From July 5-8, 2018, a heavy rainfall was generated by the Baiu-front in the Eastern region of the Okayama Prefecture. Three days precipitation (5-7, July) in Niimi and Mabi observatories were recorded 495.0 mm and 311 mm, respectively. In Mabicho, the Oda River and its tributaries, the Suemasa and Takama Rivers, overflowed due to heavy rainfall, killing 54 people in Kurashiki City (Mabicho). According to records, Mabicho has been a constant flood area since the Edo-era, but it has seen a rapid increase in population brought about by diversion of farmland to estate development starting in around 1973. Many of the new inhabitants who moved into Mabicho after this period had little understanding of the history of flood disaster, which caused delays in response and, as a result, expanded damages.

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Typhoon No.21 (Jebi) in 2018 made landfall on the southern part of Tokushima Prefecture around 12:00 on September 4, 2018, maintaining very strong power, and headed northeast to land again near the city of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, around 14:00. It then moved away to the Sea of Japan at 15:00. With the passage of the Typhoon No.21, it stormed heavily in the Kinki and East Shikoku regions. A maximum instantaneous wind speed of 58.1m/s was observed at the Kansai Airport, the highest in the history of recorded wind speeds at that location. The lowest sea level pressure, 950 hPa, was also observed at Cape Muroto and the Kansai Airport, and the highest tide in the history of record-keeping was observed in the cities of the Gulf of Osaka coastal areas, such as Kobe, Nishinomiya, Amagasaki, and Osaka. The Kansai Airport was flooded, and high tide and high waves occurred at the Gulf of Osaka and the Kii channel, causing severe damage. In addition, the storm caused the destruction of homes and other buildings, blackouts due to the collapse of telephone poles and power lines, and cars being turned over in many places.

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From July 5-8, 2018, a heavy rainfall was generated by the Baiu-front in the Central region of the Hiroshima Prefecture. 48 hours precipitation in Aki and Tenno observatories were recorded 412 mm and 388 mm, respectively. In the Aki Ward of Hiroshima City, Saka Town, Kure City, Kumano Town, and Higashihiroshima City, landslide disaster occurred by heavy rainfall. Landslide and flood disasters in Hiroshima Prefecture resulted in 108 dead persons and 1,029 buildings destroy. Successive complete-destruction of houses, soil erosion and flood damage occurred as the result of the mudflow in the upper-stream of the Yano River in Yano area of Aki Ward and the Oyaokawa River and its tributary, the Setono River in Tenno area of Kure City.

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From July 5-8, 2018, a heavy rainfall was generated by the Baiu-front in the Eastern region of the Yamaguchi Prefecture. 48 hours precipitation (July 7, 5:10) in Kuga AMeDAS observatory were recorded 455.0 mm. In the Osogoe area of Iwakuni City and the Higuchi area of Shunan City, landslide disaster occurred due to the heavy rainfall, killing three people and damaging many homes due to the flooding of the Shimata River in the Mitsuo area of Shunan City and the Mii area of Hikari City. The process of converting flooded paddy fields into residential lands is ongoing in the Mii area, and it is important that inhabitants fully understand the risk of inundation damages.

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It is reported that people who experienced a disaster tend to lose the sense of control, and develop a sense of helplessness and anxiety. It is considered effective to help others for recovering from these conditions. Based on this perspective, a psychoeducational program for disaster risk reduction in elementary school students was developed and implemented with fifth and sixth- grade students (N=230), and its effects were verified. Two tasks were conducted in the program to (1) increase children’s motivation for helping others, (2) make children understand that stress is reduced by helping others, and (3) help children to recognize the importance of mutual aid. In Task 1, training in describing the behavioral contingency of helping behaviors was conducted. In Task 2, group discussions were held about mutual aid after suffering a disaster. Moreover, a questionnaire was administered before and after class, and the degree of recognition about disasters was assessed. The results of the questionnaire indicated that self-efficacy and response efficacy increased, and the severity of threats decreased after implementing the program. It is suggested that this program had a positive effect on motivation for helping others.

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In recent years, expectations for school disaster prevention education have increased. In the discussion to promote school disaster prevention education there are approaches reflecting the standard institutional “norm theory” of what to teach and a “reality theory” actually taught by the teacher in the classroom. To further organize this argument, there are four frameworks: (1) disaster prevention as a subject, (2) implementation in the “Period of Integrated Study”, (3) implementation in existing subjects, and (4) implementation as a cross-curriculum. In this study, based on discussion and the results of these four frameworks, we investigated the method that the “norm theory” and “reality theory” of disaster prevention education can coexist. And, we conclude that development of disaster prevention education under the concept of cross-curriculum is necessary in future school educational field.

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