The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of effective education for sustainable development (ESD) that can bring transformation to depopulated communities through a case study of community resilience activities against earthquakes and tsunamis in Kuroshio, Kochi Prefecture. Such activities were conceived and introduced during the process of overcoming disaster crises as a form of ESD. They were then analyzed from nonformal and informal education perspectives, as well as from the perspective of nature-human-community connection. The results suggest that certain ESD approaches are effective in transforming a depopulated community. The first of such approaches is characterized by local government leadership establishing a guiding principle, based upon which communication is encouraged between the administrative officers and local residents to overturn negative images of the town and create a new identity for the community. In the case of Kuroshio, the town’s government established a philosophy for disaster management, and the government staff and residents held discussions by organizing workshops to enhance their preparedness against earthquakes and tsunamis with a focus on fostering a spirit of “never giving up.” The second approach is geared towards developing a sustainable relationship between nature, people, and community by rekindling the residents’ pride in their traditional way of life, being in harmony with nature. Kuroshio’s preparedness education aims to teach not only the dangers of the sea, but also the local culture, where people were living in unity with the ocean and blessed with its bounty, to rebuild the nature-human-community connection on a sustainable basis. This study revealed that ESD can transform a depopulated community by overturning the residents’ negative perception of their hometown through the provision of nonformal and informal education, while building a sustainable relationship between the community, its people and the natural environment.