Abstract:Although my own fieldwork site in Japan is far from Tohoku, where the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in 2011, my research in a small rural community helped me to place the narratives of survivors into a context I could better understand. Against this backdrop, I consider the role of certain forms of “heritage,” such as local festivals and rituals, in the aftermath of disaster, suggesting that the infrastructure created for the practice of traditional activities during normal times can, in times of trauma, become a template for more urgent forms of organization – such as setting up shelters. Moreover, the fact that many communities persist in performing festivals and rituals soon after disaster suggests that the very practice of such traditions, even when the context has changed, has symbolic and practical value. Ultimately, however, for heritage to work under these circumstances communities must maintain flexibility and a “light” approach.