MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative

“MIT Perspectives on 3.11″ Symposium online

admin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:33:36 +0000

On March 25th, MIT Professors Joseph Sussman, James Wescoat, and Richard Samuels spoke at the “MIT Perspectives on 3.11″ Symposium hosted by the University of Tokyo. The event was chaired by Architecture Professor Toshio Otsuki and the discussant was Urban Engineering Professor Takashi Onishi, both of the University of Tokyo.

Below you will find the audio recording of the symposium, focusing on the professors’ research and findings in fields from civil engineering and systems research to landscape architecture to political science. The latter portion of the event, a discussion with Professor Onishi, will be posted soon.

MIT Inter-University Program in Japan (MIT iUP) / Fall 2012

admin — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:15:46 +0000

The MIT Inter-University Program in Japan (MIT iUP)’s recent activities from Fall 2012 in the Minamisanriku region of Tohoku are now live for viewing in this video compilation by participant Vanessa Powell of the University of Gloucestershire.

BEYOND_3.11 @ Gallery A4

admin — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:45:58 +0000

BEYOND_3.11
Minamisanriku
南三陸町

The Work of MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative 2011-2012
an Exhibit at Gallery A4 TOKYO
February 2013

Visitors to the exhibit listen to Goto Kazuma, one of the residents of Minamisanriku, tell the story of his experience during and after the earthquake tsunami.

Take a virtual tour of the exhibit :

For more information, read the introduction to the BEYOND 3.11 exhibit, in English.

Shun Kanda and Matthew Bunza speak at Columbia University / Barnard College in New York

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:49:27 +0000

On the 2nd anniversary of the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative director Shun Kanda, along with Matthew Bunza (Lecturer in Architecture at MIT) took part in a symposium at Columbia University / Barnard College entitled, “The Great East Japan Earthquake: Creative Responses & Social Imagination.”

Great East Japan Earthquake March 10, 2013 Symposium, Part 2 of 8 – Matthew Bunza & Shun Kanda (MIT) – YouTube

Alongside other speakers such as Chim↑Pom, Jake Price, Shimpei Takeda, Yuhei Suzuki, Alisa Prager, Kirsten Homma, Susan J. Onuma, Dr. Robert Yanagisawa, and Dr. Shunichi Homma; the symposium highlighting the diverse ongoing efforts of the respective speakers, asked questions about role of creative response, and reminded us all of the enormity of the work still left to be done in Tohoku.

Special thanks to Daiyu Suzuki, Nat Andreini, and the Consortium for Japan Relief for making the event possible.

More info can be found at:

About the Symposium | NYJAPAN311 | Consortium for Japan Relief

NTTdocomo funds Visualizing Iriya project

admin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:00:28 +0000

Visualizing Iriya:「生きてくる入谷物語」

NTTdocomo タブレットを活用した被災地復興プロジェクト
a joint project with NTTdocomo & MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative 入谷の人に、会いに行こう。

南三陸町の入谷という土地が元来もつ性質、及び歴史的な価値を、地域の生活空間や自然空間等の、緑地、または自然環境と構造物の総体としての環境を認識し、失われつつある地域独特の生活文化を呼び起こす。入谷の中で、時間を過ごし、場を感じとり、地元の人と出会う。口から口へと伝えられてきたこの土地にまつわる伝承、民話に関してヒアリングする。ひとつの土地にまつわる話しはひとつと限らない。尋ねる人、場所によって変化される幾つもの話しを、できる限り集めることを目指す。

タブレットを用いたフィールドワークはこの「尋ね歩き」のプロセスそのものが震災復興活動の主要な

部分であり、尋ね歩くよそ者との交流そのものこそが、縮小しつつあるまちに暮らす地元の方1人1人の活気を起こす。プロジェクトの仮定、引いていは実用化時点での、本プロジェクトの地元に対する貢献の成果として、今後長く役立のではないかと思う。

上で得られるアウトプットに合わせて、タブレットというデジタルデバイスを利用し、訪問者の入谷体験にどのような面白みを提供できるか。入谷を訪れた人々を、ファンとならしめ、再び訪れる理由を起こすものは何か。

タブレットというポータブルデバイスだからこそ、情報を提供する地元側と受ける側との個別、Face to Face の出会いの機会を作ることが可能ではないか。受け入れられる範囲での人の現在地のマッピング、訪問者がそうした語り部を担う地元の人を、訪れられるシステムつくりを提案する。その他にも、タブレット利用の可能性として、QR コード等の利用による現地に足を運ばなければ得られない情報の提供、過去の体験談や地域住民の体験談のデータベース化、GPS システムと連動した人々の現在地情報の提供等、また、Twitter や Facebook と連動した、訪問後のユーザーの体験のシェアシステムを想定する。

以上を、復興支援活動に端を発し、実用化に向ける本プロジェクトの地元へ還元されうる効果とする。人と人を結ぶ尋ね歩きのスタイルを可能にすることで、入谷の人を元気にできる。

Visualizing Iriya
Based on a map depicted entirely in text the original names of places in the mountain valley village of Iriya, Minamisanriku, this project will bring to life its unique historical relationships to past folklore including past tsunamis. Iriya lies at the foot of Tatsugane-yama (El.512m) inland from Shizugawa Bay and occupies an important place both in morphological and ethnological evolution within the greater Tohoku history. Much of this information has been lost however to the present generation of residents. The goals of this project is to utilize digital mapping techniques and the use of NTTdocomo tablet devices in the hands of local people to enliven its power of place amidst the gloom in the aftermath of 3.11.

MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative Team member Eric, in Minamisanriku, uses an NTT docomo Tablet to aid in their field work.

Taking notes and documentation with the tablet during a group meeting

MIT team members meet with local Japanese students in Iriya.

The MIT team spends some quality time with villagers in Iriya.

MIT Architecture graduate student Tyler with the NTT docomo Tablet back on campus.

Commemorating the 2nd anniversary of 3.11

admin — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:05:20 +0000

To commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the Japan 3/11 Initiative team designed and installed a 20 meter high banner in the MIT Media Lab building lobby (Building E14). The banner visualizes the average height of the tsunami waves as they hit land in the Minami Sanriku area. The banner continues to the 5th floor, where both there and on the first floor passersby could read more.

Photos by J. Ira Winder

MIT News / Japan after the disaster

admin — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:05:25 +0000

“When we talk about crises, they are instruments, or tools. [...] They’re not independently transformative. They’re tools in the service of people with preferences, and those preferences are remarkably sticky.”

Richard Samuels, in a recent article published in MIT News on Japanese politics and policy since the triple disaster in 2011

Event at MIT: BEYOND 3.11 on Thursday 3/14 at 6pm

admin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:36:56 +0000

Please join MIT graduate and undergraduate students and the Japanese Society of Undergraduates (JSU) for a talk and reception at MIT to hear updates from Tohoku as we observe the 2nd anniversary of the 2010 earthquake and tsunami.

When: 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Where: MIT Student Center Room 407 (Building W20)
Open to the general public
RSVP: Link (http://goo.gl/DeTUJ) or Facebook page
(Space is limited, so please RSVP)

Speakers:

Richard J. Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science; Director of the Center for International Studies, MIT
Shun Kanda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture; Director, MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative
Mio Yamamoto, Co-Founder and Director of World in Asia; Class of 2013, MIT Sloan School of Management

Topics:
“Using 3.11 for Policy Change” by Richard J. Samuels

Japanese political entrepreneurs used the catastrophe in Tohoku to nudge national policy in their preferred direction by constructing narratives and assigning blame for 3.11. Battles among competing perspectives on change and contested appeals to leadership, community, and risk have defined post-3.11 politics and public policy in Japan, particularly in the areas of national security, energy policy, and local governance.

“BEYOND 3.11″ by Shun Kanda

3 INSIGHTs_Toward Disaster-Resilient & Sustainable Futures for Minamisanriku; a report on the on-going work by the US and Japan-based MIT 3.11 Initiative team as we apprise our assistance continuing into the third year of recovery in Tohoku.

“Social Innovation from Tohoku” by Mio Yamamoto

How social entrepreneurs are addressing pressing social problems such as education, job creation, healthcare in Touhoku in collaboration with the private and public sectors.

For more information, contact: Mio Yamamoto, mioy AT mit DOT edu

MIT Japan 3.11 Exhibition at Gallery A4 in Tokyo

admin — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:49:59 +0000

This month, Gallery A4 in Tokyo is running a comprehensive exhibition featuring the MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative’s work on Post-Disaster, Resilient Reconstruction in Minamisanriku over the last two years.

The exhibition opens this week on February 7th, and runs through February 28th. We hope to see you there!

http://www.a-quad.jp/

Shun Kanda speaks at Nikkei BP Smart City Week 21 Symposium

admin — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 04:58:16 +0000

Shun Kanda, MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative Director, delivered a talk at the Nikkei BP Smart City Week 21 Symposium in Yokohama, Japan on October 30th, 2012.

For more information:

http://expo.nikkeibp.co.jp/scw/2012/conference/international/k1.shtml