Title: Characteristics of Exhibits in Memorial Museums on the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Author: Shinobu Goto, Associate professor, Fukushima university (Japan)

Abstract: Nine years have passed after the Fukushima nuclear accident on March 2011, weathering of the memory of the accident has been a concern. In order to disseminate information about the facts and lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and knowledges on radiation, the Japanese government and local municipalities established exhibition facilities (memorial museums) on the Fukushima nuclear disaster and radiation. They provide information focusing situations after the accident, scientific knowledges on radiation and the progress of recovery in Fukushima Prefecture. On the other hand, they do not include adequate information, such as the dangers of radiation, the Japanese government’s and local municipalities’ responsibilities for the accident and radiation dosage limit in radiation-controlled areas in Japan prescribed by law.

To objectively and quantitatively clarify characteristics of exhibits, content analysis was applied to descriptions of exhibits in the ‘Commutan Fukushima’ in the Fukushima Prefectural Center for Environmental Creation built in July 2016. I would also like to introduce the characteristics of the new memorial museums built in 2020.