Hard Lessons Learned: Tracking Changes in Media Presentations of Religion and Religious Aid Mobilization after the 1995 and 2011 Disasters in Japan
When religious organizations of all types mobilized relief efforts in the wake of the 17 January 1995 Great Hanshin/Awaji earthquake in western Japan, their contributions failed to translate into favorable media coverage. By contrast, religious aid responses after the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan earthquake disasters attracted a largely positive mainstream media response. This article surveys Japan's major daily newspapers, popular books, academic reports, and other published treatments of religious responses to these two major disasters to assess a shift in recent post disaster "religion" media narration. It suggests reasons for a change in tone from skepticism to support and points to questions about an evolving selection process that determines which religious actors fit and which are left out of a burgeoning post 2011 media picture.