Community-Based Recovery and Development in Tohoku, Japan

Abstract

At the aftermath of the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (EJET) of 11th of March 2011, large part of coastal Japan were affected by the devastating tsunami, as well compounded nuclear disaster. This chapter provides some insight on community based recovery in three cities: Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture (with focus on school based recovery program), Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture (with focus on community development in temporary housing), and Natori in Miyagi prefecture (with focus on community radio). In the case studies, focus has been given on education, communication, information and volunteerism. Based on these three case studies, some generic recommendations are drawn for linking disaster, local development and sustainability issues, which include: (1) Local disaster risk management needs to be linked to development issues like health, education, (2) Resource commitments of the local governments are required, (3) Regular updating and testing of local DRM initiatives is essential, and (4) Linkage with local resource knowledge institutions needs to be strengthened.