Bounce Forward: Economic Recovery in Post-Disaster Fukushima

Abstract

After the cascading disaster—earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident—in Fukushima on 11 March 2011, the Fukushima region is facing a significant reconstruction challenge. Contamination, economic downturn, depopulation, labor shortage, a damaged reputation, and public distrust must be overcome in order to ensure the future economic recovery of Fukushima. Based on field surveys of the affected areas and unstructured interviews with key informants such as local residents, government officials, and local businesses, this study analyses economic recovery in Fukushima. By exploring four key “pillar” areas of Fukushima’s economic recovery—renewable energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism—this paper gives an overview of how to rebuild industry in the shadow of nuclear pollution. The results show how the economic recovery in Fukushima has required adaptation and innovation by the local people, and the economic downturn has been reversed and subsequently improved. Across the pillar industries, innovative reconstruction projects have been pioneered and led by local residents and businesses. Fukushima’s industrial recovery has been facilitated by the efforts to make the livelihoods of local residents sustainable. It is argued that creative and sustainable economic recovery makes full use of people’s and businesses’ existing resources to transform the disadvantages caused by disasters into opportunities.