Japanese Ethical Changes and Literary Works after Disaster

Abstract

The Japanese people have experienced many changes in their lives from frequent natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis. These changes are reflected in the literary works after the occurrence of natural disasters, which touch on ethical changes ranging from individual reflection to sociopolitical change. This paper explores the ethical changes that have occurred in Japan after natural disasters from ancient times to the present, and examines their influence on relevant literary works. The emperor reflected on his lacking virtue and devoted himself to exemplary government after the occurrence of natural disasters in the Heian period or the last division of classical Japanese history. But authority moved to the warrior class and the social trend of linking disasters with the unethical nature of the emperor weakened in the Middle Ages. Disasters began to be considered not as a punishment by transcendent beings but as a natural phenomenon caused by the harmony of the elements in nature. The characteristics of disasters included humor and personal appearance in Edo era or early modern period. And then there was a movement to pass or shift the responsibilities of failure in disaster prevention on to specific subjects to overcome disastrous situations at the beginning of the modern era. A lot of disaster literary works were written after 3.11. It means disaster literature has recalled the ethics and values that should not be forgotten by Japanese society.