The aim of this paper is to find decisive factors for resettlement after disasters. The research was conducted in Motomachi District in Izu-Oshima, damaged by a landslide in 2013. From case studies of sixteen households, this paper found the followings:
1) Housing resettlement processes were categorized into three types: a Self-help type, a Hybrid type, and a Safety net type. The Self-help type is a resettlement using resources owned by a household or its relatives. The Hybrid type is a process using both private resources and public resources. Households that took the Safety net type process only utilized public resources.
2) The age of people in the household did not determine which resettlement type they select. Job, adjacent descendant, and local real estate property were the resource factors which made a certain impact on the type of the resettlement process of affected households.
3) Households with more resources tended to invest more for resettlement. Even if they were old, those who had a job or a descendant to inherit land obtained a new plot and built a new house for resettlement. On the other hands, households without a job nor a descendant in the island tended to sell their plot and move into a public house.
4) In terms of relationship between an original plot and a resettled plot, we could categorize households into three groups: a) Resettled at or near the original plot; b) Resettled at the central Motomachi; and c) Resettled at the outskirt of Motomachi. Households of the first group were mainly aged households with a lot of resources. Households of the second group were also aged households, but didn’t have a child in the island. Therefore, they tended not to invest for resettlement and moved into an existing house they or their relatives owned. Households of the last group can be divided into two group: households that resettled at a public house; and households that constructed a new house. The households that resettled at a public house include both old households and young households, but each age group of these households had different purposes. Aged households that resettled at a public house intended to keep a minimum real estate with them. Younger households that resettled at a public house tried to lower the cost of living and prepare for the future. Households that constructed a new house are mainly younger households. Due to shortage of affordable plots at the central Motomachi, these young households moved to the outskirt of Motomachi. These young households were also attentive to the safety against a disaster and preferred to take a distance from the damaged area, while older households tried to resettle close to their original plot.
