In the discussion on creating reconstruction plans by central and local governments, it was stressed that providing disaster prevention facilities, relocating communities to safer ground, and preparing evacuation roads and sites should always be combined to save human life when future severe disasters occur. However, disaster prevention facilities alone, such as sea-wards or water-breaks, can't protect areas behind them when natural hazards exceed the assumed level. Therefore, the location of communities or evacuation facilities becomes vital in saving lives, yet man-made properties cannot be protected during severe disasters. Since severe disaster will undoubtedly and repeatedly strike Japan in the future, we have to prepare various types of large-scale natural hazards in addition to reconstructing areas stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The UN will hold an international conference on disaster reduction in Sendai next year for important UN-based discussions. At this time, we should show to the rest of the world our present situation of reconstruction, preparation for future natural hazards, disseminate technologies, and policies for disaster reduction, based on what we learnt from this disaster.

The intensive reconstruction works of the area affected by the tsunami following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were launched on February 10, 2012, with the inauguration of the Reconstruction Agency, which consists of about 300 seconded staff members provided by respective ministries of the central government. The main functions of the Reconstruction Agency are to mediate conflicts between central ministries, to designate special districts for reconstruction, and to allocate special subsidies to the affected municipalities for promoting reconstruction. This paper reviews the agency's activities over the two-year period and tries to verify whether the establishment of such a reconstruction agency would be effective as a regular institutional scheme for reconstruction after large-scale disasters in the future.

This paper first discusses the risk of a monocentric national spatial pattern centered on Tokyo, which seems to be accelerating recently, as well as the issues on the national spatial strategy revealed due to the damages caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and the subsequent accident of the nuclear power plant from the long term viewpoint. In the second part, the importance of self-organizing spatial governance is discussed and a new perspective of reconstruction vision is proposed based on the refining of lifestyles.

Intergovernmental collaboration is an essential ingredient in achieving a resilient region after a mega-scale natural disaster occurs and causes devastating damage. This paper explains how intergovernmental collaborations had been formed after the Great East Japan Earthquake, what kinds of public services were carried out through the collaborations, and finally, how we must prepare for coming disasters. I strongly recommend public, private, and non-profit organizations to develop and maintain good communication channels with others in order to achieve a more efficient and quick recovery.

Many local authorities in Japan have been revising regional disaster prevention plans and establishing business continuity planning(BCP)based on lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake. The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) issued a guideline to make cities safer. This paper discusses the four items outlined by this guideline and their usefulness in such planning. Considering the issues on countermeasures against disaster in Japan from the aspect of the guideline, the importance of the four administrative resources—human, material, monetary and information—are described in the context of emergency measures, while the necessity of those resources to be reflected in the BCP are also discussed.

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused major damage to local communities in the Tohoku and Kanto regions. Thereafter, municipal governments have suggested goals to not only restore local communities to their former state but also to reconstruct them into a better state. Yokota et al. (2006) showed that some local communities which had resolved problems themselves before any disaster hit have been able to overcome difficulties caused by earthquakes. Moreover, Yoshihara (2011) expressed that governments have frequently reorganized local communities as their subcontractors. Based on the arguments mentioned above, we clarified whether or not the policies for community development in the municipal plans of post-earthquake reconstruction include the property of governance carried out by local community. Our conclusion is as follows; (1) most municipal governments have a lot of policies that use local communities as their subcontractors, (2) in contrast, some municipal governments have policies to support local communities in order to encourage their autonomy, and (3) some municipal governments arrange the opportunity for discussion among stakeholders of the local community in order to realize its governance.

Through the bitter experience of two giant earthquakes, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake, this paper aims to consider the mindset and measures which strengthen society's flexible disaster prevention capabilities, while moving forward in an approach which places emphasis on perfecting physical facilities for disaster prevention. To this end, the differences between the two earthquakes in terms of the state of the disaster and the resulting damage were categorized, in order to clarify the diversification of natural disasters as represented by earthquakes. Further, by analyzing useful scenarios and lessons passed on and learned from past disasters, fundamental elements were extracted on which to base disaster prevention capabilities. Such elements—human resources, wisdom and information—are regarded as a source for society's flexible disaster prevention capabilities. While regarding each element in detail, regional resources （human resources）, the gift of human creativity which empowers unlimited energy to devise disaster prevention/alleviation measures（wisdom）, and the tool to expedite one's judgment for quick and safe evacuation（information）, the author considered measures concerning how these elements strengthen society's flexible disaster prevention capabilities.

Natural disasters occur frequently throughout Japan, and we must make effective preparations for these. As the implementation of high computerization expands, the society now benefits from ubiquitous networks and cloud computing. Consequently, we can utilize a variety of information systems effectively for disaster reduction measures. Based on the above-mentioned background, this paper discusses the development and utilization of disaster information systems in three stages. Specifically, it introduces disaster information systems that promote disaster reduction under normal circumstances, support evacuation behavior during a disaster outbreak, and provide and exchange information during recovery and reconstruction, referring to examples from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the author's system development activities.

The Great East Japan Earthquake has made us recognize that a new viewpoint of road infrastructure is required. The review of related disquisitions shows that important antithetical issues concerning road policy realized after the Great East Japan Earthquake are the consideration of disaster prevention in cost benefit analysis and efficiency based on fiscal constraint. On the basis of the above mentioned discussions and the long durability of road infrastructure, this paper concludes that we have to evaluate new project of road infrastructure in consideration of the road infrastructure is an essential allowance for future generations or not.

Two major disasters occurring in 2011—the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Thailand Floods—taught us that when the supply of certain parts stops, the factories of multinational companies are easily forced into shutdown. Taking these situations into account, each supply chain group is trying to introduce cooperative Supply Chain BCP (Business Continuity Plan) and reflect it on the BCPs of each member. Likewise, the national and local governments are preparing government BCPs which aim to prioritize and restore services under limited resources at the time of disaster. This paper proposes that local governments and private companies operating in the same area, such as industrial parks, share an Area BCP which could strengthen area-wide resilience against disaster through, for example, uniform control of emergency supplies.

BCP (Business Continuity Plan) is one of the most important corporate strategies for private companies and has received greater recognition since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Although private companies have recognized the importance of BCP, the level of progress varies depending on the size of the company. Small- and medium-sized companies, which account for 99.7% of all Japanese companies, need some support to build their BCP. The Small and Medium Enterprise Agency and other companies have developed and provide tools for such entities. Some local governments are engaged in establishing Business Continuity Cooperation among companies in manufacturing. This paper considers the status of BCP in tourism-related companies based on published reports. As a result, this paper proposes that specific tourism situations should be included in the contents of such BCPs.

Based on the characteristics of tourism activities, this paper shows the effects of disaster on the tourism phenomenon and consumer behavior in tourism. The efforts and challenges of reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake are discussed, focusing mainly on Fukushima Prefecture. The occurrences of disasters affect a wide variety of stakeholders, with damage to tourist destinations and tourism resources. Stakeholders include road administrators, transport providers, accommodation providers, and food and beverage industries—all essential in supporting tourism. Therefore, we should address each phase of the issue, such as prevention of disaster and restoration and reconstruction in the tourism sector, including social infrastructure. In particular, tourist destinations may be vulnerable to the development of a negative reputation triggered by disaster or accidents. Tourism itself has the feature of being a non-mandatory activity. Thus, reconstruction of tourist destinations is especially important to regain the level of visitors enjoyed in the pre-disaster period. In this paper, case studies of current efforts in Fukushima are discussed. As the number of visitors has not yet recovered to the pre-disaster level, recovery progress toward the next stage is vital.

In Japan, natural disasters occur frequently. Natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunami wield serious influence on human life and property. However, it is difficult to predict when a natural disaster will occur. Moreover, there are few inhabitable areas in Japan which are not subject to various natural disasters.

Therefore, we must establish community improvements which enable environmental coexistence with natural disasters. In this paper, we will consider the role of regional co-existence of the environment with natural disasters, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Why is the speed of recovery and revitalization of devastated areas in the Tohoku region viewed to be so slow? We discuss two reasons why such a poor evaluation has penetrated the local public opinion. This essay tries to explain with data analysis that one reason is the lack of perception about the nested commons formed by Tohoku and the other reason is the lack of an effective policy commander. It shows the importance of the nested commons in solving the delay of the recovery and revitalization program in the Tohoku region and in arousing public attention toward preparations for future natural disasters.

Almost all children's playgrounds around the Sendai seaboard were lost due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. Children were left with no outdoor play areas because of reconstruction works and temporary dwellings. We must remember that children's play is not only a vital factor in keeping a community alive, it also helps develop children's human and social behavior, while providing energy and hope for the future. The paper introduces the activities of adventure playgrounds around Sendai City before and after the disaster, and examines them in view of the essence of children's play and games.

The Japanese decentralization reform of recent years articulated the basic principle that legislative and administrative power for land use control is shared by the central and local governments. Currently, there is a need to substantialize local publicness as the basis of local administrative power. In this study, the interpretation of local publicness is attempted, picking up a newly introduced dispute-settlement system for land use matters established in Komae City, Tokyo, which is characterized by the “adjustment meeting” system based on a Machizukuri (town planning) ordinance. As a result, enhancement of the local publicness is acknowledged in the new system which seeks maximization of local values and optimization of local identity.