Paper short abstract:

Human Security Forum (HSF), an NGO created by volunteers of the Human Security Program of the University of Tokyo, has supported disaster-hit people in Miyagi since 2011. Based on the experience as an executive director of HSF, the author argues methodological aspects of public anthropology.

Paper long abstract:

In 2011, widespread destruction of coastal areas by the March 11th Great East Japan Earthquake forced many people to relocate to temporary housing. Human Security Forum (HSF), an NGO created by scholars and students of the Human Security Program of the University of Tokyo, has been supporting disaster-hit people in Miyagi since 2011. The author of this paper is not a professional academic anthropologist, but an NGO worker who also conducts anthropological fieldwork. Autobiographical accounts of engagement as a 'reflective practitioner' in the disaster recovery process reveal the crossover between academic research and disaster-relief activities. Qualitative research on the livelihood of disaster-hit people has been carried out in the context of support activities for temporary housing communities. Research findings have been applied in planning further assistance, and enhanced support activities have in turn necessitated further research.

The main purpose of this study is to consider methodological aspects of public anthropology. Firstly I present ethnographic data on collaborative research by HSF with other workers and with community leaders of temporary housing communities. Secondly, the paper considers the social contribution by anthropology in the public sphere outside the academy. The author's attempt, incorporating anthropological research into the framework of NGO activity, is one way to achieve it. Finally, this paper draws on the author's experience to discuss the multifaceted role of the fieldworker. Devising ways of engagement different from those of traditionally prescribed anthropological fieldwork can be a key component of public anthropology.