This research investigates survivors’ “Days-before narratives”. All of the narratives were told by disaster survivors who were requested to talk about their experiences on January 16, 1995, one day before the earthquake. “Days-Before narratives” are narratives, which mention experiences, not during a post-disaster, but a pre-disaster period, unlike conventional and typical narratives, which normally mention only about the days after a disaster. To investigate the structures of such narratives produced by “Days-before” style, qualitative and quantitative analyses have been made for 436 episodes, which were posted by disaster survivors to the website, called “Shinsai No Zenjitsu [The 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: The Day Before],” organized by Kobe Shimbun. It was found that “Days-before” style attracted more diverse survivors than previous styles. It was also clarified that the structure of the narratives can be categorized into three categories: narratives directly connecting between pre-disaster and post-disaster periods, narratives including precursory quake reports during a pre-disaster period, and narratives referring to imaginary life-world which could have been realized, if the earthquake did not occur.

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[in Japanese]

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In this study, the “Kanzu” (Figurative-sign-interpretation) approach are applied to disaster prevention education to confirm its educational effectiveness. “Kanzu” composition is a method to develop writing skills by “reading” visual texts (illustrations, photos, videos, etc.) and creating sentences. By using a photograph taken in tsunami-affected area of the Great East Japan Earthquake as a visual text, “Kanzu” composition class was conducted for high-school students in Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture. As a result, it was confirmed that the “Kanzu” approach not only makes students aware of the need for thinking and expressing skills, but also has the effect of making them realize that there are various ways of seeing and thinking. In terms of the effect of disaster prevention education, the use of photograph of survivors as visual text has the potential to foster a sense of one’s own problem, as it switches from one's own perspective to that of the survivors.

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This paper is aimed at providing one of the strategies of reducing casualties in the wake of a Nankai Trough Earthquake. As a result of an investigation among residents in Mugi Town, Tokushima Prefecture after the 2015 Southern Tokushima Earthquake, authors found that people, especially adults did not properly understand the meaning or how to utilise the Earthquake Early Warnings (EEW) system. If people behave as instructed after encountering the EEW, the casualties in the wake of a Nankai Trough Earthquake will be decreased. To assist and educate in case of such circumstances, the authors proposed introducing EEW related learning materials to a primary school which indicated its enthusiasm in studying disaster mitigation education in Tokushima Prefecture. They practiced with these materials as one of the events during their annual sports day. Members of the community voluntary disaster mitigation organisation joined the event. On that day, the audience made up of adults and pupils together with their parents looked on as the event instructed on the mechanism of seismic waves and understood how to behave in the wake of a Nankai Trough Earthquake. The authors think that this material was effective as a disaster mitigation learning material which the school and the wider community could adopt in the event of an earthquake. In locations that the EEW countdown system had been installed the author collected firsthand evidence of correct response and behaviour from school pupils. This evidence supports the authors’ idea. The authors want to present this educational material of EEW to schools. In expectation of the next Nankai Trough Earthquake, the EEW system would be correctly utilised depending on how the affected understand and respond to the EEW system in the wake of a sudden earthquake event.

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This survey was conducted by the Sendai City Junior High School Principals Association after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, targeting all teachers (principals, vice-principals, teachers) of Sendai City Junior High School, the purpose and content of disaster prevention education, the current status and future of disaster prevention education. This is the result of an analysis conducted a survey on changes in consciousness related to 1). The principal conducted the survey for three years in 2013, 2015 and 2016, and the vice-principal and teacher conducted the survey for two years in 2015 and 2016. From the analysis of the survey results, in the future disaster prevention education of Sendai City Junior High School, since junior high school students will be supporters in the event of a disaster, we will implement disaster prevention education to develop human resources, aiming to contribute to the creation of a disaster-resistant community. It has been suggested. Then, when implementing disaster prevention education, it was shown that it is indispensable to develop necessary teaching materials and devise and improve teaching methods, and to secure the time for this. Furthermore, in order to promote and expand disaster prevention education, it is important and necessary for schools to collaborate and collaborate with local communities, governments, and other school types, and we expect that the results and effects of disaster prevention education will be improved. It was revealed in the investigation.

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