Media space and "users"
a study in media and people's practice after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

"This article examines several aspects of media and cultural conditions in contemporary Japan. In particular the article focuses media space and 'users'. This study borrows the concept of 'social space' that was extrapolated by Henri Lefebvre, a French philosopher/sociologist. The concept was further developed by Jody Berland [...] The 'space' analyzed here is included in the term like 'place' or 'cyber space'; it is used as a metaphor in the arguments of position, location, and place for the globalization theory in the humanities and social sciences. In Japan, Lefebvre's The production of space is published as a work of contemporary sociology. In considering media space, the theory of Lefebvre will be a useful one. Another key concept in this study is 'users'. Although this term is mentioned by Lefebvre, we refer to to argument of Michel de Certeau to explore the practice of 'users'. From these theoretical implications, we investigate the practice and function of the users and the media in the revival since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. The purpose of this article is to consider the meanings defined by people (users) as consumers of the media." [Information des Anbieters]