Book Filter: Disasters have been good for Japan?

January 28, 2022 6:22 PM

I am librarian and a faculty member at my institution asked me to help him find a book (he read a review of in the past five years) in which one of the central tenets is that naturals disaster have been good for Japan (for the past 1000 years or so) in that they break up existing power structures.

My search has found one or two titles that are close (focusing on the 2011 tsunami) and a thesis "Turning Crisis Into Blessings: Evolution of Japanese Culture Through Disaster" by Timothy Hogge.

Any assistance would be appreciated!

posted by cinemafiend to Education (3 answers total)

Response by poster: @WCityMike2 - i think you may have found it!
posted by cinemafiend at 6:57 PM on January 28, 2022

Response by poster: @WCityMike2 - faculty says that one is interesting... but it may be an older book he is looking for.
i really appreciate the effort though!
posted by cinemafiend at 7:41 PM on January 28, 2022

Best answer: The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Scheidel is not the book that you're looking for but it may cite that book as Scheidel's central thesis is that only mass casualty events (natural disasters, wars of mass mobilization, plagues, etc.) have led to significant (but ultimately temporary) reduction in inequality throughout history. I don't recall the history of Japan playing a central role in the book but it's been a few years since I read it.
posted by ElKevbo at 12:54 PM on January 29, 2022