The earthquake and nuclear disaster viewed from "outside": A Sydney-based Japanese author wrote a book in English

Fifteen years ago, Michiyo Miyake, now living in Sydney, experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake in Tokyo. Drawing on her experiences—the shaking she felt in a department store basement, going home by foot, the aftershocks, health concerns from the nuclear accident, conflicting information, and disagreements within her household—she published a semi-autobiographical English book titled “Green Metal” in 2024. Why did she choose to write it in English?

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'Green Metal: Life in Tokyo during the Nuclear Catastrophe' written by Michiyo Miyake. Credit: Uguisu Books

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