Chapter 7Media122

MediaPicture transformed into drama
By Shoko Hayashi, 40s, Kobe
I anxiously attended the lecture, "Understanding media," the other day. I
attended it because the material for the lecture was news programs on the Great
Hanshin Earthquake. I watched two programs by Yomiuri and Kansai television
stations filmed the day after the quake. I had not seen them at the time. The victims
who didn't receive much damaged probably did watch them. These two programs
appeared to have been made for and sent to the viewers in Tokyo by Tokyo staff who ran
to the Hanshin area as soon as they heard about the disaster, without considering thatviewers could include victims themselves.
At first Yomiuri station played music that elicited sympathy of the audience,even though it was straight news program. In a scene of people shopping at asupermarket, the picture was fast-forwarded, which made the audience laugh. But it
was not supposed to be funny.
Then with the music still playing in the background, there was a long shot ofburning area of the Nagata Ward still smoking the day after the quake. Many bodies
were surely still under the rubble at that time, and it appeared only as a drama. As avictim of the earthquake, I got angry at such footage.
On the other hand, Kansai television station didn't use any music, andprovided some information for victims, only little of which Yomiuri introduced. I felt asense of incongruity as Kansai introduced the Self-Defense Forces as playing an activerole in the earthquake rescue by transporting relief supplies. This is certainly true, buthighlighting only the SDF is characteristic to Kansai station, which according to thelecturer is sensitive to the government.
In particular, I can't forget the images focusing on gender roles on both news
programs. In both, women take care of children, cry in a mortuary and receive supplies.
Men were portrayed as having an active role in rescuing, supplying goods, leading
people to shelters, and protesting against the government. In fact, both men and women
worked together to rescue people and took care of children in the aftermath of theearthquake. Because the media had preconception of specific gender duties, they
depicted their desired images and cut out the rest.
Watching those programs, we should not forget that this disaster turned into a123

drama only for those viewers who had not experienced the quake, nor that the media
was responsible for this dramatization.
News reported and not reported
By Akiko Wada, 50s, Toyonaka
It felt as if the world had violently gone into spasms. That was how we felt theshock of the massive January 17 earthquake.
While I thought that the cherry blossoms would not bloom this year, nature
brought changes, as usual, and I was granted the sign of seasons shifting.
The earthquake victim toll that had appeared everyday in the papers seemed
to vanish from the pages overnight. Now the sensationalized coverage of the Aum
Supreme Truth (Aum Shinrikyo) dominates media coverage.
Because municipal roads were torn to pieces and phone lines were down after
the quake, we turned to television to get information and have an image of what was
really going on around us. My home was damaged only partially, but so many people
have since moved out, and many partially destroyed homes remained in myneighborhood. I raced through the channels, hoping to catch a glimpse of my town, butthere was little to no information on Toyonaka. I often heard that even people in Osaka
had no idea how badly Toyonaka was damaged because reports were primarily focusedon Kobe. While it is natural that the media would concentrate on reporting the worst
damaged area, |I was anxious and afraid that victims in other areas were suffering aswell. I learned from this event the power and threat of the media, which is believed todocument all events. The disaster was broadcast as though it was a scene or spectacle
for the media. Every network repeatedly broadcast the same location. I wonder just how
useful the commentary of Tokyo reporters was in the face of the disaster. The in-depth
information and updates of each affected area via network cooperation have been more
beneficial to the victims and their futures.
The difference between live coverage and print media is that the scene on
television contains a strong message in and of itself. In the footage, we saw passionate
volunteer activities that went far beyond gender roles.
One show introduced some life styles in the shelters. We saw a young malestudent who babysat, changed diapers and took a long time to prepare dumplings forthe shelter residents because he thought they didn't have enough to eat there. The
young man did these chores matter-of-factly.
Yet, in a column on February 20, a male scholar stated in Yomiuri newspaperthat the Hanshin tragedy only confirmed how useless the feminist argument was; he124

claimed that after the quake men and women naturally reverted to their specific genderduties. In reality, I saw the opposite.
It is only natural for a human being to help anyone in extreme adversity
regardless of gender or race.
After the earthquake, media boasted, "Fathers gain respect" or "Family ties
strengthened." These positive spins benefiting Japanese men were emphasized
repeatedly. In the face of crumbling male values in general, it appeared that the media
attempted to give the male-dominated society a renewed positive image.
These words cannot be allowed
By I.T., 30s, Kobe
Reading this column, I could hear the voices of cheap men who further attempt
to attack feminists by taking advantage of the Hanshin earthquake.
Women didn’t simply stare at the victims under the rubble, nor did men offer
support and food to victims in need.
I realized from the earthquake that an effort to help each other in the state ofmass confusion and disaster was expressed differently on a basis of individuals, not ofgender roles.
I couldn't believe that this particular scholar actually set foot in the disasterarea. Having read the article, I felt that the media exploited this disaster in theirattempt to call feminism another trend.
The theory of this scholar -- who leads the media's exploitation -- clearly showsthat Japanese men with authority try to bring things back to their favor.
In an economic recession, female college graduates and part-timers are first
affected in terms of fewer employment opportunities.
We need to gradually change the current social structure, which hinders
women's financial achievement. This sort of statement that hurts women under adisastrous hardship should not be allowed.
The excerpt of a column written by a professor at O University, to which Ms Akiko Wadaand Ms I.T. objected:
Someone called feminism a concept of the bubble economy.
This seems to imply our that feminism ideology appeared during the bubble
economy to attack the male community and simply spread feminists' doctrine. The
criticism also sounded like a sneer at the unreliability of potential left-wing feminists
after the collapse of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.

125

The statement doesn’t have to be right or wrong. The Great Hanshin
Earthquake exposed the inability to free human beings by eliminating gender roles.
This is a story about many men gathered in shelters during an announcement
requesting uninjured men to dig out buried victims.
Why were men needed? A rescue needs physical strength. Men were suited forthe task. It is not that men were superior to women.
As shown in this example, gender roles were naturally evidenced in tasks after
the quake. Men worked at physical labor and women cooked and gave medical
treatment. Such typical roles are derived from simple animal instincts that humans
obey, and not from anything as complicated as societal oppression or historicalrestriction. The reality revealed by the disaster blows the mere theory that gender roles
are a result of the bubble economy.
Mass media focusing men
By Yoko Yamamoto, 30s, Itami
My family evacuated our partially destroyed apartment and went to a school.
But after about two weeks, all of us caught influenza and reluctantly went back to theapartment, where no running water was available.
I watched television and read newspapers quite after we returned to make up
for the lack of information we had while we were at the school. At first, I was surprisedat the severity of the damages. After a few days, I became aware that very few women
were seen on television and in the newspapers. Media reported on the people who wereworking hard day and night for rescue and restoration. All the information from themedia made me think that an emergency like this must really require manpower and it
was men who support our lives.
I remember seeing "reliable fathers" and "kind and considerate mothers" here
and there in the shelters. I felt uncomfortable there because I was apparently"inconsiderate" and I spoke directly to my husband.
I felt sad that the world is ruled by the consciousness of gender distinction andof manly and womanly behavior. I have discussed various kinds of women's problems
with many friends, and I had thought the world has been changing little by little. But
he earthquake has blown away all the progress.
As my life settled, I gradually made contact with friends in Osaka and Kobe.
Reading information from female perspective, I came to realize that women played an
active role throughout the entire rescue. Since women began to communicate andexchange information with one another, I became more positive. When I recall the mass126

media coverage of the earthquake and the gender distinctions it made, I realized thatthe prejudiced perception of men and women is a reality.
We still have a long way to go a long way before women can live cheerfully andindependently without being tied to what is considered the role of women. Although thesteps are slow, I would like to take firm ones.
Keeping humanity
By Reiko Yamamoto, 40s, Takarazuka
Waves of vivid blue vinyl sheets suddenly appeared in a desolate wintry town.
While covering scars left by the earthquake, the sheets revealed damage spots vividly.
Three months have passed, and the artificial blue of the sheets has turned into
the tender green of spring. The vacant lots have to become more remarkable. Theground was leveled, and there is nothing left to let us know that someone once lived
there. A house I saw on the way to work is gone, without leaving any trace, when I comehome. The sight squeezes my heart and makes my work-worn steps heavier.
As time goes by, the part of my mind that the quake once occupied becomes
smaller. Fortunately, my home didn't suffer from the disaster. Only two bookshelves fell
down. But my office was such a mess that I didn't know what to do and where to start.
Thousands of cracks on the wall. Pieces of broken glass scattered indoors and on thestreets. Broken clocks pointed to the same time. All these scenes have accumulated in f
my memory.
On the day of the quake, the television turned into a mere square box, andradio was the only information source. Development of mass media has expanded oursense of sight. We cannot easily imagine a picture only with audio clues. A phone callfrom my hometown told us in a shrill, nervous voice about the fire around Kobe
destroying an expressway. We couldn't see how things stood; but, we were in the middleof the stricken area. My parents -- who experienced earthquake damages via media
images -- had a better sense of the crisis than we did.
While we could not get necessary information for daily life from television, aflood of the same pictures of the stricken areas was shown to us over and over. When I
became used to the blown-up image of disaster areas, my sense was paralyzed. I felt as
though I was threatened by an unspeakable fear of compulsion. That applies to bothsides of information-sender and receiver. We live in an era where we can see space dust
if we wanted to. Such an unbounded desire impairs the dignity of humans and blunts
the sensibility, which fails to distinguish imaginary and the actual worlds. While
everything is transformed into information, I would like to take good care of my127

sensibility as the last way to maintain humanity.
No more family love
By Y.H., 40s, Kobe
We were wondering what to do about the planned Hyogo Women's Forum inspring. We shifted the venue to Akashi and decided on a sort of open forum for female
earthquake victims. Many more participants than we expected turned out to share theirstories.
A single woman commented that she felt uncomfortable with the claims of men
in her office, such as renewed family love, system order, and volunteer spirit after thequake. I could totally relate to what she was saying. Even as the media constantly
splayed the positive theme of strengthened family love, I thought about a great numberof women that held equally bitter and upsetting feeling toward media.
With no kin in Kobe and a completely destroyed home, the woman speaking
had received an outpouring of warmth and support from her friends and had at lastcome to think of Kobe as her hometown.
Regarding renewed family bonds, many women at the forum claimed that thefamilies with no real bonds before the tragedy only experienced an increased gap
between members.
Through the earthquake experience, I felt the importance not only of theframework of marriage and family but of daily friendship in my community.
It is frightening to be pressured by someone about order, system, and volunteer
spirit.
Some people questioned the Japanese government about leaving so many of its
citizens homeless. They wondered about trusting the government, in which their tax
money is invested. Others felt the necessity of women's participation in reconstruction
because it was the towns built by men that collapsed. I don't recall that media informed
the public of these women's voices. Was it only I who felt that the media manipulated
and created desired images of victims?

128