Human Flotsam, Legal Fallout: Japan's Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown

Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation, Vol. 27, pp. 107-124, 2012

18 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2012 Last revised: 22 Mar 2013

See all articles by Robert B Leflar

Robert B Leflar

National Taiwan University; National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; University of Arkansas School of Law

Ayako Hirata

University of California, Berkeley - Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program

Masayuki Murayama

Meiji University - School of Law

Shozo Ota

University of Tokyo - Faculty of Law

Date Written: March 18, 2012

Abstract

We report on our field research in Fukushima Prefecture in July 2011. We interviewed legal professionals and community leaders in Fukushima City and in towns inundated by the March 2011 tsunami and within a few kilometers of Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor.

We catalogued many of the extensive variety of problems faced by Fukushima residents, both evacuees and those who remained in their homes. Many of these problems, both legal and non-legal, arose from government actions as the disaster unfolded and afterwards, including the administration of the initial program for provisional compensation for disaster victims.

We learned that in the wake of disaster, legal professionals (attorneys and shihō shoshi, a class of professionals with limited licenses) play a wide variety of roles in disaster recovery assistance: as listeners, general information providers, problem identifiers, general counselors, legal counselors, advocates on behalf of disaster victims, coordinators in relief efforts, and planners for recovery measures. We give examples of each, drawing on our interviewees’ experiences.

Keywords: Japan, nuclear disaster, lawyering skills, compensation systems, disaster recovery, earthquake, tsunami, ADR, client counseling

JEL Classification: K13, K32, K40, L94, L98, N45, Q48, I18, I31, J28, H53, D62, D63, D73

Suggested Citation

Leflar, Robert B and Hirata, Ayako and Murayama, Masayuki and Ota, Shozo, Human Flotsam, Legal Fallout: Japan's Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown (March 18, 2012). Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation, Vol. 27, pp. 107-124, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2025761

Robert B Leflar (Contact Author)

National Taiwan University ( email )

No.1, Sec.4, Roosevelt Road
Taipei, 10617, 10617
Taiwan
14794667406 (Phone)

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University ( email )

Taipei
Taiwan
+886955619225 (Phone)

University of Arkansas School of Law ( email )

1495 S. Finger Road
1045 W. Maple St.
Fayetteville, AR 72701
United States
14794667406 (Phone)

Ayako Hirata

University of California, Berkeley - Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

Masayuki Murayama

Meiji University - School of Law ( email )

1-1 Kanda-Surugadai
Tokyo, 101-8301
Japan

Shozo Ota

University of Tokyo - Faculty of Law ( email )

7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-Ku
Tokyo, 113
Japan

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
250
Abstract Views
1,778
Rank
222,563
PlumX Metrics