自然災害雑考

Abstract

Japan has a long history of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and floods, making it oneof the worst countries in the world for natural disasters. Through long years' experience, the Japanesepeople have developed their own characteristic view of natural disasters, and this view can be broughtto light by making a historical study of the types of disasters which have occurred in Japan, the ways people have responded to them, and the ways in which they think about them.Views of natural disasters can be roughly divided into the two following groups:(1) Views of the nature and cause of disasters.(2) Views of ways of responding to disasters.A representative view from the first group is (1.A) the "divine punishment theory", which holdsthat disasters are a means by which heaven punishes man. This view probably grew out of a blendingof the primitive Shintoist thought nature worship of ancient Japan and Confucian thought broughtover from China. Another view from this group is (1.B) the "fate theory", which holds that one'sfate which suffer from a disaster, is determined by one's previous lives. This probably grew out of theBuddhist thought.One view from the second group is (2.A) the "resign theory", which holds that one's fate is determinedby one's previous lives, as described above and thus one has no choice but to resign oneself towhatever befalls one. This view probably grew out of a blending of the Buddhist idea of the "transientnature of all phenomena" and the primitive Shinotoist thought. Another view from this group is(2.B) the "spiritual power theory", which is based on the idea that disasters can be overcome byspiritual strength. This view was probably strongly influenced by the spiritualism found in Bushido, the way of the warrior.