Fukushima,’ New Media and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Japan 「腹を立てよ!」フクシマ、新しい伝達手段、日 本における反核運動
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Volume 9 | Issue 47 | Number 1 | Article ID 3649 | Nov 26, 2011 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Indignez-Vous! ‘Fukushima,’ New Media and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Japan 「腹を立てよ!」フクシマ、新しい伝達手段、日 本における反核運動 Nicola Liscutin Indignez-Vous! ‘Fukushima,’ New Media and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Japan Nicola Liscutin Good-bye Gempatsu Demo. From: Sekai kara gempatsu nakusō konsāto burogu1 Indignez-vous! Get angry, resist and fight against the blatant social injustices in our Following Hessel’s cry for a non-violent, world! Thus Stéphane Hessel, the 93-year old democratic uprising, young Spanish protestors French former Resistance fighter, called on the named their movement ‘the Indignant.’ youth in France, and everywhere else, in his Although Hessel does not draw explicitly on his inspirational pamphlet published in France in philosophy, it was Spinoza who highlighted in 2010. It has since been translated into dozens his Ethics and, especially, in his unfinished of languages, though not yet intoPolitical Treatise (both published posthumously Japanese.2 Indignation, for Hessel, provided the in 1677) the motivational power of indignation fundamental motivation for the Resistance incited by ‘some common injury’ that goads movement in Nazi-occupied France, and he citizens to revolt against those in finds plenty of reasons for outrage today. authority.3 ‘Human beings,’ in Spinoza’s 1 9 | 47 | 1 APJ | JF influential formulation, ‘are led more by affect Are we witnessing the formation of a than reason’ – from which follows that ‘the ‘multitude’ in Japan rallying around the issue of multitude’ is led by ‘somecommon nuclear energy and rising up against the affect.’4 Spinoza wisely anticipated that ‘the ‘atomic village’ (gempatsu mura)8? This might power of the commonwealth, and its right, are be wishful thinking. Yet, the ikari’‘ (anger) diminished insofar as it offers causes for more signs on the many flags of the large Fukushima human beings to conspire together.’5 contingent, and the quotes from Indignez vouz! on some posters, at theSayonara Gempatsu Anti-nuclear activism in Japan has grown at rally bespoke the very real sense of indignation astonishing speed in response to the(with more than just a nod to people’s uprisings Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis and its in Arab countries, Spain, or Greece). Even the handling by the authorities. Over the past mainstream media could no longer afford to months, not a week has gone by without anti- ignore this impressive anti-nuclear power nuclear protests taking place somewhere in demonstration, which drew individuals and Japan (see the nation-wide action calendar). In organizations from all over Japan to gather in September, an intriguing array of new and the capital and place center stage the plight of established citizens’ movements had called for the victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear an ‘anti-nuclear action week’ that was packed crisis in particular, and the nuclear power with rallies, lectures, symposia, filmsystem in general. This indignation - the screenings, exhibitions and various other outrage at being ‘abandoned’ hōki( sarete shimatta) by the forces of the ‘atomic village’ – events. On 9.11, protests were staged across appears to fuel the development of new forms Japan, with three demonstrations in Tokyo and movements of resistance in Japan. In order alone. The action week culminated in a c. to affect change, this fairly loose network of 60,000 people rally in Meiji Park on September anti-nuclear activist groups has to ‘connect to 19 (link) kicking off a movement to collect 10 act’9 and shape as it were, ‘astrategy of million signatures for the Sayonara Gempatsu indignation.’10 To these ends independent petition (link). Given that by the summer, alternative media are playing an important forgetting seemed already to have begun, at role, as I hope to show in this paper. I shall least beyond Tōhoku,6 the nation-wide spread focus here on forms of participatory/civic of these protests and their demographics are journalism through Internet-based TV media, remarkable: from seasoned demonstrators to which position themselves between the many who confessed that this was their intervention (media activism) and alternative very first protest action; from families bringing news production; between promoting their toddlers and children, to teenagers, awareness-raising and witnessing/ students, freeters, the middle-aged, anddocumentary record-keeping, and which, in pensioners. These demonstrations may still be sum, contribute significantly to the formation of small by comparison to the largest historical networks of solidarity. Typically, these media demonstrations, but as Karatani Kōjinaim to encourage people to become emphasized in his speech at the Shinjuku rally, ‘mediactive’11 and to participate in, or create ‘by demonstrating we create a society that will their own, issue-based social networks. In 7 protest.’ He urged the Japanese to at last ‘own’ comparison to Canada and the US, civic their fundamental democratic rights byjournalism (and public access media) is still a exercising them. It now looks as if many fairly recent phenomenon in Japan. Events Japanese have taken Karatani’s rallying cry to since 3.11, however, have given the heart, for anti-nuclear events continue across development of Japanese civic media a strong the country and across the social spectrum. push and highlighted the importance of their 2 9 | 47 | 1 APJ | JF role as social intermediaries (and networking media. mediators) for a citizenry that has grown frustrated with the information politics of the To grasp the possibilities, and make sense of state and its allied mass media.12 the complexities, of these new (visual) mediation technologies and their adaptation by Research on the connections between new alternative, independent media outlets, I have media and (new) social movements – the ways found three studies particularly useful: in which social movements utilize ICTsLievrouw’s concept of mediation and her (information and communication technologies) analyses of the ‘genres’ of new media (2011)21; for protest, and the ways in which ICTs affect Deuze’s work on ‘participation, remediation, the formation and structure of socialand bricolage’ as ‘principal components of a movements – has been flourishing over the past digital culture’ (2006)22; and Castells’ seminal 10-15 years. Studies on the ‘network society,’ study Communication Power (2009), in which on the associations between networks,he argues that ‘power is primarily exercised by communication and social movementsthe construction of meaning in the human mind (Castells13, Diani14), on cyberprotest and media through processes of communication enacted in activism (van de Donk et.al.15; Kellner and global/local multimedia networks of mass Kahn16) or alternative, ‘we’ and Indy-media communication, including mass self- (Atton17; Couldry and Curran18; Bowman and communication.’23 I return to these studies Willis19; Pickard20; Lievrouw) – to list just a below, but want to look briefly here at those fraction of the recent research areas – have concepts developed by Castells, which have offered important insights into theprovided motivation and framework for my consequences of the new communication modest study of independent, Internet-based technologies and their utilization on political TV media in Japan and the ways in which these processes, and contributed significantly to the alternative media seek to intervene in the debate on whether new media have (or will?) ‘communication networks that organize radically transformed democracy. But as socialized communication.’24 In the several researchers admit, the theory on new contemporary network society, media and social movements is fated to be ‘programming/reprogramming’ and ‘switching’ outrun by both the rapid development of ever (i.e. connecting different) networks are, ‘newer’ communication technologies (and their according to Castells, the ‘two basic usage) and the recent proliferation of people’s mechanisms’ by which power is exerted and uprisings around the globe. For example, the sustained.25 ‘Programming’ refers to ‘the ability many excellent studies of alternative media to generate, diffuse, and affect the discourses that focus largely on Indymedia – both the that frame human action.’ ‘Switching’ refers to phenomenon and the brand – created in the the control over connecting different networks context of the anti-globalization protests at the for the purpose of ‘strategic WTO Meeting in Seattle in 1999. But the role of cooperation.’26 While corporate global networks mobile live-/video-streaming technologies or of mass communication (Castells uses as one Twitter in communicating, and reporting on, for example Murdoch’s media empire) hold much instance, the uprisings in Arab countries or, for network-making and programming power and that matter, the new anti-nuclear activism in seek to preserve their hegemonic position by post-3.11 Japan have yet to be fully analyzed. switching and gatekeeping, the new digital My investigation aims at contributing some communication technologies also facilitate empirical material and qualitative analyses to interactive, horizontal networks which the enquiry into the usage and (potential) ‘decisively increase the autonomy of effects of live-/video-streaming alternative communicating subjects vis-à-vis 3 9 | 47 | 1 APJ | JF communication corporations, as the users investigates the role of emotions in shaping become both senders and receivers ofpolitical behavior with