Abstract
Our previous research included a social survey in Aichi Prefecture on Post-Disaster
Timelines (PDTs), that is, people 's sense of time regarding “what to do” and “when to do it ” in
the aftermath of a large-scale disaster. We conducted similar surveys in other prefectures in
Japan (Mie and Kochi) and analyzed PDTs in the three prefectures. The results showed that the
PDTs in Aichi Prefecture were generally earlier than those in Mie and Kochi prefectures. We also
found that Aichi Prefecture had greater differences in PDTs between people in different individual
attributions than Mie and Kochi prefectures. The data suggested that the industrial structure of
Aichi prefecture, which is closely linked to the overall Japanese economy, affected characteristics
of its PDTs. The PDTs of the geographically adjacent Aichi and Mie prefectures were not similar;
rather, the PDTs of Mie and Kochi prefectures were similar. These findings suggest the need to
take into account characteristics of each prefecture 's PDTs in the recovery and reconstruction
process in the event of a wide-area disaster, such as one that spans multiple prefectures.
