Volcanoes and beyond : Japanese palaeo-disaster studies in global perspective

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the extended Japanese archipelago is among the most geologically hazardous zones for human habitation located anywhere on the planet. Despite these threats and challenges, Japan has supported a series of unique cultures and societies that have evolved and changed over many millennia. The major existential risks include relentless volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, which can strike singly, or in deadly combination,generally with minimal warning. In the face of these persistent dangers, local communities have been forced to endure and survive repeated catastrophes. This cascade of shocks and disasters—plus cumulative cultural responses—have undoubtedly played a significant role in shaping at least some of the general contours of the Japanese past. This same suite of geological risks and hazards also confronts contemporary Japanese society and will continue to threaten future generations. Given these intimately entwined cultural, demographic and geological histories, it is not surprising that Japanese archaeologists pioneered unique ways of working with volcanologists to understand human cultural responses to eruptions, shocks and environmental catastrophes, although much of this research remained off the international academic radar due to enduring language boundaries. In this chapter, we explore how ‘Tectonic Archaeology’ emerged slowly within Japan and only recently gained major international exposure after the landmark publication of Barnes and Soda’s seminal Tephro Archaeology in the North Pacific (2019). To illustrate the growing integration of Japanese Tectonic Archaeology with the emerging global field of ‘palaeo-disaster studies’, we present some of our own collaborative research now being conducted across Japan under the umbrella of the new Nordic-Japan CALDERA programme in catastrophe archaeology. Our overarching conclusion is that the uniquely high-resolution archaeological and paleo environmental records of the Japanese archipelago offer rich empirical opportunities to advance understanding of how different kinds of cultures, societies and communities have both suffered and yet survived massive environmental shocks and catastrophes, and that the most insightful understandings still lie ahead.