Category: Akita–General
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Blog from the Field (Nov 6)
It has been a while since my last blog—things have just been too turbulent. October 16th I left Oslo for Akita to embark on 6 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Akita, Japan. Before leaving Oslo however I had to vacant my researcher-housing apartment (UiO limits researchers to 12 months of housing!). That meant I had…
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An Even More “Perfect Storm:” Climate Change + Rural Depopulation
As rural populations continue to plummet, how will rural regions’ ability to respond to climate disasters be affected? It’s been 2 weeks since record rainfall in Akita caused residents to seek emergency shelter, halted shinkansen and other rail services, triggered landslides, and caused flood damage to hundreds of homes and business. According to Japan Meteorological…
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The DELUGE has come
In Writing Culture, George Marcus wrote about 2 types of ethnography: the salvage mode and the redemptive mode. He described the “salvage mode” as being ethnography conducted before the DELUGE. Well, last week that “deluge” came to Akita, but not in the metaphorical sense that Marcus meant it. Beginning around July 15 while other parts…