Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster Prevention
: A Case Study of Disaster Prevention Program in Japan
WATANABE, Toshie
Japan Institute for Group Dynamics
Nishinippon Shimbunkaikan 14F 1-4-1 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0001 JAPAN
groupdyn@i-kyushu.or.jp
Summary
We should keep disaster prevention programs going in our community. Although various activities
had been conducted before the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake (Jan.17, 1995), only activity of
“Preventing Disaster BY Saying Disaster Prevention” setting “disaster prevention” as a direct goal
could not defend the community completely. In the present study, we reported a disaster
prevention program developed by a non-profit organization after the quake in Japan. It was named
as “Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster Prevention”. This program did not say
"Disaster Prevention" as its goal explicitly, but was served as a simple local activity, in which
children and volunteers walked around, watched their community, and found something. After the
program, participants became attracted to the community and disaster prevention. Moreover they
had interests in various aspects of the community, for instance, crime prevention, barrier-free,
environment conservation, and so on. This study examined its possibility and effectiveness in our
vulnerable community.
Introduction
In Japan, we realized the importance of the disaster prevention again at the time of the
Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, Jan.17, 1995. Disaster prevention programs in general consist of
conducting fire drills, organizing local groups specified in disaster prevention activities, and
establishing database systems of disaster experts. These activities may be called "Preventing
Disaster BY Saying Disaster Prevention" . It must be effective in an actual disaster. However, only
such activities often make it difficult for local residents to keep getting interested in “Disaster
Prevention” during the peacetime. What should we do to keep them on the alert for disaster?
We conducted a fieldwork in a devastated area after the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake
and found a clue to an alternative disaster prevention program. In the community, the most
effective group in shelter management and reconstruction activities was not a group specialized in
disaster prevention, but a group for community sports (Sugiman, Atsumi, Nagata, & Watanabe
1995). There were some people, for example, neighborhood organization or local group for crime
prevention, who would have been activated for the disaster management in the local community.
However, the sports group was much more effective simply because they knew their own
community and residents better than others. They had been interested in playing volleyball and
softball with children and local primary school teachers in the community normally. Moreover
they were concerned about local people and their own community through the sport activities.
From this fieldwork, we found that people who have not paid direct attention to disaster prevention
during the peacetime could have the potential power of disaster management and show their
capabilities in the actual disaster. We called the process "Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying
Disaster Prevention" .
According to this experience, we attempted to examine a possibility of “Preventing
Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster Prevention” as members of an NPO called Nippon Volunteer
Network Active in Disaster (NVNAD), Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan. One of the most important
things for disaster prevention is an attachment to the community and a sense of disaster prevention.
However, under the slogan of "Love your community" or "Maintain your sense of disaster
prevention", most people won't be able to do so because such slogans are too abstract. Then we
need some device or even a trick. When we don’t appeal “Disaster Prevention” explicitly but serve
as a simple local activity, we can bring out people's love to their own community and their sense of
disaster prevention as unintended consequences (Merton,1957), or a by-product. Based on this idea,
the NVNAD developed a workshop titled "REDISCOVERY OF MY HOME TOWN" and carried it
many times here and there. In the present study, the basic program was shown.
The basic program of the workshop, "REDISCOVERY OF MY HOME TOWN"
There were three steps on the program (Table.1). First, the NVNAD divided the
participants into some groups. The number of each group was ten at most. Each group consisted
of children, their parents, volunteers, and staff members of the local group. The NVNAD
instructed them to walk around the community and try to find some places and things of which they
should be aware for any reasons. Participants talked about where to go and which route should
they take. For one and a half hours during the watching, they took pictures of the places and some
notes for each place. For instance, children found that they couldn't understand a sign of
“one-one-o for children”, which had been displayed on the front door of some private houses,
because they had not yet learned how to use. For another example, they found many bicycles on
the sidewalk and thought that they would hinder physically handicapped people in their walk.
They also interviewed a local policeman and storekeeper on their way and made friends with these
local people. For the final example, they visited a fire station and tried on a uniform.
At the second step of the workshop, all participants cooked special rice that was dried for
emergencies. Only pouring water and leaving for one and a half hours they could eat rice. It was
a good opportunity for them to realize what they could use and eat in an actual disaster and how to
cook it.
At the final step, each group made a town map by using the pictures and memo papers
they took during the walk. They enjoyed making the map with patching up the photos and drawing
illustrations. Finally, each group made presentation about its map and discussed the community.
They understood that each group found many different places and things from the various
viewpoints though every group walked around the same community.
Table.1 Time schedule
Time
Contents
09：30 Opening
(Staff members explain about the program and divide participants into some groups.
Participants introduce themselves to other members and talk about where to go and which
route should they take.)
10：30 Watching and Walking around the community
(Each group walks, tries to find some places, takes their pictures, and makes a note of
them.)
12：30 Lunch hour
(Participants eat special rice dried for an emergency.)
13：30 Making a map
(Each group makes an original town map.)
15：00 Presentation
(Each group presents and explains about its map.)
16：30 Closing
Results
The workshop seems to be a simple local activity unrelated to the disaster prevention. It
is true that if children are asked they could not consciously realize the meaning of this workshop.
However, through enjoying the local activity unrelated to disaster prevention on the surface,
participants came to have interests in their own community and a sense of disaster prevention as
unintended consequences. Below is a sample of the children’s remark about the program (e.g.,
NVNAD，1998, 1999b).
・I found many things I usually had not found.
・It was good for me to talk with some people living in the community during the workshop.
・I enjoyed looking around the community from a different viewpoint.
・I was feeling sort of tired but enjoyed walking around the town with group members and making
our original map.
They talked about their community, thought about the disaster prevention, and came to
have an interest in their own community and a sense of disaster prevention as unintended
consequences through enjoying the community activity apparently unrelated to disaster prevention.
Some points they found during the program were showed in the report (e.g., NVNAD，1998, 1999).
・Shelter: When a fire and an earthquake are happened I should come here. I want a sign of
shelter more clear.
・Roadside trees: Trees will prevent the spread of a fire when it occurs.
・Hydrant: The water quality in a hydrant is the same one we can drink.
・Leaning utility pole: It is still a sign of the damage caused by the Kobe Earthquake.
From the results of the program, we organized two points of the alternative disaster
prevention program. The first point was that an activity apparently unrelated to disaster prevention
could heighten the participants’ interests in preventing disaster as “an unexpected result”. In the
conventional disaster prevention program, people set a goal of elevating a sense of disaster
prevention primarily and conducted activities related to the goal directly. However, such activities
have little prevailed regrettably because the goal was too abstract. In this program, on the one hand,
the NVNAD set the same goal but took leave to veil it strategically and managed only a community
activity in which participants could find enjoyment. As a result, their interest in disaster prevention
rose. We concluded that such an activity apparently unrelated to disaster prevention could also
make the veiled goal achieve and participants’ interests heighten.
The second point of this program was what various people took part in it and thought
about their community and disaster prevention from different viewpoints was important. The most
conventional programs are getting into a rut because participants, who are board members of
community organization, are regular and their contents have little variation. For sloughing off such
rigidity, it is important to reconsider community and disaster prevention from different viewpoints.
In this workshop, various people, who are different age, gender, and affiliation, took part in the
program and found many things from different angles. We concluded that activities in which many
various people could participate were able to raise their interests in community and disaster
prevention.
Therefore, we proposed a "Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster
Prevention" as an alternative program to "Preventing Disaster BY Saying Disaster Prevention".
Discussion
Precisely, the reason why we frighten a disaster is that it is not easy for us to predict in
peacetime what is danger and to identify the ways to avoid it. Therefore an important thing for
preventing disaster is to prepare many choices for coping with various problems. Activities such as
“Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster Prevention”, which leave ambiguity, are effective
in disaster. Through the “Preventing Disaster WITHOUT Saying Disaster Prevention” we can
check many choices, which the “Preventing Disaster BY Saying Disaster Prevention” has not
prepared, and get potential power to cope with many problems in disaster.
A dangerous thing for us is not only disaster but we should be living with various dangers
in the recent society. In other words, it is very difficult for us to assume what is going to happen.
Therefore we might mention that we are very vulnerable. It means that it is hard for us to cope
with many problems using the conventional way, in which we set a goal primarily, extract problems
for the goal achievement, decide the ways and means to solve the problems, and practice. We
could name the conventional method as “Something BY Saying Something” As we described
above, we should use an alternative way to cope with danger.
We consider it is important to act apparently vague activities with various people for
managing unexpected things. We will find, know, and learn different things from the different
points of view through various activities. Conducting such activities in peacetime might be
effective in something emergent. We conclude that an alternative approach which named as
“Something WITHOUT Saying Something” is very useful and practical in our vulnerable
community.
Results
Merton, R. K. (1957) Social Theory and Social Structure: Toward the Codification of Theory and
Research. The Free Press
NVNAD (1998) A report of the Workshop of REDISCOVERY OF MY HOME TOWN in
Nishinomiya. NVNAD. (In Japanese)
NVNAD (1999) A report of the Workshop of REDISCOVERY OF MY HOME TOWN. NVNVAD in
Kobe. NVNAD. (In Japanese)
Sugiman, T., Atsumi, T., Nagata, M., & Watanabe, T. (1995) The Process of Organizing Emergency
Shelter after the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake: A Participant Observation Study. Japanese Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 207-217. (In Japanese)