A meeting with pilot countries, UNDP, Fujitsu, and other corporate partners regarding disaster statistics (November 2019, IRIDeS)Introduction In March 2015, the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, wherein the “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030” (hereinafter SFDRR), global disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy was adopted. The SFDRR established seven global targets as its core aims, including “Substantially reduce global disaster ...

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Fumihiko Imamura, DirectorInternational Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) Tohoku University IRIDeS was established after the Great East Japan Earthquake with the aim of advancing disaster science and constructing practical research for disaster risk reduction. It has been eight years since IRIDeS was launched, and during this time, researchers from various fields have analyzed problems from disaster sites using techniques from their respective fields of expertise. We are...

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Burst dyke of the Shinkawa River, Marumori, Miyagi. (Photograph: Assoc. Prof. Shuji Moriguchi). The year 2019 also saw the occurrence of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes, including Typhoon 19 making landfall in Japan on October 12. The typhoon caused widespread damage, including human casualties, across a wide area that included the Miyagi Prefecture. The IRIDeS emergency survey working group (WG) started gathering information and carrying out surveys on October 11, a...

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“Assistance dog” is a general term for guide dogs, hearing dogs and mobility-service dogs that have received special training to aid social participation of people with visual and other physical disabilities. When assistance dog users evacuate due to a disaster, their dogs evacuate with them. Dr. Yasuhiro Miki, Lecturer of IRIDeS, specializes in the basic research of Disaster Medicine. He is also a veterinarian who has been considering issues related to assistance dogs during disaster evacuat...

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On November 10, 2019, the forth “Disaster Risk Reduction × Treasure Hunting Game” was held by the Katahira community development association, cooperated by Prof. Takeshi Sato of IRIDeS. This event is both for children and adults, and also both for Japanese and non- Japanese residents, who would like to walk around the Katahira community of Sendai, learning about local disaster risks as well as its history and geography in the manner of a treasure hunting game. This article is a report written...

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