Learning from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake for the Next Generation~Thirty years have passed since that day ~

[Goal 11] Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDGs

2025.01.17

サムネイル
HIROSHI ITOYAMA Director, Training Program Division/Disaster Reduction Learning Center(DRLC), KansaiCenter

Thirty years have passed since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. I would like to introduce the activities that are still taking place in Kobe on January 17 and the distinctive activities of JICA training in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction, while also touching on the thoughts of the high school students whom we have had the opportunity to meet through these activities.

First of all, I would like to express my condolences to those who lost their lives in the earthquake and express my sympathy to the bereaved families. I would also like to pay my respects to all those who have worked so hard to rebuild and pass on the memory of the disaster.

The scene in Kobe on 17th January

As a volunteer, her role was to light visitors’ candle at the venue.
“A high school student is a volunteer!”

Bamboo lanterns to be lit during the “1.17 Gathering

It was one year ago at Higashi Yuenchi in Kobe City that a high school student approached me and said,“May I light your candle?”
Higashi-Yuenchi is the site of the “1.17 Gathering”, and she was a volunteer of the event.
“1.17 Gathering” is held every year from the evening of January 16 to 17, where numerous bamboo and paper lanterns are lined up to form the “word” of the year.

As a volunteer, her role was to light visitors’ candle at the venue.
“A high school student is a volunteer!”
I was surprised because she hadn't experienced the disaster.
“Why did you wish to be a volunteer of this gathering?”
I wanted to know her thoughts and almost asked her that, however as she continued to look for people to whom she should distribute the fire, I also began to seek for a lantern on which I should put my candle lit by her.

The participants of JICA training program walk through Kobe's “past” and “present”

JICA has established Disaster Reduction Learning Center (DRLC) jointly with Hyogo Prefecture, which has learned lessons from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. JICA Kansai has conducted a number of training programs in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction.
In addition to the “1.17 Gathering,” a “Memorial Walk” is also held in Kobe on January 17, and all participants of JICA training program in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction who come to Japan during this period make sure to participate in this event.
The participants, for whom the earthquake disaster occurred in a distant foreign country, walk the streets of Kobe remembering the process of reconstruction.

They are able to do so because they have visited the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution (DRI) adjacent to JICA Kansai and looked at the diorama model of the city immediately after the earthquake with various feelings.

Memorial Walk

“Future” with disaster countermeasures shown by high school students

Many high school students in Hyogo Prefecture are engaged in disaster prevention activities, and JICA-Kansai's training in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction incorporates exchanges with such high schools into the training program and gains insights from the students.

Demonstration of flood countermeasures by students of Science and Technology High School

Last June, we visited Kobe Municipal High School of Science and Technology.
The students were making a three-dimensional model of a “riverside town with/without flood control measures” and they showed us the effects of heavy rainfall by pouring beads that looked like water into a sloping “river”.
The participants, who are experts in Disaster Risk Reduction in their countries, were also impressed by the difference in the way the beads flowed.

Students who were born and raised in Kobe, showed their countermeasures by thinking of those who suffered not from the earthquake but from the heavy rains. The scene etched in my mind more than the two different trajectories that the beads had drawn.

The 25 selections in the world, the significance of “Disaster Risk Reduction” recognized.

The activities of DRLC, were selected as “Best Practices” for 2025 Osaka-Kansai EXPO as high-quality projects that solve important global issues (25 projects were selected out of 2,167 candidate initiatives as of the date of selection).
Once a natural disaster strikes, there will be people who are cut off from their livelihoods, and suffer from poverty, or who are forced to leave their familiar places of residence. Disaster Risk Reduction efforts can be described as activities to prevent such situations.
Unlike cooperation that brings a negative to zero or creates a positive from zero, cooperation that prevents a negative from zero is difficult to see results. The fact that the efforts of DRLC have been selected as one of the “Best Practices” is a proof that the significance of “Disaster Risk Reduction” has been recognized in the world.
And even at the moment of selection for “Best Practices”, the high school students continued their efforts for “disaster prevention”. Children who have been told about the experiences of disaster victims may have grasped the significance of “disaster prevention” in their hearts earlier than adults could understand it in their minds.

“Why are you involved in “Disaster Prevention” activities?”
On the day of my visit to the High School of Science and Technology, I was able to ask the students this time.
I would like to close my blog with their answer.

“I grew up in Kobe, and disaster prevention was something I was familiar with from an early age, but until I saw people affected by various disasters in various areas, there was a part of me that thought, “I will be fine”. As I learned more about disaster prevention, I realized that it is important for many people to have knowledge about it, and I would like to make a big effort by involving various people in activities. I hope that this activity will raise people's awareness that disasters can happen to them at any time, and that this will lead to many people taking action to protect their lives and livelihoods.”


*The contents and photographs related to Kobe Municipal High School of Science and Technology have been obtained with the permission of the school.

*“BOSAI Science Field” is also located in the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution.
“The BOSAI Science Field” is a place where visitors can learn about the latest disaster prevention knowledge while having fun and cultivating the ability to prepare for natural disasters.

Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution that conveys 5:46a.m. on the wall. 

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