Abstract
This paper reports on the experiences of pet owners in Northeast Japan who were displaced by a large tsunami in March 2011. It comments on the rapid increase in pet ownership in the 1990s, and argues that a shift in attitudes regarding the role of pets in Japanese society may put Japan on a trajectory found in many other Western societies. At the same time, the paper argues that forces associated with a resurgent nationalism slow that transition conflict with the liberalizing influences associated with globalization.
A part of this chapter first appeared in Kajiwara (2016) and was supported by the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education.
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Mouer, R., Kajiwara, H. (2016). Strong Bonds: Companion Animals in Post-Tsunami Japan. In: Pręgowski, M. (eds) Companion Animals in Everyday Life. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59572-0_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59572-0_13
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