Beyond Human Migration: Cross-Border Ethnography of Tsunami, Debris, and Marine Species from 3.11 Tohoku, Japan

This study re-examines Yamashita's 2009 cross-border ethnography by expanding its scope beyond human migration to include the transnational movement of non-human entities following the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake. Using a multi-sited ethnographic approach, I analyse the Pacific-wide impacts, focusing on distant tsunamis in Chile and debris hitchhikers to North America—marine species transported by tsunami-driven debris. By tracing these movements, this study demonstrates that 3.11 was not merely a Japanese disaster but a transoceanic event that reshaped tectonic, material, and ecological entanglements across the Pacific. In doing so, it challenges nation-centred disaster narratives and calls for a multicoastal, more-than-human approach to understanding post-3.11 transformations.