Genbaku Legacy in Post-3.11 Japan. Ōta Yōko and Yoshida Chia

This study turns the attention to Japanese female journalism in the catastrophic aftermath of 3.11 through a literary comparison between Ōta Yōko’s Shikabane no machi and Yoshida Chia’s Sono ato no Fukushima. Although there are seventy years between the two publications, they are a full-fledged part of the testimonial narratives of Hiroshima’s atomic bombing and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown. Both journalists were at the forefront of reporting hibakusha’s testimonies and both have underlined the discrimination that survivors experienced soon after the catastrophes. They acknowledged the burdensome fear of the a-bomb disease and the radiation sickness, thus taking into account with extreme sensitivity the peculiar condition of women in the aftermath. Their writings reflect their compelling struggle to commit themselves as female witnesses and reporters and, at the same time, to convey both the victims’ suffering and harsh criticism of the Japanese government’s responsibility in the disaster. After a brief overview of authorial profiles, the study suggests a literary comparison between the works in question based on the topics mentioned above, concluding with a final remark on the role of Japanese female journalism in the broader perspective of the testimonial narrative, with a particular emphasis on trauma and memory representations in the nonfictional production.