This paper aims to clarify what agenda settings are necessary for reforming Japanese society and reconstruction of local communities destroyed by the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster, focusing on the necessary changes in energy policy and measures for overcoming difficult situations for the areas that suffered from the disaster. The disaster raised various issues, the resolutions for which are necessary not only for the economic recovery of the affected areas but also for the political and social reform of Japanese society. In order to analyze defects of the decision making process before and after the disaster, a theoretical framework that distinguishes four types of arenas appears to be useful. They are the “arena of public discourse,” “arena of scientific discourse,” “arena of making policy plans” and “arena of political decision making”. Using this framework, we highlight defects in the preparation for dealing with important issues raised by the disaster.
Regarding the nuclear energy policy, the majority of Japanese public started to demand the government to work toward a nuclear free society. However, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has promoted the revival of nuclear power after its election victory in December 2012, neglecting democratic discussion with the public.
Regarding the areas affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, many residents have been obliged to evacuate from their home towns. The former residents of certain towns such as Namie, Ohkuma, Tomioka, Futaba and Iitate have little chance for a quick return in the near future. The residents have a difficult choice between leaving and returning to their home towns. It is therefore necessary to make a policy that establishes a “third way”, namely, “a return in the future after a long absence.” However, an agenda setting regarding this point has not been established by the national government or by Fukushima prefectural office.
Studying the lack of establishing agendas regarding the shift in energy policy as well as the “third way” for aras affected by the disaster, we analyze the inadequate relations between four types of arenas and why Japanese society lacks sufficient self-control abilities.

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The Great East Japan Earthquake resulted in the largest number of dead or missing persons in the history of Japanese disasters during the postwar period. Using Ben Wisner's model, “Hazards × Vulnerability = Disaster,” a substantial number of dead in this most recent disaster cannot be attributed to the enormity of the hazard alone. If so, why was the disaster so enormous? What problems persisted in Japan's disaster planning throughout its postwar history and the fundamental thinking at its foundation (i.e., disaster planning paradigm)?
The disaster planning paradigm in postwar Japan has the following characteristics: (1) scientism, (2) the rise of expected external forces, (3) government centric disaster planning, and (4) centralized disaster planning.
Japan had anticipated the scale of earthquakes and height of tsunamis, and advanced tsunami countermeasures based on those hazards are consistent with characteristics (1) and (2) of the disaster planning paradigm. However, various “unexpected” realities of both tangible and intangible varieties occurred, such as the scale of the earthquake, height of the tsunami, shore levee infrastructure, and evacuation procedures. The number of people who died because of these “unexpected” realities far exceeded expectations. Thus, it is necessary to reconsider characteristics (1) and (2) in Japan's disaster planning paradigm. Analysis of evacuation procedures indicate that methods for driving evacuation procedures within a government centric system, in which warnings are issued from a centralized authority and communicated to civilians (top-down system), is not sufficiently effective. Evacuation procedures employing the contributions of groups such as schools and communities are actually more effective, which suggests that we must reconsider characteristics (3) and (4) in addition to (1) and (2) in the disaster planning paradigm.
Based on the disaster experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, we conclude that there exists a need for a shift in the disaster planning paradigm that has been constructed in postwar Japan.

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This paper clarifies the adaptive practice to the disaster risk, by referring to several communities in coastal area of Miyagi Prefecture where they were severely suffered from the tsunami attack brought about by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Especially this research gives an attention to learn techniques which try to somehow coexist with, but not totally exclude, the disaster risk.
There are two directions in seeking the ways to deal with the disaster risks seen in the field of tsunami-damaged communities. One is the direction seeking to realise a situation that does not totally allow any physical loss or damage occurred by the tsunami which was just observed in the latest catastrophe by, for example, building a high seawalls or a withdrawal from the places where communities were originally placed. The other is a direction that aims to deal with catastrophic circumstances within community to reduce the disaster risk complex which lingers on for quite a while and produces difficulties in rebuilding survivours' life. This paper calls the latter as “holistic” approach by aiming at emphasizing the lingering nature of disaster risk and the difficulties to rebuild the life of survivours detached from their local land.
The disaster paternalism, which tries to persuade the victims to inhabit far away from the land attacked by the latest catastrophe, tends to perceive that it is unavoidable to carry out social exclusion of minorities or to bring about disparities within the communities as a result. On the other hand, community which accepts the disastrous situations holistically, play a role as a local safety net for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable community members. By taking a holistic approach, this paper shows that it contributes to reducing the disaster risk complex which continuously endangers sufferers even years after the earthquake.

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Over 6 thousands habitants have died by East Japan disaster in Iwate prefecture. Still now 36000 people continue to stay in collective shelter. Through Local governments have made their own Reconstruction Plan, we see empty land in coast area.
In 2011 research in Otsuchi town, while we find serious situation, refuge action, mutual help in the shelters, it is needed to exam factors of disaster death by tsunami. And we point the importance of local culture as a symbol for reconstruction.
In another research in Kamaishi city, we recognize commons especially sheared by many habitants are serious barrier to gain the space for reconstruction. And the lack of self decision making ability by local government is main factor for slow pace of reconstruction.
Finally we point out 4 factors for proceeding reconstruction. First is to analyze real factor of amount of death by tsunami, second is to pay attention to the existence of local culture and that value or function for reconstruction, third is to maintain habitants' concern to their home town during refuging life, Forth is to establish the autonomy system for decision making by habitants and local government to solve problems of reconstruction.

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Multiple nationwide opinion surveys, carried out by the government (cabinet office), major media (national newspapers and NHK), the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, have revealed that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident have heightened people's perception of disaster risks, fear of nuclear accident, and recognition of pollution, and have changed public opinion on nuclear energy policy. The gap of opinion on nuclear energy policy between specialists and lay people has widened after the disaster.
The results of Japanese General Social Survey data show that the objection to the promotion of nuclear energy is strong among females, and weaker among young males and the supporters of the LDP. This is similar to the data collected after the Chernobyl accident. Among people who live in a 70km radius of nuclear plants, those who live nearer to plants tend to evaluate nuclear disaster risks higher. Distance from nuclear plants and the perception of earthquake risk interactively correlate with the opinion on nuclear issues: among people whose evaluation of earthquake risk is low, those who live nearer to the plants are more likely to object to the abolishment of nuclear plants. It is also found that the nuclear disaster has changed not only people's attitudes but also people's behavior. People have come to try to save electricity in addition to turning off electrical equipments frequently. It has led to the 5.1% reduction of electrical demands over the previous year in 2011, and 1.0% more in 2012. The level of commitment to energy saving is found to be correlated with opinion on nuclear issues: 80% of the proponents of nuclear reactor decommissioning have tried to reduce electrical consumption. The reduction of electrical demands has been people's manifestation towards the nuclear energy policy.

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Since August 2011, “Tomioka sub group” of the Sociology Study Group of Largescale evacuation (representative YAMASHITA, Yusuke) has been conducting interviews with Tomioka town residents in Fukushima Prefecture that were forced to evacuate from their home town due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. While supporting town meetings organized by stakeholders, we recognized the following issues clear;
1) Problems that evacuees have faced are complex and very extensive.
2) However, those issues are not correctly recognized by policy makers.
3) Therefore, the present policy does not effectively relieve the affected people.
4) As regional restoration plans were decided hastily, the problems of the affected people deteriorated.
5) The problem of Japanese legal system which surrounds local autonomy is behind such issues.
6) In addition to these issues, it is not possible to deny the existence of public opinion to boost the seriousness of these problems.
As those issues are caused by the deviation between the premise on current reconstruction policies and problems that nuclear accident evacuees are facing, the situation might lead to collapse of the current policy and municipalities. In order to improve the situation, the following initiatives are required; survival and continuation of the affected communities, feedbacks from communities to decision makers by way of the town government, and long-term policies that take account of the lifestyles that vary as time goes on.

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If the Great East Japan Earthquake is analyzed from a viewpoint of a risk theory, four fundamental risks exist there. There is “tsunami risk” relating to a tsunami hazard, and “nuclear power plant risk” relating to a nuclear power plant disaster. These two risks are divided into “before-disaster risk” of being involved in generating of disasters and the “after-disaster risk” concerning revival of a stricken area. The aim of this paper is in analyzing the structure common to generating of these four risks, clarifying the relation of risk management and knowledge, risk and ignorance. In both of the tsunami disaster and the nuclear power generation disaster, the paradoxical situation where a new risk occurs by the risk management has arisen. This paradox comes from “spiral motion of the ignorance” that ignorance converts into known by work of knowledge, and new ignorance is born.

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In what way is social inclusion connected to body conditions including those referred to as impairment? One view suggests that social inclusion is associated with “disregard for the body,” that is, treating people the same irrespective of their body conditions. This disregard for the body, however, does not provide support such as personal assistance for people with “impairments,” and actually limits their opportunities for inclusion. Rather, social inclusion would be better understood as an approximation of disregard for the body while also incorporating “regard for the body” (treating people in accord with their body conditions). This article examines certain specific approaches to this approximation in the context of the “dumping” problem in Japanese special needs education for disabled children since the 1970s. Opponents of integrated education have insisted that locational integration is a sort of “dumping,” a false inclusion without appropriate support. However, the low compatibility between locational integration and support provision is actually a result of the education system and its distributional basis, which assumes the homogeneity of pupils' bodies in a classroom. A partial modification to this assumption, so as to enable individual support in integrative settings, might improve the compatibility between locational integration and support provision, thus providing disabled children with real freedom from “tracking” (homogenization of each classroom through the division of pupils on certain bases). On the other hand, there is still a disharmony between locational integration and support provision; this disharmony creates the need for further action such as the promotion of mutual understanding between disabled and able-bodied children. In light of these points, social inclusion can be understood as an endless process of approximation of disregard for the body, combining regard and disregard for the body in paradoxical ways.

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This study examines a clients' practice of resisting their therapist in a particular therapeutic scenario, such as in the case of juveniles with developmental disorders receiving social skills training (SST). From the perspective of medicalization in sociology, relations of people to concepts in medicine have been considered in terms of subordination to the medical professions. Therefore, situations under which persons with developmental disorders come to terms with the concept of “developmental disorders” have tended to be considered as manifestations of such subordination. However, this perspective limits thorough understanding of actual situations under which those persons come to terms with the concept of “developmental disorders.” Therefore, this study takes actual SST sessions as data and explicates the interactional organizations of the sessions in which persons with developmental disorders come to terms with the concept.
SST sessions begin with the therapist urging the clients to share their disturbances that originate in daily life. The therapist proceeds by formulating the experiences as originating from the clients' own disorders and methods of communication. Hence, role-playing is introduced as a reasonable training method to improve the clients' communication abilities. Presented with this “individualized” conception of the disorder, the clients resist the therapist's attempts by reformulating their conflicts as originating from misunderstandings stemming from their surroundings. Accordingly, a necessary approach is not to engage in training but to correct the misunderstandings originating in the clients' surroundings.
The above scenario shows the critical practice of living the “social model of disability” to resist the “individualized” conception of developmental disorders. In addition, this resistance is facilitated by the resources that the session provides. In this sense, this opposition should be considered not as antagonism against medicalization from outside but as resistance through and from within medicalization.

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