This study examines stigma from the perspective of residents of Fukushima prefecture following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, to better understand effective crisis communication strategies that can mitigate the negative effects of self-stigma and promote sustainable psychosocial recovery. Social cognitive theory was employed to explore cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes faced by Fukushima residents in response to the stigma imposed upon them after the disaster. The study result based on in-depth interviews with residents of Shinchimachi, Fukushima, indicates that affectively, participants experienced a remarkable amount of fear and sadness. Cognitively, they focused on concerns about outsiders’ negative images or misinformation about Fukushima, changed priorities or values, and self-efficacy. Behaviorally, they actively resisted the stigma while strengthening their connections and belonging to their own community. Additionally, residents felt that they were branded as polluted and contagious and attributed the creation of a Fukushima stigma to a lack of full and accurate information as well as mistrust in main information sources, including media and government. This research suggests that developing a more transparent and locally based communication and information system could mitigate the negative effects of self-stigma. Theoretical implications for future research and policy suggestions for crisis communications are discussed.

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This research employs visual narrative as a tool in processing past trauma and perceptions of an irradiated, contaminated and contagious stigma that created social barriers for residents of Fukushima Prefecture in a post-nuclear disaster context. Residents from Shinchimachi, a village 50km north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, felt that the media’s limited portrayal of their village diminished their lived experiences and they began to be identified by the post-nuclear disaster narrative. This research seeks to determine if visual narration of their own story could empower trauma victims by allowing them to create the story they deem real, offering a space to converse in a small-group setting, and aiding their understanding of their shared experience. A gap exists in current participatory visual methods research, few delving into participants’ resulting internal changes. In the present study, participants’ visual narratives illustrated internal shifts: their memories of the disaster, concerns and hopes, and day-to-day realities of living with a stigma imposed by outsiders and their internalization of it. Findings argue for a new term, visual self-narrative, derived from photographs, captions and photo-elicitation interviews, in order to illustrate changes that occur from the reflective process of visually narrating one’s own story.

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