Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and huge tsunami on 11 March 2011 that killed nearly 20,000 people and threatened the country — and it neighbours — with a Chernobyl-type nuclear catastrophe. A year later Japan continues to grapple with the impact and after-effects of the triple disaster. For many at the time, it seemed the disaster would trigger a national rejuvenation, freeing Japan from the previous two decades of economic stagnation and political torpor. It was hoped and expected that Japan would rise from the rubble and debris with renewed dynamism and strengthened bonds of national unity and social cohesion.
Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and huge tsunami on 11 March 2011 that killed nearly 20,000 people and threatened the country — and it neighbours — with a Chernobyl-type nuclear catastrophe. A year later Japan continues to grapple with the impact and after-effects of the triple disaster. For many at the time, it seemed the disaster would trigger a national rejuvenation, freeing Japan from the previous two decades of economic stagnation and political torpor. It was hoped and expected that Japan would rise from the rubble and debris with renewed dynamism and strengthened bonds of national unity and social cohesion.