In Japan, we are reminded almost daily about the 3/11 disaster by the mainstream media. The frequency, quality and tone of these reports is a hugely problematic issue for anyone who wishes to distinguish between national identity and natural disaster. This is the topic of Gennifer S. Weisenfeld’s historical, but wholly relevant book “Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923,” which acts as an incisive reminder that our reactions to trauma are configured by society and politics.