Law and Disaster

Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown in Japan
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-367-48132-2
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 456 g

On the 11th of March 2011, an earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale (the most powerful to ever strike Japan) hit the Tohoku region in northern Japan. The earthquake produced a devastating tsunami that wiped out coastal cities and towns, leaving 18,561 people dead or registered as missing. Due to the disaster, the capability of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), was compromised, causing nuclear meltdown. The hydrogen blast destroyed the facilities, resulting in a spread of radioactive materials, and, subsequently, serious nuclear contamination. This combined event – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown – became known as the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster.

This book examines the response of the Japanese government to the disaster, and its attempts to answer the legal questions posed by the combination of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. Japanese law, policy, and infrastructure were insufficiently prepared for these disasters, and the country’s weaknesses were brutally exposed. This book analyses these failings, and discusses what Japan, and other countries, can learn from these events.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Matsui, Shigenori

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsvergleichung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Staats- und Verfassungsrecht
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Verwaltungsrecht Verwaltungspraxis
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Zentralregierung
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Folgen von Katastrophen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Staats- und Regierungsformen, Staatslehre

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface; Introduction; 1. Japan and Earthquakes: Before the Tohoku Earthquake; 2. Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Aftermath; 3. Nuclear Meltdown in Fukushima; 4. Reconstruction of the Tohoku Region; 5. Aftermath of the Nuclear Meltdown; 6. Future of Law and Politics in Japan; Conclusion; Appendices; Index

Über Autor(innen)

Professor Shigenori Matsui is Director of Japanese Legal Studies, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada. He is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of Constitutional Law, Mass Media Law and Internet Law. Before joining the UBC Law School, he was a professor of Osaka University Law School. He has served for the Japanese government as a member of the National Freedom of Information Review Board, and as an examiner for the National Bar Examination Commission.