Evoking a shifting sense of place in one museum following the 3/11 tsunami in Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in that country. A coastal port and fishing city in Miyagi Prefecture, Kesennuma was one of the hardest hit population centers, the waves having destroyed much of the city’s commercial core and nearly all of its low coastal neighborhoods. The wave’s destruction highlighted certain elements of the city’s sense of place and forever changed others. I explore how the Kesennuma Shark Museum reflects ways in which the 3/11 disaster has simultaneously maintained and altered Kesennuma as a place. I analyze the spatiality of the museum and how its narrative evokes a sense of place in the broader community. The case of the Shark Museum is one example of how scholars can use museums to examine sense of place and how it has been impacted by natural disasters. This work represents a unique contribution to cultural geography inquiry into the spatiality of museums, museum experiences, and how such spaces reflect an interaction between people and place.