Nepal and Japan, both are multi-hazard prone countries having experience of devastating disasters. It is difficult, if not impossible, to stop natural hazard events at source. However, the impact can be reduced signif...Nepal and Japan, both are multi-hazard prone countries having experience of devastating disasters. It is difficult, if not impossible, to stop natural hazard events at source. However, the impact can be reduced significantly by preventing them from turning into disasters. The impact of disasters can vary depending on the capacity to handle the situation;and the capacity depends on the level of preparedness and mitigation measures taken in advance. Japan has set example for the rest of the world when it comes to Disaster Risk Management (DRM). Recovery and reconstruction after disasters are not just to develop the area as it was earlier, but it has to be taken as an opportunity for developing better than earlier, which is called as “Build Back Better”. This concept was raised by Japanese Government in UN World conference, Sendai in 2015 [1]. Dynamic, evolutionary and proactive DRM policy and plans with innovation, and the use of science and technology to find solutions, and effective implementation of the policy and plans, coupled with the culture of safety among the citizens, and the spirit of never give up “Nana KarobiYa Oki” (Seven times fall down, Eight times get up), are the unique features that every country should learn from Japan’s DRM mechanism. This paper is an effort to buy-in the good practices from Japan to improve DRM system in Nepal. It is a product of three-month intensive research in the University of Tokyo under a PhD research that consisted of reviewing existing DRM documents and several interactive meetings with stakeholders in Japan.展开更多
After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government identified the lack of proficiency in the Japanese language as one characteristic of foreigners that should be considered in disaster prevention plan...After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government identified the lack of proficiency in the Japanese language as one characteristic of foreigners that should be considered in disaster prevention planning.This article seeks to understand how proficiency in a local language affects disaster information gathering behavior by using the results of a questionnaire survey conducted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Respondents were categorized based on their Japanese and English language abilities. Their media mode, language preferences, information importance, and information-gathering difficulties also were examined. It was found that foreigners skilled in Japanese demonstrated similar information gathering behavior as Japanese respondents, but foreigners unskilled in Japanese showed little usage of Japanese-language media. This group also encountered difficulties due to a lack of Japanese proficiency, but many members were able to acquire some level of Japanese-language information through Internet-based methods. To address language proficiency in disaster prevention planning, information provision in languages other than Japanese should be increased, and Japanese information should be shared in a way that facilitates translation. Although this survey wassignificant in its scope, the results should be considered within the limitations of the Internet-based response collection and focus only on the less-affected area of Japan.展开更多
文摘Nepal and Japan, both are multi-hazard prone countries having experience of devastating disasters. It is difficult, if not impossible, to stop natural hazard events at source. However, the impact can be reduced significantly by preventing them from turning into disasters. The impact of disasters can vary depending on the capacity to handle the situation;and the capacity depends on the level of preparedness and mitigation measures taken in advance. Japan has set example for the rest of the world when it comes to Disaster Risk Management (DRM). Recovery and reconstruction after disasters are not just to develop the area as it was earlier, but it has to be taken as an opportunity for developing better than earlier, which is called as “Build Back Better”. This concept was raised by Japanese Government in UN World conference, Sendai in 2015 [1]. Dynamic, evolutionary and proactive DRM policy and plans with innovation, and the use of science and technology to find solutions, and effective implementation of the policy and plans, coupled with the culture of safety among the citizens, and the spirit of never give up “Nana KarobiYa Oki” (Seven times fall down, Eight times get up), are the unique features that every country should learn from Japan’s DRM mechanism. This paper is an effort to buy-in the good practices from Japan to improve DRM system in Nepal. It is a product of three-month intensive research in the University of Tokyo under a PhD research that consisted of reviewing existing DRM documents and several interactive meetings with stakeholders in Japan.
基金partially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Challenging Exploratory Research, ‘‘Investigation on disaster information dissemination to foreigners after the great earthquake in the Tokyo metropolitan area,’’ Project No. 25560161)
文摘After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government identified the lack of proficiency in the Japanese language as one characteristic of foreigners that should be considered in disaster prevention planning.This article seeks to understand how proficiency in a local language affects disaster information gathering behavior by using the results of a questionnaire survey conducted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Respondents were categorized based on their Japanese and English language abilities. Their media mode, language preferences, information importance, and information-gathering difficulties also were examined. It was found that foreigners skilled in Japanese demonstrated similar information gathering behavior as Japanese respondents, but foreigners unskilled in Japanese showed little usage of Japanese-language media. This group also encountered difficulties due to a lack of Japanese proficiency, but many members were able to acquire some level of Japanese-language information through Internet-based methods. To address language proficiency in disaster prevention planning, information provision in languages other than Japanese should be increased, and Japanese information should be shared in a way that facilitates translation. Although this survey wassignificant in its scope, the results should be considered within the limitations of the Internet-based response collection and focus only on the less-affected area of Japan.
