2026 Volume 76 Issue 2 Pages 60-65
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in 2011, a large number of disaster digital archives have been constructed, to the extent that the year has been described as “the first year of disaster digital archives”. However, fifteen years later, many of these disaster digital archives have continued to be closed. The challenges surrounding the succession of disaster archives cannot be attributed to a single, definitive issue; rather, they arise from a complex interplay of multiple factors. These include challenges related to organizational and human resources, operational funding, utilization and public engagement, digital and technological issues, collaboration, and institutional frameworks. This paper provides an overview of the establishment and subsequent closure of disaster digital archives and examines these six challenges in detail.
