A Socio-historical Analysis of Disaster Information of the Eruption of Bandai Volcano, Japan, in 1888 A.D.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to give an analysis of the spreading of disaster information in the case of 1888 A.D. eruption of Bandai Volcano. A socio-historical approach focusing on newspaper articles, magazines, and other printed matters is adopted to analyze the disaster process. The 1888 eruption of Bandai Volcano was the first experience of a great natural disaster for the Meiji government, which was just under the process of developing the modern nation. The social structure of information in the transit time and its relation to the modernization process in the educational field of physical geography, will be discussed. The newspaper articles about the Bandai Eruption can be characterized into the following three stages in chronological order; l) Reports on the outbreak of the disaster, the initial damage, and the dispatch of the government officials for investigations of the volcano. 2) Further reports on the damage and the donation campaign raised by the newspapers. 3) More on donation campaigns for much more donations among the general public. These three stages clearly show that the social background had changed from the pre-modern society. Having gone through the contemporary understandings about volcanic eruptions and earthquakes with the age of Bandai eruption, and taking the modernization of educational system into consideration, the following reasons for the changes can be pointed out; (a) After the Meiji Restoration accompanied with the so-called “Scientific Revolution” of Japan, the young generation raised under the modern educational system had more scientific attitude to natural phenomena than those of previous generations. (b) The combined effect of the traditional system of charity activities and the new type of donation which was raised by newspapers and other media, such as disaster photographs or charity performances were quite effective in helping the people struck with the disaster under the conditions of the insufficient governmental relief.