When people become unable to return to home at natural disasters, some people aim to return to home on foot, other people hope remain in temporary stay facility on the other hand. The purpose of this paper is to reveal that what factors affect to the difference in these behaviors.

In this paper, we organized the four type factors that affect the behavior selection in difficulty going home, and analyzed which factors affecting the behavior selection. As a consequence, we revealed that past experiences, sex, and weather conditions or time in disasters affect the behavior selection.

In this paper, we include the factor analysis of past experiences which researchers had paid less attention to in previous studies. As a result, we revealed that people tend to same behavior selection based on the experiences when huge natural disasters occur again. That is, people who went home on foot in past tend to take same homeward behavior. In the same way, people who went towards temporary stay facility in past tend to take similar behavior selection as well.

Resident's evacuation is affected by the social action and the situation around them at the disaster. Therefore, it is important that the effect of factors to promote the resident's decision-making of evacuation is clarified.

In this study, we suggested the internet survey of resident's decision-making with disaster scenario role-playing system, and examined the utility. Moreover, we use the data of survey, the effect of factors that are social action and the situation around residents was analyzed and strategy to promote decision-making of evacuation was considered.

The main results of analysis were as follows; 1) The most effective factor to promote resident's decision-making is the evacuation order of the local government. 2) The effective strategy to make resident's decision-making of evacuation is to give the serious information progressively. 3) It is important that the information that utilized a human characteristic that is majority synching.

After 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the central government released a series of tsunami estimation reappraisals of Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami, which caused 3 negative attitudes toward the future disaster management among residents. These attitudes can be summarized as, 1) too pessimistic (e.g. to give up doing tsunami reduction), 2) too optimistic (e.g. careless about tsunami estimation), 3) fully dependent (e.g. to rely on disaster experts and government). To deal with these problems, this study suggested an approach of tsunami evacuation called single-person drill. By doing single-person drill, evacuees could realize the supporters for and the meaning of their tsunami evacuation. Also, as the single-person drill was implemented by various participants, such as elementary school students and local residents, it had 2 important elements which were the formation and transformation of "communities of practice" and "identity". All the results of the single-person drill were edited into a multi-screen movie, in which the balances between experts and residents as well as human science and natural science can be achieved.

Flood hazard map is created for local residents to simply notify potentially cautious area and depth in case of water immersion, and minimize human damage. In the flood hazard map design guidelines issued by MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) Japan, it is emphasized that the next generation hazard map needs to consider presenting information requisite for evacuation activities, especially in an easily understood manner. In this study, we examined 84 flood hazard maps (51 for prefectural capitals and major cities and 33 for municipalities in Osaka) made available on the Internet by the local governments, to investigate easy-to-understand map design from a cognitive psychological viewpoint. We then found that map understandability is inhibited by two major reasons: (1) information overloading, that is to include too much explanation and warning in a limited map area individually without grouping, and (2) inconsistent legend of map icons that are designed differently despite the equivalent meaning, depending on local government. Furthermore, we noted good examples of utilizing illustrations in explanation, and discussed ways to possibilities of improving the clarity of hazard maps in terms of users' mental models, cultural implications on color, and use of a character as symbolic sign.

Local Weather Information's (LWI) research is examined around the Miya river in Ise city located in the middle of Mie Prefecture. LWI is an approach to enhance weather risk awareness between producer and user of Weather Information. The LWI's concept is that inhabitants share social disaster risk from various weather information by using usual, plain and local expressions.

In this paper, from an interview survey to some inhabitants in this area, focuses in disaster are researched. The result of this interview survey shows that, when a disaster is approaching, the inhabitants checks some local phenomena which can happen around school area in real, not quantitative phenomena which are expressed in nature science. This result confirms effects of LWIs which a research in 2012 showed.

Moreover, some present issues of weather information system in rationality and reliability of social system are checked. Considering inhabitants' weather risk awareness, limit by some past improvements in weather information is indicated, and the collaboration of weather information through LWI is considered. This new approach to social system of weather information can connect professional knowledge of weather information's producer and local one of inhabitants, and make better risk communication between them.

At next step, concrete condition of LWIs will be set and a verification of effect by collaboration of weather information through LWIs will be surveyed in this area.

In the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake occurred on March 11th, we clarified feelings, behaviors and the life reconstruction processes of disaster victims through the analysis of the data from the social questionnaire surveys. We collected 1,006 respondents in the survey. We asked about the actual feeling for disaster reconstruction of the victims. 90% of victims answered “Reconstruction from the disaster was so late than an assumption” or “I could not have the actual feeling that reconstruction advanced”. There were two big reasons without a reconstruction actual feeling. "The revival of a dike, the fishing port did not advance" the second that "the house was not in sight" about the first.

At the time of The 2011 Tohoku Great East-Japan Earthquake, many foreigners couldn't act appropriately because of the information gap between overseas and domestic media. The objective of this paper is to understand the information and its sources required by foreigners residing in Japan in the immediate aftermath of earthquake. First, we held workshops using MEGURO MAKI, an imagination tool of disaster situation, to collect data on foreigners' information gathering behavior. From the analysis, the needs for information and its sources were clarified by “time,” “place,” and “action.” In addition, the difference of information needs by the duration of staying in Japan was investigated. Then, future works of this study was summarized in conclusion.

We found that the information needs for supporting foreigners was highest on the third day after the earthquake, whereas the information needs by foreigners immediately aftermath are similar to Japanese in general. As to the needs of information sources, direct communication with friends and neighbors in the community was the highest followed by the use of internet. Also, when deciding whether leaving to Japan or remain, foreigners who have lived in Japan longer tended not to collect warnings or instructional information. As for future works, continuing the workshop including foreign workers in Japan that were not involved in this study is required in order to expand the database for further analysis from various perspectives.