Associate Professor Atsushi Kawauchi

In Japan, efforts to save and leave valuable historical data related to disasters involving a network of historians, local governments, and citizens in the Kanai area first became apparent after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. This movement was then followed by the launch of "historical document rescue network” around the country, which sought to preserve data while retaining the unique characteristics of each region. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, another movement gained momentum, which saw regions in the “historical document rescue network” unaffected by the disaster taking part in the remote rescue of historical material in disaster zones during times of wide area disasters.

As a result, the “Inter-University Research Institute Corporation Network Project for the Conservation of Historical and Cultural Data” was formally established in 2018. This project was initiated by Tohoku University, Kobe University, and the National Institutes for the Humanities, to promote research on the conservation of historical materials, the training of personnel/techniques in the handling of historical materials, and the utilization of historical materials by connecting universities across Japan and each region’s “historical record net.” In particular, IRIDeS at Tohoku University has played a key role in running the project. It has embarked on various ambitious endeavors, such as holding disaster science symposiums inclusive of historical perspectives, largely due to the collaboration of the humanities and science departments in 2018.

Associate Professor Atsushi Kawauchi, who is in charge of this project at IRIDeS, believes that the network took off due to “a sense of danger of losing historical and cultural materials around the country as a result of wide area disasters in recent years, as well as aging and declining populations in numerous regions.” A large volume of historical and cultural records, especially those from the Edo period onwards, are thought to be scattered across Japan. This data would reflect real conditions in each region, including the social and economic situations of past eras, and how countermeasures were implemented during times of disaster. To lose these materials would be like losing vital clues to the answers to fundamental questions such as "Where did we come from?" "Universities in Japan, especially in the field of humanities, are now faced with the same challenge. This network was formed to allow scholars to further utilize and cooperate through the sharing of resources because we believe it is our responsibility to pass these valuable materials onto future generations,” said Assoc. Prof. Kawauchi. The ultimate goal of the project is to digitize the data of the entire nation to make it available to the public.

Although disasters have destroyed many prized sources of historical data, this has also alerted us to the importance of preserving this data. Going forward, we shall continue to take advantage of this blessing in disguise, and strive to make better use of these telling records of humanity’s relationship with nature by passing them onto future generations through the continued efforts of the network.

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