The title of the reading Oh No, There Goes Tokyo already tells the reader that disaster is happening in Tokyo. The use of ‘there goes’ actually suggested that the city is being destroyed. It is not hard to relate to the title as we all know Japan is a country that has been through lots of natural disasters and historical tough times.
Japan’s traumatic history is represented in Japanese visual culture in many ways, one of the most famous examples is the manga Akira. It is set in a post-apocalyptic “Neo-Tokyo” over three decades after a mysterious explosion destroyed the city. It reminds me of the post-World War II era of Japan, the country was undergoing a significant social, cultural, and economic revolution. This traumatic history of Japan created a special visual culture such as Japanese cyberpunk.
The Japanese culture tends to use the genre of fantasy to discuss trauma. For example, they use monsters to concretise the fear towards disaster and that there will always be a good ending. I wonder if the secure-horror fantasy genre is just escapism from the cruel reality and problem. Disaster is transformed into an outsider enemy that we can resist, but the truth is never like this. Escaping from making a real reflection on the real disaster.
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Huang Ka Lam