After reading, I have some new views on Japan’s disaster culture. After world War II, disasters not only became a part of life, but also became the eternal theme of creation. To some extent, the fantasy of creation is also the reflection of reality. In my opinion, this Japanese disaster movie is not only a kind of “nostalgia culture”, that is, it shows the impact of disaster on Japanese society and economy through virtual reappearance of disaster or horror fantasy and abstraction, but also shows “rare hope and beauty in disaster” in the form of “doomsday art”. For example, Ultraman must take down one monster every week and also destroy the city center once. So I think Japan’s disaster culture is a form of coexistence of pessimism and optimism. The ups and downs of Japanese society, economy and politics are tracked through the expression of pessimistic “dystopian consciousness”. In addition, disasters are beautified through the fantasy of “terror”, such as good always triumphs over evil and mushroom clouds rising over Japan. Sometimes it also expresses people’s stress release after the disaster, and alleviates people’s anxiety after the disaster through this beautification.
It is interesting that you brought up the element of aestheticization and nostalgia. Can you elaborate on what you consider unique about nostalgia compared to merely referring to past historical events?