ABOUT MY RESEARCH ON JL123

I decided to start this research in January 2007. At that time I was preparing for a seminar to held at Cardiff University which I was hosting. The main speakers were Peter Mathews (his son died on JL123) and Keith Haines (he had just retired from JAL and had gone to Fujioka with Peter Mathews in 1985). They were to speak on their personal experiences relating to the crash. Having realized that the audience would need this to be put into context, and as I already briefly mention the crash in one of my lectures to my students, it was agreed I should do an introduction of about 20 to 30 minutes about the crash itself. So the research started for this reason.

In doing this research, two things became clear to me. First, there is very little written in English about the crash. Second, there is a lot of interest in the crash worldwide today. I found many webpages - including videos on YouTube. These two facts stimulated my interest a bit more. These two factors by themselves would not have been enough to motivate me to write a book, however. It was these factors, together with other details, coincdences and that the topic fits in with the broad theme of my research, that lead me to conclude that doing a book was not only the right thing to do, but a necessary thing to do. This feeling became even stronger once I started and gained an awareness of what is being written in Japanese about JL123 and how different some of this is to the little that exists in English.

As I said this research also happens to fit into my research interests. In the broadest sense I am interested in understanding Japanese identity and issues related to that - such as nationalism and symbolism. To understand my JL123 research, it is perhaps useful to draw a parallel with my previous book. That book was about the shinkansen. Although it contained some technical information about the train, primarily it covered the history, the politics, the economics, and symbolism of the shinkansen. In other words, the way in which the shinkansen reflects different aspects of Japanese society and what that tells us about Japanese society (it also considered the way in which the shinkansen has impacted and potentially altered aspects of Japan also). My JL123 book will have a similar approach, although the areas it is looking at are quite different.

Although I suspect there may be some further changes, at present the main areas are as follows:

The crash itself. Initially I had intended that this chapter would be largely descriptive and heavily reliant upon the official accident investigation report. My book was not planned as an aircraft accident investigation itself - that is not my expertise. However, after starting the research I have become aware of various concerns about the reliability of the official report and so I have had to look at these issues. This is meaning the way in which this part of the study is being conducted and is ultimately written is very different to what was planned.

The government response. One of the things that interests me is the way in which the government (not just politicians and bureaucrats, but also including the police and self defence forces) responded to the disaster. It is particularly interesting given the questions that remain regarding whether the rescue effort could have been better and the way in which offers of US help were handled (although question marks remain about what level of help was offered). Where appropriate I will also consider the response to other subsequent disasters - e.g. the Hanshin Earthquake (and subsequent large earthquakes) and the Tokaimura nuclear leak.

The human response. Clearly one of the things that can be learnt from studying JL123 is something about Japanese attitudes to death and religion. It is often in extreme circumstances that one can get a clearer picture of how people behave. So, for example, I am looking at how the dead are remembered and what the izoku do each August (and at other times as appropriate). However, another thing that is also significant is the work of the volunteers in Fujioka and the creation of the 8/12 Renrakukai. Both of these factors suggest that NPO/volunteerism was alive and well to some degree in Japan well before the Hanshin Earthquake, which is generally seen as the genesis of Japan's civil society. I hope to show how it dated back to at least 1985 and how and why these things happened.

The media response. Not enough is written in English about how the media in Japan behaves and I feel as though some of what is written is based on flawed information or assumptions. I hope to provide information about not only how the media behaved in 1985, but how JL123 has been covered in subsequent years. As with other parts of the research, comparisons will be made with other events (Hanshin Earthquake, the China Airlines crash in Nagoya in 1994, the Fukuchiyama Line derailment, etc.). I will be looking at articles in individual newspapers, for example, to see how much diversity in the reporting there really is. I will also look at what is reported, how the news is gathered and why certain stories appear to be of interest.

The continued interest. This brings me to one of the starting points of my research. Why is it that about 25 years on from the crash, there is still so much interest - as seen by books, internet pages, movies, and documentaries on the subject? This is not just in Japan either. The internet pages are world-wide in many languages. It seems as though JL123 is Japan's and the aviation world's equivalent to the Titanic. It will also include a look at the issue of "dark tourism" - those people not directly connected to the crash but who choose to visit the crash site. I am currently conducting an online survey to help me get a better understanding of this continued interest in the crash.

That is a summary of just some of the issues my research will be looking at.

Although I am approaching the subject as much as possible as an objective researcher, the subject has also become very personal to me. I now know many izoku personally. I also have a keen interest in aviation safety due to my need to fly to Japan, for example. This has made my research challenging at times, as there are times when I want to say or do more, but this could impact upon my research observations. It is a fine balance.

I would like to thank the following people and organizations for their help in my research; Cardiff Business School, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Foundation (London Office), Japan Airlines and all those who have provided information to aid with my research. This includes, but is by no means limited to, the numerous izoku and others who lost loved ones on JL123, as well as those who helped them.

(C) Christopher P. Hood, 2007-10.
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