Dealing with Disaster in Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash

Just as the sinking of the Titanic has a large place in public consciousness in Britain and North America, so the crash of Japanese Airlines flight 123 has become part of Japanese collective memory. This crash, the world#xE2;#xAC;"s worst, on 12 August 1985, involved the largest loss of life in any air crash to date, with 520 people killed, people returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival. This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for the Japanese. It shows how the Japanese coped with the disaster #xE2;#xAC;#x1C; having to acknowledge shortcomings such as the faulty repair which caused the crash and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site, how the bereaved dealt with their loss, how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster, and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. Although concentrating on a single episode the book casts a great deal of light on Japanese attitudes and behaviour more generally.