Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
junior high school Social Studies, addressed the question, “What can we do to
reduce as much as possible the damage from natural disasters?” as one of the units
for second grade students. A learning goal was to help students understand that
there are many dangers suffered from natural disasters in Japan. For example,
Chapter 1 of the New Geography Course Series Volume 8 textbook entitled “Current
Geography,” published by Asakura Shoten Press in 1956, is about natural disasters.
The structure of occurrences, impacts, and countermeasures related to climate
disasters, earthquakes, and other disasters is covered. Additionally, the monthly
journal
Chiri
has dedicated special editions to natural disasters for many years and,
more recently, a special edition on disaster education. Likewise, content on disasters
is included in the new National Curriculum Standards.
In response to the frequency of natural disasters in Japan, the government and
schools have made various efforts to protect children and to promote disaster educa-
tion. The purpose of this chapter is to identify elements that make up safety and
disaster education, how geography education examines natural disasters, and what
considerations are needed before recommendations from research are implemented.
11.2
The Positioning of Disaster Education in Japan
11.2.1
An Outline of Japan's Disaster Countermeasures
The Japanese archipelago is long and narrow, stretching approximately 3,000 km
from north to south. The climate is not uniform but most of the country is in the
temperate zone, possessing an abundance of nature and striking changes through the
course of the four seasons. The archipelago lies on the boundaries of four tectonic
plates, including the Eurasian and Pacifi c, and is along the Pacifi c Rim's mountainous
Ring of Fire where earthquakes and volcanic activity are frequent.
Table
11.1
documents natural disasters in Japan between 1891 and 2011 where
more than 1,000 people have died. During the 1950s, there was frequent damage
from major typhoons and large-scale earthquakes, but the number of victims found
dead or missing greatly declined with time. This is attributed to the advancement of
national land conservation, improvements in weather forecasting, upgrades in the
means of disseminating disaster information, and strengthening of the disaster man-
agement system. Despite such alerts, Japan is always under the threat of disasters
such as major earthquakes, violent winds, and heavy rain (Cabinet Offi ce
2002a
).
The Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act was enacted in 1961 in the wake of the
Ise Bay typhoon of 1959. Before passage of this act, legislation was passed to pro-
vide emergency measures in response to large-scale disasters (e.g., Disaster Relief
Act of 1947), on an ad hoc basis. The Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act system-
atized all these disaster responses toward promoting a comprehensive and planned
disaster prevention government framework. The act codifi ed the organization, planning,
prevention, emergency response, restoration and recovery, and fi scal and fi nancial
measures related to disasters. This same law stipulated cooperation between the
