Advisories by foreign governments and the behavior of foreigners residing in Japan after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, many overseas governments issued advisories to their citizens residing in Japan to relocate to the western part of the country or leave entirely. Many governments also recommended that people planning to travel to Japan should postpone their trip. Through a questionnaire survey given to foreigners residing in the Kanto region at the time of the disaster, the relationship between the advisories issues by overseas governments and the behavior of foreigners residing in Japan was investigated in order to examine the differences among people who did not follow the recommendations of their government and to clarify whether these people possessed some unique characteristics, such as reason for evacuation, trusted information sources, or personal attributes. Three sample groups were created based on the advisory actions of overseas governments, and the characteristics of post-disaster action, disaster information collection, and demographics were analyzed.