IRIDeS NEWs | International Research Institute of Disaster Science

2016.7.27

Students and faculty from foreign universities visit areas affected by the disaster – Experiences of the APRU Summer School – (Vol. 31, Part 2)

Field Visit Afternoon: Tagajo City After lunch, we travelled to Tagajo City to begin the afternoon course. Tagajo was also severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. First, we visited the disaster public housing in Sakuragi, and listened to the explanations by Mr. Hiroshi Suzuki, formerly the manager of the Construction Department of Tagajo City. Since this area was seriously impacted by the tsunami, this public housing complex was built making use of this experi...

2016.7.27

Students and faculty from foreign universities visit areas affected by the disaster – Experiences of the APRU Summer School – (Vol. 31, Part 1)

On Thursday, July 21, as part of the APRU Summer School, hosted by IRIDeS, approximately 40 university students and faculty visiting IRIDeS from overseas went on a field visit to the cities of Natori and Tagajo, both affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. This article is a report of this field visit written by a member of the IRIDeS Public Relations Office who accompanied the tour. What is APRU? What is the Summer School? Associate Professor Takako Izumi...

2016.6.30

We visited Taro, Miyako, Iwate in June 2016.

Urban Districts of Taro were completely destroyed by a mega tsunami in March, 2011. The district had remained vacant, surrounded by coastal levees raised approx. 70cm higher. But Taro Baseball Ground was finally completed in April 2016. When we visited, a junior high school baseball tournament was being held. Echoing cheers in the town sounded like a cheering song for the town and people who are recovering from the disaster. As a group relocation project f...

2016.6.22

How Have the Disaster Survivors Thought of the Dead and Passed on Their Experiences?

Professor Kawashima “The next disaster happens when people have forgotten about the last one.” Passing on disaster lessons to the next generation is one of IRIDeS’s missions. Based on field studies on disaster monuments, festivals, and ceremonies all over Japan, the folklorist Professor Shuichi Kawashima has been examining how these are utilized to pass on disaster recollections. Case 1: Nagasaki City’s Nenbutsu-kou Manju (steamed buns) In 1860, a fatal landslide occurred in the Sa...

2016.5.26

Japan’s Distinctive Approach to Preserving Historical Materials: Presentation at a Conference Held in Canada on the Restoration of Cultural Properties

Assistant Professor Amano and others at the conference Fifty years have passed since the major floods at Venice, Italy. The year 1966 was a turning point in the restoration of cultural properties. In May 14–17, 2016, a joint Canadian–American conference on the restoration of cultural properties was held in Montreal, with countermeasures for disasters as the theme. Along with his group, Assistant Professor Masashi Amano of IRIDeS (specializing in the field of preservation of historical ...