A experiential learning workshop was proposed and conducted at an elementary school, which is a disaster prevention center, utilizing sensors already installed for structural health monitoring. The workshop consisted of an initial vibration test using a paper model, followed by a vibration test using human excitation on an actual building. The workshop was designed to be highly effective as a hands-on learning experience that will be remembered for a long period of time, by linking the paper model experiment with the actual building experiment and by utilizing sensors. The workshop is also expected to increase local residents' awareness of the need for seismic retrofitting and to promote the development of seismic retrofitting in this area, which has a high disaster risk level.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of body size difference on the injury severity from furniture collisions by using finite element analyses. A total of 16 cases were assumed in which a bookshelf collided with a mid-size adult male and a small adult female, and the injury mechanism and bone fracture risk were examined based on contact force, stress, and rib cage deformation. The results showed that the head was at higher risk of depressed fractures regardless of body size, and the rib cage was greatly deformed, when struck by a bookshelf with a door, increasing the risk of rib fractures.

Timelines for flood disaster prevention have been implemented in several hospitals. The transfer of patients for evacuation should be done promptly because of the risk of worsening the patient's condition, which requires a timeline that takes into account the rate of water level rise at a neighboring river. As a simple method for estimating river water level rises, this study 1) first analyzes past Kuma-river water level records, 2) proposes a new estimation method for the time of water level rise based on past water level records and 3) verifies the method by numerical simulations. This study reveals that there was no clear relationship between the magnitude of rainfall and the rate of rise in river water level and the proposed method can assume shorter time of river water level rises than the 2020 Kyushu floods.

In recent years, VR technology has been considered as a method to solve the problems of conventional tsunami evacuation behavior analysis. In this study, tsunami evacuation behavior was observed using a walking type VR. The results of experiments conducted with both the walking device and the hand controller were compared to investigate differences in evacuation completion rates, sickness, sense of realism, and changes in awareness of tsunami evacuation. The results revealed the usefulness of the walking device in analyzing tsunami evacuation behavior, but also revealed some issues.

The Nankai Trough Earthquake is expected to cause large-scale damage. As a result, the amount of temporary housing needed by victims whose homes have been damaged will be insufficient. Therefore, evacuation across city and town boundaries is anticipated. On the other hand, the increase in the number of vacant houses has become a social problem in recent years. Therefore, this study focused on the effectiveness of two-area residence in the event of a disaster, and conducted a questionnaire survey of residents living in urban areas and those living in rural areas in Hyogo Prefecture.The results indicate that bi-regional residence could be a potentially useful pre-disaster recovery measure.

In the disaster risk areas designated in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, restrictions on land use have created vast areas of vacant land in coastal areas. In considering the sustainability of the reconstructed disaster-affected areas, it is necessary to make effective use of such land and turn it into resource for the town. In this study, we analyzed the transition and status of land use in disaster-prone areas in Miyagi Prefecture. As a result, land that was used as industrial land before the earthquake was used in the same way after the earthquake and re-urbanized, but land that was used as residential land was difficult to utilize and remained vacant. The study revealed that local industry influences land use in disaster-prone areas.

The factors that inhibit or promote tsunami evacuation are diverse and have been studied in many previous studies.In this study, we summarized the results of these previous papers by KJ method in order to overview the inhibiting and promoting factors of tsunami evacuation. In addition, we compared the inhibiting factors for tsunami evacuation with those for heavy rainfall disasters, using previous studies. The results revealed that: 1) the most common inhibiting factor is underestimation of tsunamis, and the most common promoting factors are recognition of information and advance preparedness; 2) some inhibiting factors do not have a corresponding promoting factor; and 3) differences in the characteristics of heavy rainfall disasters and tsunamis create differences in inhibiting factors for evacuation.

In recent years, the risks faced by companies have become increasingly diverse and complex. Companies are required to implement risk management and BCPs. However, implementing them superficially cannot be expected to be effective. Therefore, this study develops and implements a risk advisor education programme to introduce and embed risk management and BCPs in the enterpreoses, and evaluates its effectiveness. The programme was implemented based on the ADDIE model of ID theory. Learning objectives were set for the three programmes - risk management, BCP and embedding in the organisation - and measurements were repeated before, after and one month after implementation to verify the effectiveness of the training programme, which showed significant improvements.

In this study, we designed a disaster management human resource development program to analyze issues from the viewpoints of others and create solutions, with the aim of improving the local community's mutual aid ability. In the program, based on the "persona method" used in service development and the processes of "systems thinking" and "design thinking", participants test hypotheses from others' perspectives through fieldwork, define problems, and create solution scenarios. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated through classes at junior high school. Before and after the experiment, a rubric-based questionnaire was administered from the perspective of developing human resources for community disaster management, and responses were received from 68 third-year students in 2022 and 75 second-year students in 2023. The results of the questionnaire showed that the "human resource development" aspect of the rubric has increased, and the ability to communicate what they have learned to others has improved. In addition, free descriptions in the questionnaire revealed that the acquisition of others' viewpoints was linked to learning. Thus, the program was shown to have a certain effect on improving the community's ability to help each other.

Thirteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the number of employees hired after the disaster is increasing in Kesennuma City Office, Miyagi Prefecture. Since 2021, training sessions are being held to share the experience of the earthquake so that even employees who have no experience responding to disasters can utilize the lessons learned from the disaster to respond to disasters. When considering similar initiatives in a local government affected by a large-scale disaster, the following points may be helpful: securing human resources who can give lectures about their experiences at the time of the disaster, cooperation between the crisis management division and human resources division, and consideration of the occupations of participants.

In Japan, many natural disasters can strike anywhere, therefore the implementation of truly effective disaster education is an important issue. This study investigated disaster education based on the phase-free concept implemented in Naruto City and concluded that truly effective disaster education has been implemented through the knowledge management of the City Board of Education and the proactive development of teaching materials by school teachers.

Learning lessons from past disasters is one of the most important preparations for disaster management. One of the most effective methods of sharing lessons learned is through exercises, but there are some challenges in reducing the difficulty of learning, the amount of work, and the time required. This article aims to develop a discussion-based exercise program as one of the methods of experiential learning. This exercise was aimed at people who do not have enough experience with large-scale disasters, to share the lessons learned with them and inherit to the next generation, and to reduce some challenges of the exercise. As a result of this exercise, the effectiveness of the exercise and the new challenges were confirmed.

This study investigates the relationship between the classification of media consumption and risk perception for infection. To achieve this goal, we conducted the online survey from November 8th to November 14th, 2022. As a result, we collected n=6,841 after screening out inconsistent responses and non-media users. First, we conducted a two-step cluster analysis and identified the main classification of media consumption. Second, we used regression analysis to confirm the relationship between the classification, information exposure, and risk perception of COVID-19 infection. We found two main classifications of media consumption, mass media type, and multi-media type from cluster analysis. Furthermore, the regression analysis showed that the mass media type was more conscious about COVID-19 infection in society.

In May 2021, Japan mandated that municipalities create individual evacuation plans for people needing assistance during disasters. Currently, the development of these individual evacuation plans is underway, but progress is slow. This study utilizes an agent-based model to simulate how community support and the availability of evacuation plans influence responses during disasters. The model considers various scenarios including support from designated supporters, neighbors, or no support at all, and also simulates situations where supporters are unavailable or affected by the disaster themselves. By comparing various unfeasible support scenarios, the model identifies optimal support strategies and demonstrates the impact of community involvement.

This study aims to clarify the issues that can be addressed by conducting individual evacuation drills with people with special needs in evacuation, and to discuss the impact of such drills on community disaster management. The subjects were five persons with special needs in evacuation on Tokashiki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, and the research method was a participant observation survey and categorization of participants' opinions." The results show that individual evacuation drills had an impact on various levels, from the individual to family members and professionals, and the role of the drills was to promote changes in awareness and behavioral patterns, in addition to verifying feasibility of the individual evacuation plan.

The purpose of this research is to present a new methodology in disaster prevention education through the development and practice of simple and inexpensive teaching materials. In recent years, excellent educational methods using advanced ICT technology have been developed, and this research demonstrated a technique for creating a three-dimensional topographical model from contour lines using a transparent plastic container lid. As a result of the analysis, learning effects were confirmed after the course of regional understanding of topography.

In recent years, heat stroke and infectious diseases have become problems, and decentralized evacuation is required as a measure to alleviate the problems of overcrowded shelters. One of the options during a decentralized evacuation is the use of Accommodations. The aim of this study is to clarify the process of realization and the actual situation of using accommodations as evacuation shelters in Nachikatsuura Town, Wakayama Prefecture, where the use of accommodations during disasters was realized through the efforts of local residents. The fact that both residents and accommodations shared the experience of the disaster led to the realization of the agreement. Since then, the town has taken over and developed the agreement to prepare for disasters by utilizing local resources.

The purpose of this research is to use quantitative analysis to examine the importance of nursing care services when considering recovery to achieve a sustainable community in depopulated areas. Additionally, the amount of indirect economic damage to nursing care services will be estimated. Furthermore, the measures for revitalization will be considered. The Oku-Noto area (Wajima City, Suzu City, Anamizu Town, and Noto Town), a depopulated area that suffered the most damage from the “2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake”, was applied in this case study.

This study examines the damage survey of the Hanazawa Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Yaizu City, which was damaged by a typhoon. In the damage survey, questionnaires and interviews were conducted to clarify the damage situation at that time and the awareness and behavior of the local residents. The structural soundness of traditional buildings damaged by the landslide was assessed through visual surveys and microtremor measurements. Based on these findings, it was shown that the preservation and improvement operations in the Preservation District functioned organically not only for cultural properties protection, but also for community disaster mitigation.

This paper focuses on the standalone business continuity enhancement plans for small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) institutionalized in 2019. The aim is to assess the effectiveness and challenges of these plans through interviews with stakeholders from government, support organization, and the companies that implemented the plans. The findings indicate that standalone business continuity enhancement plans are easier to develop compared to comprehensive business continuity plans (BCPs) and that SMEs are actively developing these plans as an initial step in disaster preparedness, encouraged by governmental incentives. However, the study also reveals a challenge that few companies advance from these standalone plans to more comprehensive BCPs or collaborative plans.

In the areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake disaster, an unprecedented number of disaster memorial facilities have been set up. However, the details and overall picture of the contents in the facilities have not been clarified. In this paper, we conducted a thorough survey of all the content exhibited and provided at 66 disaster memorial facilities, and determined what and how much of the content existed and whether contents are related to the evaluation of facilities. As a result, we found that 1) there are 1,416 unit contents in the facilities, 2) most of them are examples after the earthquake, and there are few lessons linked to the exhibition content, and 3) the number and level of unit contents are correlated with changes in awareness and behavior of visitors.

In order to develop a landslide susceptibility assessment technique, machine learning-based analysis was performed to DEM-derived topographic attributs and LiDAR-derived vegetation attributes in Hiroshima city where was severly damage by the landslides and debris flows in August 2014. We used Flow accumulation, Stream power index (SPI) and Topographic position index as topographic attributes, and tree density (N) and mean tree height (H) as vegetation attributes. From the Random forest (RF)-based analysis, we revealed that the result by the combination of SPI with N and H showed the best accuracy for assessing the landslide areas. We also confirmed that the result of the RF-based landslide susceptibility mapping showed good agreement with the distribution of the landslides in the 2014 event. The landslide susceptibility was demonstrated in other areas out of Hiroshima city affected by the 2018 debris flow event.

Education from childhood is important for accurate response to sediment disasters. The ability to decipher topographic features, which are a prime cause of landslides, from topographic maps is a challenge for elementary and junior high school students. We have developed a sandbox (AR sandbox system) that utilizes augmented reality (AR) technology as a tool for learning topographic maps (contour lines) and topographic features. The system was implemented in two elementary schools in Wakayama Prefecture, and a questionnaire survey was conducted among students and teachers. The system developed in this study is portable and inexpensive and expected to be used for disaster education in educational and public institutions.

This paper presents policy issues based on the actual situation of "solitary deaths" in temporary housing after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Statistical analysis based on prefectural police reports will be conducted. The main findings are as follows. 1) In addressing the problem of "solitary deaths," it is essential to focus not only on the isolation of the elderly, but also on the problems faced by the non-elderly. 2) There are two patterns of "solitary death" among the non-elderly. One is that they commit suicide under different circumstances from isolation while maintaining human relationships. The other is that they die of illness due to social exclusion, poverty, and weakness. Both patterns have in common that they were left behind in small housing complexes for a long period of time. 3) To cope with the problem of "solitary deaths" in temporary housing, policies should be developed in accordance with these differences in the process of occurrence. Particular attention should be paid to the formation of extremely small housing complexes.

Compared to international standards, municipal standards for personal living space often fit the area standard, but not the height standard. Results of the study on influences of the shape of personal living spaces in the evacuation centers showed that the larger the height and area, the higher the evaluation. However, there was no difference in the evaluation of the space with a height of over 1700 mm and an area of over 4 m². In addition, psychological comfort and a sense of security were improved under semi-roofs. The semi-roof changed physiological human stress values between day and night.

We surveyed victims'evacuation behaviors from the Tsunami after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake by conducting interviews in Rikuzenntakada，Ofunato and Nodamura, Iwate and MIsawa, Aomori. Based on the information we gathered, we developed a tsunami evacuation behavior database using GIS. By adding elevation data to this database, it has become possible to display a cross-sectional view of the evacuation route. We can add tsunami inundation data to this database to determine at a glance whether evacuees have passed through the inundation area. We added information such as the reason, purpose, and background of behavior to this database so that we could understand the reason and purpose of evacuees movements. By using this database to find out the reasons for the behavior of those who did not immediately escape to the hills, we can think about how we should act to save lives in the event of a future tsunami disaster

In this study, we conducted an effort to develop a mapping and information-sharing approach for emergency water supply and recovery in the water supply sector after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024. Maps of emergency water supply stations and restoration status were developed daily, and information was shared with supporting water utilities and others using tools such as Google Maps. The impact of water outages on hospitals and educational institutions was assessed. As a result, a framework for information and intelligence strategy for emergency water supply stations and restoration status was demonstrated, and it was indicated that it is indispensable for effective disaster response in the water sector to establish a systematic information and intelligence strategy function.