My Soul For Bitcoins) 2019

Reviews

[Our Abiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the editor of this book, so I have nothing objective to say about it, but let me just state it is consciously not sentimental, it is not "disaster porn" it is somewhere between history, politics, journalism and blogging. It has personally moving tales and deep discussions about media, politics and the future of Japan that you would expect from eight 3,000-word essays. It's fearlessly independent and I say if you care about or have any interest in modern Japan, I'm sure you will get a lot from it. But, as I say, I'm biased.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and nuclear disaster over a year after the event. It's a well balanced group of articles ranging from politics to ongoing volunteer work.

[DolW · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in Japan when 03/11 occurred and since then I'm quite obsessed with any writing about the subject. I would not be able to say why but I need to read this kind of things.

I really like Jake Adelstein since I read "Tokyo Vice" when I was in a road trip in the north of Japan and I sometimes check his website and read some articles. It by his goodreads account that I find this book and I'm glad I did.

It's about "how to reconstruct Japan after fukushima". Not only in a physical way with buildings, roads and so on. It also concerns politics, medias, volounteer works, yakuza or charity. All of this theme in this book are incredibly interesting and because I was living in Japan at the time, the book had a great impact on me, it remembered me the TV I was watching to know what was happening in Fukushima, people giving money at Seiyuu for the victim reliefs and so on. I have to admit I got moved at one point.

This is a great book and it should be read if you have the smallest interest in Japan. It's easy to read, not long at all and it's full of optimism. It gives a good insight of what the future of this country can be and you can feel that all the writers are quite specialists in the country or/and at least they love it very dearly.