2012 Volume 18 Pages 373-380
After the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, people living in Japan were faced with confusing and conflicting messages from differing information sources which created an atmosphere of uncertainty and led many people, particularly foreigners, to relocate to western Japan or leave the country entirely. In order to improve the dissemination of information after future disasters, a survey was conducted to understand how foreigners in the Kanto region received their disaster-related information and how it affected their decisions in the aftermath of the disaster. Through the survey, it was found that the role of domestic information sources versus overseas information sources could have contributed to the confusion foreign respondents experienced and led to their relocation or evacuation from Japan.
