Reo Kimura

In this study, we analyzed the disaster management education programs implemented by organizations included in the Disaster Management Education Challenge Plan, a program established to support disaster management education efforts in Japan. We examined the changes in these programs and identified the current state and issues in the promotion of disaster education in Japan by classifying the contents. The study methodology involved creating data sets of the program reports submitted from fiscal year (FY) 2004 to FY2021 by organizations admitted to the Disaster Management Education Challenge Plan, and evaluating them on scales of “fundamental skills of disaster management” and “factors regarding implementing the programs.” Analysis of the former found that there were few programs aimed at acquiring a scientific understanding of disasters as natural phenomena or learning about measures to prevent damage at normal times. Cluster analysis yielded eight clusters, based on which we discussed and proposed ways to implement the programs in order to improve the “fundamental skills of disaster management.” Similarly, analysis of the latter identified issues with regard to program logistics, such as securing financial resources and cultivating future successors. Cluster analysis yielded five clusters, based on which we discussed and proposed ways to effectively implement the programs.

In this study, the authors propose a disaster management drill program for high school students. The program is designed to develop, among high school students, “the awareness that disasters affect themselves,” instead of being “someone else’s problem.” The program was developed in accordance with the ADDIE model of instructional design theory. Sayo High School in Sayo Town, Hyogo Prefecture, which was severely damaged by the flood in 2009, was selected as the program target. Since this school’s disaster management activities had primarily translated into a passive disaster management drill wherein students moved to an evacuation site according to the instructions of the teachers, we set two goals: “knowing past disasters and the current situation, and understanding the risks at the time of disaster” and “knowing the problems that occur at the time of disaster and understanding what action you should take.” In order to arouse interest among high school students, the authors incorporated drones for evacuation drills and gaming teaching materials for disaster management awareness into the program. We designed and implemented a program that ended in the morning, and compared the level of achievement on 21 learning objectives before and after the program. The results revealed a statistically significant rise in all of the 21 objectives. In addition, the results of factor analysis show that the program enabled the students to develop a sense of awareness that disasters affect everyone, understand the risks their communities would face during disasters, such as earthquakes and floods, and realize what they should do to manage this risk.

This study examines the effect of the recognition of various disaster scenarios on the disaster management behavior of people. It analyzes the data (n = 1,900) of the social surveys, conducted by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) in seven districts of Japan (Hokkaido/Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu). The study indicates that the experience of victims, recognition of earthquake occurrence in the region and of earthquake hazard maps, as well as the factors, “life threatening,” “difficulties in daily life,” and “induced disasters,” in the disaster scenarios are related to their disaster management behavior. The greater their recognition of “life threatening” and “difficulties in daily life,” the more people will adopt disaster management behaviors. This study suggests that, added to the experience of victims and the recognition of the occurrence of earthquakes and of hazard maps, the image of the damage through specific disaster scenarios affects people’s disaster management behavior. On the other hand, it has become apparent that creating images of “induced disasters” that are caused by earthquakes, with their unclear association, may lead to psychological confusion.