Post-war reconstruction-as-knowledge practice: Fukui’s dual disaster recovery

The reconstruction of Fukui city in Japan is examined between 1945 and 1955 after two sequential disasters had occurred: United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) air raid on 19 July 1945 and an earthquake on 28 June 1948. This is framed as a historically situated instance of reconstruction-as-knowledge practice. This paper investigates how technical, bureaucratic and political expertise was mobilised, negotiated and operationalised in rebuilding a medium-sized Japanese city. The central question is how reconstruction—often treated as a logistical or institutional problem—was enacted through documentary and institutional operations that stabilised priorities under constraint. Political leadership mattered, but the analysis foregrounds inscription devices and decision arenas—plans and maps, legal instruments, technical standards, and committee deliberations—through which priorities were stabilised across successive shocks. Zoning, street widening, fireproofing measures, and green-space planning advanced through negotiated coordination among national legislation, prefectural oversight, and municipal committees, balancing risk reduction, feasibility and legitimacy. The article highlights tensions between technocratic planning and everyday recovery needs in a city still recovering from war. Fukui’s case shows how planning knowledge was generated and reordered through report circulation, legal interpretation and the standardisation of land readjustment practices, producing a form of ‘knowledge ordering under constraint’ that reconfigured both governance relations and the post-disaster city.

PRACTICE RELEVANCE

Fukui shows how disaster recovery can function as a laboratory for adaptive planning in mid-sized cities. Rather than restoring pre-disaster conditions, Fukui’s post-war reconstruction shows how institutional memory, layered governance and civic participation reshaped urban form. Land readjustment and street widening addressed immediate safety concerns while embedding longer term risk reduction into the city’s fabric. For policymakers and practitioners, Fukui highlights the value of institutional continuity, prefectural capacity and civic networks that mediate between state authority and local needs. These lessons speak to climate adaptation and compound disasters, underscoring the importance of governance capacity and negotiated planning.