Abstract
This paper investigates the "diabolic" connotations of present-day risk society. The contrast between "the symbolic" (the moment which produces bonding and solidarity) and "the diabolic" (the moment which produces separation and individualization) is important to understand the sociological meaning of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Modern society has "tamed" risk and "attached" it under a symbolic social structure. However such a symbolic structure is now being torn apart, and the diabolic aspects of society are spreading with the appearance of the new type of risk. The balance between the symbolic and the diabolic created by modern symbolism is collapsing. The remarkable sign of the diabolic and "danger" aspect of risk society was recognized especially in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The limits of symbolism are the sociological meaning that Fukushima taught us. In order to face the risk society, we have to look squarely at "the diabolic". If we want to survive the risk society in the true sense of the word, we should not turn away our eyes from the diabolic aspect of society. I would like to examine this point, making it relevant to the ambivalence of "trust", the distinction of "risk and danger" and a surveillance society.
