During a research trip to Fukushima in May, each of five Notre Dame undergraduates examined disaster recovery through a different research lens: business, engineering, human rights advocacy, and policy. Still, their comments about their fieldwork revealed an overarching truth about rebuilding a community: It is far more complex than they could have ever imagined, and it takes multidisciplinary efforts.
“I realized that there are more nuances to rebuilding than just whether a business survived or reopened,” said Sophie Ramos, a finance and strategic management major. “Recovery is also about identity, memory, and the difficult balance between honoring what a place once was while allowing it to become something new.”
The 10 days they spent in Japan came just two months after the 15th anniversary of the Fukushima triple disaster of 9.0 magnitude earthquake, 40-foot tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Power Station on March 11, 2011, which resulted in the displacement of over 164,000 people. While the Japanese government, businesses, and individuals have invested heavily in remediation and recovery, efforts remain ongoing.
The students were part of a project led by Jessica McManus Warnell, a business ethics professor, and Noriko Hanabusa, a Japanese language and culture professor, who established the research program in 2019 after co-teaching a short-term study abroad course for ND students in Tokyo for several years. The five students who traveled to Japan in May were the second group of research students to have done so. The first group went in 2023.
“We started this project because communities around the world face increasing environmental disasters. As communities navigate these challenges and cultivate resilience, collaboration among community leaders, businesses, and other sectors is key. Students can contribute their energy and time by shining a light on these stories of recovery, and by sharing their research findings with stakeholders. And they will take these lessons into their own professional lives,” said McManus, the Rex and Alice A. Martin Faculty Director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership and a teaching professor in the Department of Management & Organization for the Mendoza College of Business.
The trip started with a few days in Tokyo, including a visit to Deloitte Japan, a corporation that remains committed to bringing back communities and infrastructure in Fukushima. Students learned about the scale of multisector engagement required for a community to flourish. Deloitte Japan’s leadership team shared insights from their on-the-ground support of small business owners, civic leaders, and community members, including the work of professionals who moved to the prefecture to work hand-in-hand, and by providing relief in ways as diverse as direct support to pro bono advisory services.
Students were especially inspired by Hideyuki Koike, a Deloitte professional, who is so committed to rebuilding Fukushima that he relocated there, not only to share his expertise, but to integrate his and his family’s life into the community.
In Fukushima, the students interviewed a variety of people, including octogenarian farmers who have switched their crops from fruit to flowers to meet shifting demand; young people who are eschewing life in Tokyo for entrepreneurial ventures in Fukushima’s small towns; and an innkeeper not only determined to keep her family’s multi-generational business going, but who has also helped connect residents in Fukushima with communities in Ukraine who lived through the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to foster mutual support.
They also witnessed the important role of long-time community members who host weekly markets and share meeting space for informal networking and connection.
“The five students who went on this research trip were outstanding and were chosen from a very competitive application process of more than 20 students,” McManus said. “They developed solid individual research proposals, and this trip was especially meaningful since it took place 15 years after the triple disaster. I’m confident their findings will contribute to our projects and offer insights into the crucial field of disaster resiliency research.”
Undergraduates and their research topics
Ethan Chiang, Business Analytics and Global Affairs
“Recovery is rarely singular, monolithic, or linear. When we ask how a community heals after a disaster, we must recognize that the very notion of recovery is plural and polyvalent. Even within a single square kilometer, neighbors may hold diametrically differing conceptions of what ‘building back’ ought to entail. The project of recovery is thus inherently messy — a continuous negotiation between the preservation of memory and the endeavors of progress.”
Chiang is examining how civil society organizations bridge the gap between international legal frameworks and the historical memory of local communities in their post-Fukushima human rights advocacy. His research also examines the extent to which the invocation of international technocratic standards by state actors facilitate or hinder domestic implementation of human rights for workers and displaced populations.
Read his blog post about the trip.
Teresa Elfrink, Environmental Engineering
“I think that the issue of nuclear power is more complex, specifically for Japan, due to its geological realities as well as population distribution. All of these complexities were made clear by the trip and caused me to rethink when nuclear is a good energy source, but also understand that there are no clear answers. It remains difficult to weigh the pros and cons of Japan’s future with nuclear power.”
Elfrink's research focuses on the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a water treatment technology designed to remove 62 hazardous radionuclides through coprecipitation, adsorption, and ion-exchange processes. While ALPS is highly effective at reducing radioactive contaminants, it does not remove tritium. To address this limitation, the treated water is diluted with seawater to concentrations below one-fortieth of regulatory safety limits before being gradually discharged into the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to examining the technical aspects and effectiveness of the ALPS treatment system, her research investigates public perceptions of the treated water release among local, national, and international communities. She is particularly interested in how scientific evidence, risk communication, and public trust shape these perceptions, as well as the potential social, economic, and cultural impacts on the surrounding communities.
Aidan Machado, Biology and Japanese
“When interviewing residents I was expecting strong yes or no sentiments, especially regionally dependent. However, very rarely did I see anyone very strongly for or against nuclear energy. This way of thinking is extremely important in reflecting on how our opinions are formed and what a more nuanced view may look like. It’s especially important to avoid echo chambers that have become so prevalent.”
Machado is examining the extent to which public opinion influences energy policy in Japan, particularly in the post-Fukushima period, and how public distrust after the disaster constrained the government’s ability to restart nuclear reactors despite energy security needs.
Sophie Ramos, Finance and Strategic Management
“In Mendoza we are constantly told to ‘Grow the Good in Business.’ I had always understood this as a call to act ethically and lead with strong morals as individuals entering the business world. While in Fukushima, however, I began to see this phrase in a broader way. The many hard-working and inspiring people of Fukushima work tirelessly to rebuild existing businesses and create new opportunities so that good can continue to flourish in the region.”
Ramos is examining how the disaster affects Japan’s agri-food export markets, and how the discharge of wastewater complicated recovery by prolonging trade barriers and market stigma.
Lucy Reardon, Finance and Political Science
“A main focus for my research considered the monetary support that organizations give to small businesses and how these groups working together impacts the speed of recovery. However after my time in Japan, I have realized there are more layers to these networks. I think that the community also is an important group in considering the speed and strength of recovery. Many of these small businesses rely on the relationships they have with their community members for support, which is a key aspect to recovery in the region.”
Reardon examined how vertical (government–business) and horizontal (community–business) networks influence small businesses’ role in recovery and how interactions between these sectors shape recovery outcomes.
The students are planning to present their research in fall 2026. Please sign up for the Liu Institute newsletter for more information.
The fieldwork trip was sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies and its Roberts Endowment for Excellence for the Fukushima Project and the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership.