In the Tohoku region, regional industries have been developed based on the natural environment. However, progress due to modernization has resulted in population concentrations in large cities and few residents in local cities. It was under these circumstances that the Great East Japan Earthquake caused devastating damage to the coastal areas of the Tohoku region. Now that 10 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan should move beyond reconstruction to create a future for the Tohoku region using “Commons Design.” In this paper, I describe the Commons Design process used in the “Woodlands School Project” in Higashi-Matsushima City, a project which demonstrated respect for nature and a basic concept for designing a sustainable community.

Land use in towns after the Great East Japan Earthquake varies depending on topography and policy. In Yamamoto-cho, large-scale urban developments have been created to produce a more compact town. As a result, the operational efficiency of local public transportation has partially improved. However, the effect is limited because wide-area operation is still required. In Minamisanriku-cho, development of many small-scale highland housing estates has lowered the operational efficiency of local public transportation. Planning immediately after a disaster has always made the development of residential areas a top priority. Consideration of local public transportation should also factor into future reconstruction plans.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake brought about changes in road policies and to gain useful insights to incorporate when facing recovery and reconstruction from expected future disasters.

From the discussions on road openings enabling support recovery, it was found that the experience of road opening in the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered the prefectural and national governments to formulate road opening plans.

From the discussions on road projects supporting reconstruction, it was found that the construction and operation of reconstruction roads and reconstruction-support roads after the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered the implementation of disaster prevention functions in road project evaluation.

In the future, the environment for implementing road policies is expected to become more difficult, but it is precisely because of this environment that the useful experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake should be incorporated effectively into future road policies while continuing necessary changes.

Planning of suitable countermeasures for rare disasters should incorporate lessons learned from similar past disasters so that this valuable information can be transmitted systematically from one generation to the next. This paper aims to examine what kind of lessons were learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, and how we should transmit that information to the next generation, by conducting a case study of the network of existing methods (institutions, storytellers, monuments, etc.) introduced in earthquake-damaged prefectures. For example, we found that local storytellers often highlight the evacuation principle of ‘Run away as fast as possible from a tsunami without worrying about family members.’ Unfortunately, however, useful post-disaster reconstruction policies for residential areas have yet to be established and/or presented in public, which suggests the need to introduce a research institute to study the lessons learned as a supplement to the existing methods.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, evacuation orders were issued in 12 municipalities around the nuclear power plant. Those orders were lifted once decontamination and infrastructure restoration measures had been implemented. However, the return of residents has not proceeded smoothly, leading to policies promoting their return along with the migration of new residents. Meanwhile, many residents who continue to evacuate have been unable to rebuild their lives. This paper points out the necessity of establishing a legal system which is responsive to the nuclear disaster and ensures long-term support for both the revitalization of affected people’s lives and the recovery and revitalization of affected areas.

Reputational damage, or indirect economic damage incited by rumors, is a notable feature of the disaster at Fukushima #1 nuclear power station. Reputational damage is increasingly recognized as a vital part of health-threatening incidents, and is ever evolving through growing information networks. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), under the guidance of the government, decided to embrace reputational damage in its compensation to the agriculture, services, tourism and manufacturing sectors. The reputational damage is estimated to total up to ¥1.8 trillion, marking it as one of the top compensation categories. Although widely identified as irrational consumer behavior, some reputational damage may result from rational one based on the “safer side” selection. Rather than trying to debunk rumors once they have spread, it may be effective to prevent additional expansion by a coordinated scheme among consumers, producers and the companies/entities which caused the fear.

The Pacific coast of the Tohoku region was severely damaged by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. The main industries in the region are fisheries and fish processing businesses, all related to natural environmental resources. These industries and the livelihoods of those who work within them depend on abundant natural resources, but tsunami occur frequently in the earthquake-prone Japanese archipelago, which can cause catastrophic disasters and the loss of human lives and property. In Tohoku, a huge tide embankment was built to prevent damage from future tsunami. Zoning has also been implemented to limit residential areas. However, the milieu (風土: huudo) of this region has been formed by the relationship between nature, residents' livelihoods, and industry. Therefore, it is necessary to make appropriate investments and carefully consider the ideal coexistence with nature based on disaster experiences and the transfer of scientific knowledge. This paper describes the basic theory of coexistence with the natural environment.

Progress in health care and public health systems in the event of a disaster has been achieved based on experiences in areas following major disasters. As part of the revitalization of disaster-affected areas, a type of reconstruction was developed to create cities valuing the health and welfare of local residents. Community development valuing health, welfare, and the environment in regional revitalization emerged not only in post-earthquake/flood reconstruction, but also during regional revitalization of areas with environmental pollution by sharing common values of the residents. Some “healthy cities” have evolved as urban developments which value people's health in areas facing urban problems, recession, conflict and violence. In the process of regional revitalization, it often takes time to reach a consensus on the values shared by the population. It is necessary to share the vision and develop the plan while negotiating various values.

It has been 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Today, some 40,000 people remain as evacuees. The memories and lessons of this earthquake should not be forgotten. This paper summarizes Ishinomaki Senshu University's response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, as well as the national government's efforts regarding earthquakes and disaster prevention. In addition, the general principles of crisis response and issues related to earthquakes and disaster prevention are summarized. Based on these discussions, the role of universities in large-scale disasters was examined from the perspectives of regional contribution by universities, as well as the construction of cooperative relationships and collaboration on disaster response and prevention.

The utilization range of location information is expanding and it is expected that its usefulness of application may similarly expand. In Japan, location information was utilized after the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011) and was also incorporated into infectious disease countermeasures. However, issues concerning its utilization still remain. Based on the above background, this paper discusses and compares the utilization of location information in disaster and infectious disease countermeasures. Web-GIS that consolidates various kinds of information on digital maps can play an important role in such countermeasures. Because social media spread globally with the development of cloud computing, social media submissions with local information are easily consolidated on digital maps and efficiently utilized in the countermeasures against disasters. In recent years, as the COVID-19 epidemic has spread, location information has been widely utilized in both infectious disease and disaster countermeasures. However, personal information and privacy must be considered in such countermeasures to prevent the monitoring of individuals using digital tools.

This study focuses on individual foreign tourists who make up 70% of tourists visiting Japan, and measures the degree of regional variance of the number of visitors and consumption in contrast with the population of each prefecture using government statistics. Results indicate that the regional dispersion of consumption is low compared to the number of visitors to Japan. The main reason is that consumption is concentrated on limited areas, such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, whereas consumption in neighboring areas is relatively less compared to the the total number of inbound visitors. Findings from visitor stratified analyses suggested that nationalities that have numerous people visiting Japan many times, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, tend to display high levels of local diversification in terms of consumption. In addition, the older the visitor and the longer the stay in Japan, the higher the degree of regional dispersion of consumption.

This study evaluated the geothermal potential of 18 municipalities that want to develop geothermal energy in the future, comparing geothermal potential with the current annual electricity demand. As a result, it was found that the condition of “distance from existing hot springs,” which has not yet been taken into account in the evaluation of geothermal potential, affects the geothermal potential by up to 40% in more than half of the municipalities, pointing out the need to introduce this condition in future analyses.

It was also shown that 17.6% of the municipalities had annual electricity demand that exceeded the annual demand of the region, even after taking into account the severe environmental and social conditions. The study showed the importance of each municipality setting a direction for the development and utilization of geothermal energy. The process of calculating the geothermal installation potential used in this study could contribute to this development as well.