Japan as a popular site or reference for disaster films has a reason.
Firstly, its unique geographical location — in the Circum-Pacific Mobile Belt, where there are constant seismic and volcanic activities. Although the country covers only 0.25% of the land area on the planet, 18.5% of earthquakes in the world occur in Japan, according to the World Geographical Distribution of Hypocenters and Plates. Despite the earthquake, tsunamis, typhoons, and destructive fires are also common in Japan. These all build Japan as an earthquake-prone country in everyone’s mind. Thus, while watching the film, we can be the “vicarious insideness” quoted by Edward Relph.
Secondly, from the creator side, Japanese culture has been understood as reflecting the lingering trauma after World War II and Cold War. While the history of trauma couldn’t be discussed explicitly in public, artists chose to release it implicitly, like animators, comic books, etc. On the other hand, viewers who are influenced by the trauma could also get sympathy and get relieved through watching the artists’ works.
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