EAPSI: Investigating Public Experiences of Insecurity and Risk

Griffin Kara B, Fort Worth TX

Investigators

Abstract

In 2020, Tokyo will host the Summer Olympic Games, a high-profile event of local and global significance which will likely garner a great deal of media attention and will represent a massive security undertaking. By most measures, Japan is considered a relatively safe country with a very low crime rate. However, violent crimes do occur, including a small number of mass killings in recent years. Additionally, contemporary ethnographic research in Japan has highlighted experiences of social and economic precarity in connection with economic recession and the 2011 earthquake/nuclear disaster, among other factors. This project will investigate experiences and perceptions of insecurity, specifically in relation to crime and policing in Tokyo, Japan, in the lead up to the 2020 Olympic Games. This study will improve understanding of the experience of insecurity, risk and policing within democratic societies, particularly in contexts which require domestic security forces to prepare for large-scale events that involve international tourism and the potential threat of terrorism. The research will be conducted at Sophia University?s Institute of Comparative Culture in Tokyo, Japan in collaboration with Dr. David Slater, an expert in urban studies, disaster, social movements, and social media. The main objective of this study is to gain a clearer understanding of how insecurity is experienced, addressed and prepared for by residents, police, and visitors in Tokyo, Japan, including how people construct narratives of insecurity and risk and where or with whom they locate the source of that risk. This study will utilize ethnographic research methods, including semi-structured interviews, a survey instrument, and content analysis of print and digital media. The researcher will visit a sample of local police substations in four neighborhoods in Tokyo, to include three urban areas and one suburban area. In each area, the researcher will seek to observe police-community interactions within the neighborhood as well as at public events. The researcher will conduct interviews and surveys with participants from each area. The researcher will also collect and analyze media such as pamphlets, news stories, and digital and social media pertaining to police-community interactions relevant to the construction and experience of insecurity. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.