Last December, the UN General Assembly passed a unanimous resolution to recognize November 5 as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The Japanese government took initiative of its adoption, in tribute to the episode of “Inamura-no-Hi”: On November 5, 1854 (of old calendar) during the Edo period, a great tsunami occurred after the Ansei Nankai earthquake. They say that Goryo Hamaguchi, a businessman of present-day Hirokawa Town in Wakayama Prefecture, realized the real danger of the tsunami and set fire to just-harvested rice straw, to alert his fellow villagers and to make them evacuate, saving their lives.

IRIDeS is the only academic institution in the world that has “tsunami engineering” research field, actively conducting advanced research for tsunami disaster risk reduction both in Japan and overseas. Responding to this UN adoption, IRIDeS has formed the World Tsunami Awareness Day working group under the Domestic and International Liaison Committee. The working group aims to fully support World Tsunami Awareness Day and consists of diverse researchers from France, Germany, Japan, Thailand, and the U.S. The group members started taking actions to prepare for the first November 5 after the Day is adopted.

This fall in Hawaii and Indonesia, IRIDeS World Awareness Day working group is planning to hold events such as a symposium in corporation with local research institutes and stakeholders, to raise international awareness of tsunami and to contribute to global tsunami disaster risk reduction. IRIDeS NEWs will keep reporting its progress.

The second meeting of IRIDeS World Tsunami Awareness Day Working Group (April 11, 2016)

For further information or questions, please contact IRIDeS Public Relations Office:

+81-22-752-2049 or koho-office*irides.tohoku.ac.jp

(Please replace * with @)