On March 11, 2019, it has been 8 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. As one of its missions, IRIDeS has been contributing to disaster recovery, with researchers from various fields conducting research in recovery as well as being involved in practical recovery activities. Now that the first stage of many reconstruction projects has been completed and the landscape of the affected areas has undergone major changes, engineering, medical, and social science researchers were asked to provide a progress report on the activities so far.

Inter-Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program on Science for Global Safety, Associate Professor Michimasa Matsumoto

I have been involved in the reconstruction of Toyoma District in the coastal area of Iwaki City, especially of Usuiso District. I have regularly attended the Usuiso Reconstruction Committee meetings and participated in the Umimachi Toyama Civic Council meetings as an observer. My main role has been to help build connections between local communities and the national/regional governments, and ones among the people within the local communities, serving as a catalyst for reconstruction. Specifically, new and unfamiliar knowledge was introduced to local communities to proceed with reconstruction, but such knowledge can be rooted only when local customs are recognized and respected. My role was to understand both the local community knowledge and the official recovery systems and to bridge the local governments and the residents of affected areas, and also between the residents themselves, as they tend to be in conflict. In other words, I have translated knowledge and helped "traffic control" in the decision-making process.

I have always been concerned about how to deal with the sense of distance with the residents. If the situation becomes one of too much dependence on an observer like me, then it would hinder self-sustaining recovery. Further, although experts have been trained to handle and process relevant information, the difference in the amount of information the general populace has is not as much as it was in the past, because of developments in information and communication technology today. Hence, I have considered the residents as equals, and instead of leading them, I have worked alongside them while cheering them on. At one time, I decided to give a frank opinion to a community leader, when community activities reached a standstill, and it ended up seriously angering him. At another time, residents argued me down, saying “Professor, I think you got it wrong.” I provided suggestions, but it has been my goal to ensure that local people decided whether to accept them. These days, I intentionally keep my involvement to a minimum so that residents can continue without any problems even in my absence, although honestly I miss working with them. I consider that, through various trials and errors, now local residents take initiative in building their own community, based on appropriate and collaborative division of roles between the government and the residents.

I believe that Japan’s biggest challenge, regardless of the affected area, is the development of local human resources. It is important to nurture the generation below age 60, so that people in their 70s and 80s who led the recovery from the disaster can pass the baton to younger people. The formation and structure of human relationships in the local communities is also an issue related to disaster risk reduction in the entire nation. This is because if human relationships were built at a minimum during nondisaster time, then it would be possible to respond even during disasters. For example, if one participates in the routine handing of notices for circulation and involves oneself in garbage collection, weeding, and festivals, one can understand the situation in the neighborhood and within the town. If these relationships are established, then “cooperation” in the event of a disaster naturally emerges. Human relationships fostered from the past are often considered a burden and are declining in many areas, but given the experience of the 2011 disaster and the reconstruction process, one should recognize once again that forming a certain level of interpersonal relationships is necessary for disaster risk reduction as well. In the sense that freedom was experienced once, we need to consider a new “form of connections” among people that is suitable to present-day society and that contributes to disaster response as a result.

Although the definition of fukko (disaster recovery/reconstruction) varies from person to person, I have been supporting the affected areas through an understanding of it as the “restoration and reconstruction of the spontaneous order.” Unlike engineering, social science does not constitute an implementation wherein most results take a concrete form, so it may be difficult to understand the results. To evaluate the recovery that I was practically involved in, it is important to await the judgment of future generations. Society is originally a multilayered entity and is difficult to understand. It does not change dramatically after a disaster, and basically, the characteristics before the event get drawn in as is. Social science searches for something that constitutes the basis of people and society, to observe “as objectively as possible” the symbolic representation of the story weaved by people and society, and to then make a “modest” proposal. It is important to avoid oversimplifying and sensationalizing things for understanding, analysis, and making proposals.

※ All photos taken by Assoc. Prof. Matsumoto

How IRIDeS Researchers Have Worked on Recovery Since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake （#1）（#2）

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