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Frequently, global disasters occur due to human-induced activities, involving international society's role in attempting disaster risk reduction. This study aimed to examine the current state of Thai disaster education at the school level, which Japan supports, and analyze higher education's role in enhancing school-level disaster education through Bruno Latour's actor-network theory (ANT). A mixed-method approach was employed in this study. Quantitative data were gathered through questionnaire surveys involving 150 students aged 13 to 15 from mountainous regions. The surveys focused on their knowledge, attitude, and disaster self-appraisal practices (KAP) in rapid-onset circumstances, using percentages and numerical values. In contrast, the qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with five key informants and analyzed using content analysis. The students exhibited a high level of knowledge, while their attitude was assessed at the medium level, and their practical implementation was statistically low. This reflects a significant emphasis on Thai disaster education in rapid-onset situations. Nevertheless, slow-onset disasters, particularly drought and clean water supply issues, have the most profound and adverse impacts. ANT highlights the inseparable relations between human and non-human actants, encompassing government, higher education, schools, technology, and knowledge engagement in climate resilience building. The study findings provide guidance for all stakeholders, including government, higher education institutions, and schools, to transition their training or education programs from a rapid-onset to a slow-onset approach. This involves promoting the collaboration between higher education and its external partners to develop water management education initiatives that cultivate lifelong learning skills and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 3 Good Health and Well-being.

Japan's Social Thinking and Academic Readiness Training (START) program Academic Readiness (AR) lesson aims to improve self-regulation, executive function, and behavior problems in kindergarten children, but the effects of the START program AR lessons in unfavorable circumstances are unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of the START program AR lesson in affected areas after the Great East Japan Earthquake. A cluster randomized trial was conducted with 111 5-year-old children in two kindergartens in Miyagi Prefecture to evaluate the effectiveness of the six-week AR lesson. One kindergarten was randomly chosen to implement the AR lesson, and the other maintained standard education. In the intervention group, trained classroom teachers provided the children with a 20-min AR lesson once a week. Executive function, behavioral self-regulation, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors were measured before and after the six-week intervention. The intervention group showed improved inhibitory control and enhanced behavioral self-regulation compared with the standard practice group. In addition, teachers' evaluations showed that children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors improved significantly. The results indicate that the START program AR lesson was effective in enabling teachers to help students improve executive function, self-regulation, and problematic behaviors. Therefore, educators and policy-makers should consider implementing the START program AR lesson in kindergartens after a disaster.

The global pandemic of COVID-19 brought about the transition to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) at higher education institutions across the United States, prompting both students and the faculty to rapidly adjust to a different modality of teaching and learning. Other crises have induced disruptions to academic continuity (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes), but not to the same extent as COVID-19, which has affected universities on a global scale. In this paper, we describe a qualitative case study where we interviewed 11 second-year Integrated Engineering students during the Spring 2020 semester to explore how they adapted to the transition to remote learning. Our results revealed several student challenges, how they used self-discipline strategies to overcome them, and how the faculty supported students in the classroom through a compassionate and flexible pedagogy. Faculty members showed compassion and flexibility by adjusting the curriculum and assessment and effectively communicating with students. This was especially important for the women participants in this study, who more frequently expressed utilizing pass/fail grading and the personal and gendered challenges they faced due to the pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis, we found that a key element for supporting students' well-being and success is the faculty members communicating care and incorporating flexibility into their courses.

This research seeks to evaluate students' intended behavioural actions in the event of a natural hazard, specifically hurricane, lightning, earthquake, or tsunami. A test instrument, measuring behavioural actions in the event of a natural hazard, and related NOS/NOT beliefs and dispositions, is utilized to collect data in Estonia, USA and Japan (N=2323). Results suggest that students responded adequately to tsunamis and lightning strikes, but to a lesser extent for hurricanes and earthquakes. Results also suggest a connection between dispositions and behavioural actions, but a lack of connection between generalised. NOS/NOT conceptualisations and behavioural actions. Results imply that students find it difficult to apply their learning to new situations requiring responsible behavioural actions. Implications indicate that NOS/NOT are not well understood, while responsible behavioural actions need to more heavily stressed in teaching about natural hazards involving the promotion of student values and attitudes with respect to Natural Disaster Reduction (NDR).

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan on 11 March 2011 leaving more than 400,000 people, including 100,000 children, homeless. These displaced children lived in temporary housing and 'temporarily' attended schools, which provided them with professional mental health support after the disaster. This paper highlights the role of disaster mental health support teams from Miyagi Prefecture through a problem reported by one of the schools -- the excessive feeding of fish by children who narrowly escaped the tsunami. The support team helped schoolteachers understand the perspective of survivor guilt by facilitating a group discussion among the children and exploring their feelings about the disaster, with a focus on the guilt of leaving their pets behind. The authors demonstrate the role of mental health professionals working with schools to help children resolve negative thoughts and feelings during disaster recovery, including the often-overlooked survivor guilt caused by life-threatening events.

Students are highly dependent on the emergency planning and evacuation decisions made by policymakers and school personnel when disasters occur. The purpose of this study was to examine selected cases of school-related disasters, highlighting how factors of the school context intersected with natural hazards and subsequently affected schoolchildren. Purposeful maximal sampling was used to select school-related disaster cases for their geographical diversity, different instructional contexts, and types of initiating hazards. Among these, seven cases with broad considerations pertaining to educational policy and safe school environments were selected. A within-case analysis was conducted of each case, followed by a cross-case thematic analysis. Six overarching factors were found in the thematic synthesis of the findings. First, school safety practices apply anytime children are under the supervision of school personnel, making knowledge of emergency procedures across multiple types of school settings essential. Second, elements that place schoolchildren at risk also place school personnel at risk. Third, teachers and school administrators need to be well-trained and knowledgeable enough to make independent decisions in emergency situations. Fourth, children must know emergency procedures so they may take independent action, given teachers are also at-risk during disasters. Fifth, most school disasters can be prevented through safe school construction. Finally, it is the responsibility of policymakers to ensure schools are safe learning environments for children. By participating in and advocating for a culture of preparedness, educational policymakers can better protect schoolchildren, as well as school personnel, in disaster situations.

This study examined further investment in Japanese language learning from the perspective of Indonesian learners of Japanese through their study abroad experience in Japan. Employing a model of investment proposed by Darvin and Norton, the study analyzed learners' oral and written narratives, focusing on three key constructs, namely identity, ideology, and capital. Data analysis revealed that study abroad to Japan has become a symbolic capital, as well as a way for learners to gain benefits related to some aspects of their linguistic capital they were not able to acquire when studying Japanese in their home country. Study abroad in Japan also offered a new possibility for Japanese learners to get closer to their imagined identity they wish to realize in their imagined communities related to Japanese language. This study revealed how different ideologies have shaped Japanese language institutional practices and educational policies and how these have impacted on language learners as they position themselves within the contexts. It posed critical view on Japanese language education policy and planning with its double-edged ideologies which have created constraint and opportunity for learners. The study indicates the importance to rethink Japanese language education planning and policy from the perspective of language learners' investment on Japanese learning, in the era of globalization where student mobility across borders and boundaries is prevalent.

Japan stands as a rare country in which ESD has been incorporated as mainstream policy. However, looking back on the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), ESD has not brought about the transformation in Japan that one expects ESD to aim for, despite this support at the policy level. The cause may be that pouring the "new wine" of ESD into the "old bottle" of the traditional educational system has diluted the dynamism contained in ESD. Both "shallow ESD" and "deep ESD" exist. The former stems mainly from widely shared interpretations of ESD that emphasize the overlap and connections with existing school subjects and types of education. The latter is needed to avoid this loss of dynamism and to gain access to the full potential of ESD. Holistic educational approaches that replace conventional ones, as well as system-level transformation, are indispensable to realize this "deep ESD."

This paper examined how the interdisciplinary field of volunteer motivation and creativity research helps improve our understanding of social issues. This research focused on the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and discussed how volunteer motivations support volunteer activities, positive youth development and citizenship from the perspective of sociocultural and self-determination theories Next, volunteerism based on prosocial behaviors was explored, such as improvement of victims' lives after the disaster. Despite the positive effect of volunteer activities on lifespan youth development, volunteer assistance within the stricken area has gradually declined during the past year compared to the period immediately after the disaster, when there were a substantial number of volunteers. To sustain volunteer motivation for longer periods, interdisciplinary studies within the areas of psychology and leisure are necessary. This research outlined three important interdisciplinary concepts, which are necessary to recover from the disaster: identity formation, collaborative creativity, and community citizenship. Volunteering as extracurricular activities for undergraduate and prospective teachers can strengthen their own and students' rich and deep life course in future.

We explored the factors associated with the stress signs among children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Although children showed increased stress signs, they also showed increased development of good behavioral traits during this period. Parenting styles were significantly correlated with the psychological and physical stresses experienced by children. While a punitive parenting style had significant correlations with increased psychological and physical stress, a warm and permissive parenting style had positive correlations with increased good behavioral traits and behaviors of children even during the pandemic. Social support enhanced mothers' self-esteem and positive perceptions among children. These findings provide us with important clues to support families, during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Risk and uncertainty can destabilise and reconstruct the relationships between medicine, policy and publics. Through semi-structured interviews with medical staff following the Fukushima 3.11 Disaster, this paper demonstrates the way in which disruption (caused by disaster), coupled with uncertainty (in this case, around radiation risk) can serve to transform medical practices. After Fukushima, a deficit in publicly-trusted approaches to disaster management meant that the role and status of key medical professionals was transformed. This reorganisation of medical work included the development of new forms of expertise, the stretching of expertise beyond previously well-defined professional boundaries, and shifts in the way in which medical professionals understand and interact with publics. These changes signified the rise of new relationships between the medical workers and their community, as well as adjustments in what were regarded as the boundaries of medical work. Given both the ubiquitous threat of disasters and calls for increased engagement between the medicine and the public, this case study provides insight into the forms which such engagements can take, especially when bound by conditions of uncertainty. The paper draws upon the theoretical literature around the impact of uncertainty on policy, and combines this with medical sociological literature on the nature of medical expertise. The paper examines the shifting of medical expertise towards mode 2 forms, and evidences the impact of a democratised science of risk on the roles and functions of medical practice.

This paper examines shifts in the knowledge production policy agenda at Japanese research universities -- a transition from discipline-based academic tradition towards interdisciplinary forms of knowledge production -- through a case study of a leading interdisciplinary research institute. We examine this transition through the case of Tohoku University, one of seven 'Designated National Universities', and its flagship International Research Institute of Disaster Science. Documentary analysis revealed a renewed emphasis on interdisciplinarity, evident in restructuring towards a 'blended hybrid' model to reconcile the different institutional logics of diverse research traditions among its staff. Interviews with key stakeholders uncovered the internal dynamics of this process, its barriers and opportunities. We conclude with implications for Japanese higher education, arguing that a shift to 'blended hybrid' institutional forms is necessary but insufficient to maintain successful interdisciplinary research institutes. Success is contingent on simultaneous commitment to sustainable international connections and relationships with diverse external stakeholders.

This paper examines the ways in which healthcare professionals interact with patients' family members, and/or colleagues. The data are from healthcare discourses at difficult times found in the manga series entitled Nurse AOI. As the first step, we selected several communication scenes for analysis in terms of politeness strategies. From these scenes, we extracted individual events that exhibit any one of five main constraints/maxims that follow Leech's (2009) Grand Strategy Politeness (GSP) framework--generosity/tact, approbation/modesty, obligation, opinion, and feeling. The in-depth analysis was conducted using the following three perspectives: the contextual background of the communication, the relationship with patients' family member and/or colleagues, and the degree of face-threatening acts. This last perspective was evaluated by Politeness Theory (Brown & Levinson, 1987), judging the imposition of face-threatening acts, social distance, and relative power. Each communication event was examined in terms of politeness strategies (Brown and Levinson, 1987; Yoshioka, 2007). At difficult times optimal politeness strategies are required while simultaneously providing urgent medical care for patients or victims. The findings of this study indicate both potential problems with healthcare communication at difficult times such as disasters and also suggest the ways in which the quality of communication may be enhanced.

This paper contributes to the conceptual and empirical development of 'preparedness pedagogy'. Preparedness involves learning, thus disaster risk reduction (DRR) should be discussed more in the field of education, particularly its sub-discipline of public pedagogy. Disaster risk reduction education should have an element of "a pedagogy in the interest of publicness," which is an experimental pedagogy in which citizens act in togetherness to develop their own preparedness. The paper pays attention to the two phrases utilised in the recent DRR discourse -- 'integrated' DRR and 'participation by all' -- and examines the case of Japan, applying whole-system thinking. It is suggested that 'the mesosystem' of the DRR system yields relationships and learning, and thus enables collaboration, change and 'participation by all'. Preparedness pedagogy has a role to play in this. The mesosystem functions as the confluence between state-led and community-based DRR to truly integrate the system.

This article aims to build a frame of reference to reconsider the meaning of knowledge in line with collective value formation and to regain lost popular knowledge in comparison with paternalistic or scientific knowledge. Following a brief introduction of Japanese social education and a critical/creative review of Freire's concept of conscientization, a case study of a community-based social enterprise and its learning practice in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake is explored. The focus of the analysis is to clarify the restructuring process of knowledge construction through collective and dialogical community actions.

Schools in the areas afflicted by an earthquake disaster of unprecedented scale, already faced with the challenge of simply carrying out regular school education, also struggled with the problem of how to ensure the necessary psychological care for the damaged children. With regard to this, I undertook school support based on the following policies: 1. to enrich class management so as to provide a "safe-feeling environment" through overall support of the class group; 2. to grasp the support level of individual students in the class through regular assessments including survey methods, and adjust the support level as needed. In classes in good condition, results showed a significant decrease in students' stress, and it was considered that an effect similar to the group approach took place through life and activity experiences in the Japanese class group. (Contains 2 charts, 3 figures and 4 notes.)

After the March 2011 great East Japan earthquake, school teachers became much more interested in education for disaster prevention. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the extent education for disaster prevention is present in the Japanese National Curriculum. Before March 2011, some elements of disaster prevention education were added to the new curriculum on Social Studies and geography. Disaster education's role becomes much more important for saving children's lives. The roles of geographic education for disaster education emphasize the skills of map and regional characteristic reading and interpretation. The goal of geography education for disaster prevention is that people are better able to find safety with these skills.

In this essay, Karou Miyazawa reflects on how she was both insider and outsider during her fieldwork in Fukushima, Japan, between 2013 and 2016, after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant explosion devastated the region. During her time in Fukushima, Miyazawa experienced the emotions of community members as well as her own, which were rooted in specific individual and collective memories. While her nostalgic memories of home pulled her inside the community, community members' anger and skepticism toward researchers, which stemmed from memories of the wartime atomic bombings, pushed her outside the community. Based on this experience, Miyazawa has reconceptualized agency as one's ability to be susceptible to various emotions that circulate in the community and to move toward and/ or away from insider and outsider positions. This new approach allows researchers to recognize the agency of their participants, form dialogic relationships with them, and collaboratively give testimonies over the long term. Miyazawa contends that such relationships will contribute to the decolonization of research.

Two influential tragic incidents in 2011 are discussed in connection with the cultivation of morality in Japan. One is the suicide of a junior high school student due to bullying in his school--a scandal which eventually led to the country's redefinition of the status of moral education in the school curriculum. The other is the huge earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku. Observing the affected area, foreign media reporters wondered why there was no looting in Japan. In order to shed light on this question small-scale research was conducted on perceptions of the practice of unattended vegetable stands (UVSs), as an index of the moral level of some Japanese people. Responses of various groups involved in this study suggested that the well-disciplined behaviour of Japanese people, indicated by this practice, is not necessarily only a product of school moral education. Rather, they considered that conduct in daily life, social solidarity, and education at home are the major components of the moral upbringing of Japanese people. In order to improve moral education in schools, the importance of focusing on children's experiences in daily life and making good use of them from the perspective of children's moral growth are emphasized.

Both "disaster preparedness" and "public pedagogy" have been broadly defined and diversely utilised. Preparedness has been dealt with in disciplines such as civil engineering, the sociology of disasters, public health and psychology, rather than education. Recently, inquiries into the learning and teaching of preparedness have increased in the field of education. Some position preparedness education within the field of public pedagogy. However, conceptual discussion as to how and why the two fields are associated has been limited. The primary aim of this paper is to fill this gap by drawing on public pedagogy literature that conceptualises "publics" and "pedagogies". In doing so, the paper attempts to respond to call for "Problematizing Public Pedagogy".

Preparedness for disaster scenarios is progressively becoming an educational agenda for governments because of diversifying risks and threats worldwide. In disaster-prone Japan, disaster preparedness has been a prioritised national agenda, and preparedness education has been undertaken in both formal schooling and lifelong learning settings. This article examines the politics behind one prevailing policy discourse in the field of disaster preparedness referred to as "the four forms of aid"--"kojo [public aid]," "jijo [self-help]," "gojo/kyojo [mutual aid]." The study looks at the Japanese case, however, the significance is global, given that neo-liberal governments are increasingly having to deal with a range of disaster situations whether floods or terrorism, while implementing austerity measures. Drawing on the theory of the adaptiveness of neo-liberalism, the article sheds light on the hybridity of the current Abe government's politics: a "dominant" neo-liberal economic approach--public aid and self-help--and a "subordinate" moral conservative agenda--mutual aid. It is argued that the four forms of aid are an effective "balancing act," and that kyojo in particular is a powerful legitimator in the hybrid politics. The article concludes that a lifelong and life-wide preparedness model could be developed in Japan which has taken a social approach to lifelong learning.

Purpose: Evacuation drills should be more realistic and interactive. Focusing on situational and audio-visual realities and scenario-based interactivity, the authors have developed a game-based evacuation drill (GBED) system that presents augmented reality (AR) materials on tablet computers. The paper's current research purpose is to improve visual reality (AR materials) in our GBED system. Design/methodology/approach: The author's approach is to develop a new GBED system that superimposes digital objects [e.g. three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) elements] onto real-time vision using a marker-based AR library, a binocular opaque head-mounted display (HMD) and other current easily available technologies. Findings: The findings from a trial experiment are that the new GBED system can improve visual reality and is appropriate for disaster education. However, a few problems remain for practical use. Research limitations/implications: When using the GBED system, participants (i.e. HMD wearers) can suffer from 3D sickness and have difficulty in moving. These are important safety problems in HMD-based systems. Social implications: The combination of AR and HMDs for GBEDs (i.e. integrating virtual and real worlds) will raise questions about its merits (pros and cons). Originality/value: The originality of the research is the combination of AR and an HMD to a GBED, which has previously been realized primarily as simulation games in virtual worlds. The authors believe that our research has the potential to expand disaster education.

This article aims to describe post-war continuity and change in disaster education in Japan. Preparedness for natural disasters has been a continuous agenda in Japan for geographical and meteorological reasons, and disaster education has been practised in both formal and informal settings. Post-war disaster management and education have taken a follow-up approach, which means that clusters of measures have been developed after critical national-scale disasters have occurred. Following this clustering, with a minor amendment, the article discusses continuity and change in disaster education, looking at the different versions of the national curriculum (the Course of Study) at the compulsory school level. It is argued that disaster education has always been delivered at school in post-war Japan--this is the continuity--however, its treatment in the curriculum has changed over the years, from the scientific knowledge model, to the civic participation model, to the multi-hazard model, to the everyday life model within broader economic, political and social contexts--this is the change. Through this historical description, the article sheds light on the complexity of the field "disaster education", particularly its two-dimensional aspect, namely, "the science of disasters" on the one hand, and "life skills for disasters" on the other. Currently, these two dimensions are addressed within the policy framework of School Safety. It is argued, however, that this complexity has been a challenge in the positioning of disaster education in the Japanese system. The article concludes by exploring the direction that disaster education has been taking since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

Unstructured data in social media is as part of the "big data" spectrum. Unstructured data in Social media can provide useful insights into social phenomena and citizen opinions, both of which are critical to government policy and businesses decisions. Teachers of business intelligence and analytics commonly use quantitative data from sales, marketing, finance and manufacturing to demonstrate various analytics concepts in a business context. However, researchers have seldom used social media data to analyze social behavior and communication. In this study we aim to demonstrate an assessment structure for teaching social media analytics concepts with the goal of analyzing and interpreting social media content. We base this assessment on forum postings regarding two recent events: the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The aim of the assessment is to discover social insights. We base the assessment structure on Cooper's Analytics Framework to cover such concepts as term frequency (TF), term frequency-inverse document frequency (TFIDF), data visualization, sentiments and opinions analysis, the Nearest Neighbor K-NN classification algorithm, and Information Diffusion theory. We review how the students performed on the assignment that used this assessment, and we make recommendations for future studies.

Natural disasters are frequently exacerbated by anthropogenic mechanisms and have social and political consequences for communities. The role of community learning in disasters is seen to be increasingly important. However, the ways in which such learning unfolds in a disaster can differ substantially from case to case. This article uses a comparative case study methodology to examine catastrophes and major disasters from five countries (Japan, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Germany) to consider how community learning and adaptation occurs. An ecological model of learning is considered, where community learning is of small loop (adaptive, incremental, experimental) type or large loop (paradigm changing) type. Using this model, we consider that there are three types of community learning that occur in disasters (navigation, organization, reframing). The type of community learning that actually develops in a disaster depends upon a range of social factors such as stress and trauma, civic innovation and coercion.

New science standards and reform recommendations spanning grades K--16 focus on a limited set of key scientific concepts from each discipline that all students should know. They also emphasize the integration of these concepts with science practices so that students learn not only the "what" of science but also the "how" and "why." In line with this approach, we present an exercise that models the integration of fundamental evolutionary concepts with science practices. Students use Avida-ED digital evolution software to test claims from a study on mutated butterflies in the vicinity of the compromised Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. This exercise is appropriate for use in both high school and undergraduate biology classrooms.

In order to contextualise the articles in this special issue, this introductory article surveys the relevant literature from recent disasters in mostly developed countries in order to explore the wider role of schools in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The first section argues that as schools are hubs of their communities, it is important to understand the literature on communities in disaster contexts. This is followed by recent examples of school experiences of disasters, particularly in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. The final section synthesises the literature on children and young people in disaster contexts. The article closes with a set of recommendations for integrating schools into disaster planning.

On 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed 185 people in Christchurch, New Zealand. On 11 March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck eastern Japan, and was followed by a devastating tsunami and a nuclear plant crisis. As of 16 November 2011, the official death toll in Japan had reached 15,839, with a further 3467 people still missing. This article presents two case studies of the experiences and the responses of schools in New Zealand and Japan in the immediate aftermath of these events. Although the magnitude of the events is significantly different, the authors argue that there are many similarities in their responses. These provide an opportunity to consider the manner in which schools in other settings might prepare for such events. This comparative case study includes practical recommendations for schools to consider in their pastoral care of students in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Research in New Zealand and Japan, undertaken separately by the authors, attempted to capture the voices of principals, teachers and students to inform a series of recommendations and guidelines created from the real-life experiences of the research participants. They were collected with the primary focus of wishing to better inform the decision-making responsibilities of others who may be in a similar situation, or to guide future disaster prevention and management policies in schools.

This article is an attempt to develop a theory of peace education through an examination of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. It examines why Japan did not avoid this terrible nuclear disaster. This is an educational issue, because one of the major impacts of Fukushima's catastrophe is that it indicates the failure of peace education. In order to reestablish a theory of peace education, the concept of domestic tranquility is discussed. This article questions whether the Japanese public order is consistent with democratic principles. Jane Roland Martin's examination of the concept of domestic tranquility is shown relevant. Martin's language analysis helps to distinguish whether or not Japanese domestic tranquility under nuclear crisis is democratic. I propose that post-Fukushima disaster peace education should be reformed as consistent with two democratic principles: acceptance of the diversity of peace and continuous negotiation among these different narratives.

Prejudice against another nation or culture is often perceived as a major hindrance to world peace. This paper will report on the early emergence of such prejudices, identified in eight-year-old primary school children in Korea. The research, conducted in June 2012, investigated Korean children's reactions to the Japanese tsunami of 2011. A pedagogically embedded research methodology (PERM) was used, where the research initiative was embedded within the teaching and learning of a normal school lesson. The research reveals that young Korean children's prejudices are nationally and culturally deep-seated, and are reinforced by parochial viewpoints projected by Korean mass media programmes. These influences place constraints on children's ability to empathise with people beyond their national borders. Nevertheless, the project provides evidence that prejudicial attitudes remain malleable in children and can be changed in a challenging but supportive educational context.

The term "state of exception" has been used by Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben to explain the ways in which emergencies, crises and disasters are used by governments to suspend legal processes. In this paper, we innovatively apply Agamben's theory to the way in which countries prepare and educate the population for various types of emergencies. We focus on two main aspects of Agamben's work: first, the paradoxical nature of the state of exception, as both a transient and a permanent part of governance. Second, it is a "liminal" concept expressing the limits of law and where "law" meets "not-law". We consider the relationship between laws related to disasters and emergencies, and case studies of the ways in which three countries (England, Germany and Japan) educate their populations for crisis and disaster. In England, we consider how emergency powers have been orientated around the protection of the Critical National Infrastructure and how this has produced localised "states of exception" and, relatedly, pedagogical anomalies. In Germany, we consider the way in which laws related to disaster and civil protection, and the nature of volunteering for civil protection, produce exceptional spaces for non-German bodies. In Japan, we consider the debate around the absence of emergency powers and relate this to Japanese non-exceptional disaster education for natural disasters. Applying Agamben's work, we conclude by developing a new, multilevel empirical framework for analysing disaster education with implications for social justice.

This article discusses using students' analysis of media coverage of the March 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear events to develop their knowledge and understanding of geological concepts and related socio-scientific issues. It draws on news reported at that time, identifies themes in those reports, and suggests how this event can be used as a context for learning and teaching part of the Australian curriculum (science) in Year 6 and Year 9. Critical analysis of the media coverage enhances students' scientific literacy, in particular synthesis, evaluation and analysis. Ideas for classroom implementation are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

Japan has the highest proportion of older adults in the world. Aging is not only an immediate personal issue but also a salient factor in crucial public policies, such as pensions, health, and long-term care. The Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant disaster of March 2011 has highlighted current and emerging issues of a "super-aging" society, especially the need for community-based support systems. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

March 11, 2011, began the most difficult natural disaster ever experienced in Japan. Earthquakes, a massive tsunami, and multiple breaches at nuclear power plants have changed the lives of many Japanese people including children, teachers, and parents. Throughout this difficult time, Japanese school psychologists and teachers have been supported by NASP and ISPA. From the beginning, they have been so encouraged by the "Support for Japan" resources page on the NASP website (http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/japan/index.aspx)! In this article, the authors express their appreciation for support for Japan in responding to the natural disaster. The resources, consultation, and encouragement from their NASP and ISPA friends (which continue today) have helped Japanese Association of School Psychologists (JASP) accomplish their actions to help children, teachers, and schools.

On Friday, March 11, 2011, one of the worst disasters in the world hit the country of Japan. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, forever changing the lives of the people and the state of the country. Not only were lives lost and homes destroyed, the tsunami that followed caused numerous nuclear accidents around the Fukushima nuclear power plant, forcing many to leave their homes and live in evacuation centers miles away. According to the National Police Agency of Japan, this disaster caused close to 16,000 deaths and more than 5,000 injuries. More than 8,000 people are still missing. While miles away from the epicenter of this natural disaster, mental health professionals may have encountered or may encounter Japanese and Japanese American individuals in the United States who were affected by this event. The authors of this article are Japanese and Japanese American school counselor and school psychology graduates and students residing in San Diego, California, who came together to bring about awareness regarding this situation. This article addresses various perspectives of those affected by the earthquake, an overview of the efforts of the mental health professionals in Japan and abroad, and cultural considerations when working with Japanese students in the school system.

The authors have worked together with the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) National Emergency Assistance Team (NEAT) for a decade to help coordinate communications around large-scale crisis response efforts. The massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern part of Japan and the subsequent response represented a unique and powerful weaving together of past experience and ongoing relationship building. Responding effectively to this natural disaster required (and elicited) collaboration among school psychologists around the world. The issues were complex due to the enormity of the disaster and required a multidimensional response. NASP coordinated this response, which included translations of numerous NASP materials, direct consultation, and emotional support, using a model developed to respond to other large-scale disasters. However, its success truly results from the sum of its particular parts. In this article, the authors describe a number of lessons learned.

The nuclear disaster that was triggered by the Japanese earthquake and the following tsunami of March 11, 2011, continues to be the subject of a great deal of news coverage. The tsunami caused severe damage to the nuclear power reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, and this led to the escape of unknown quantities of radioactive material from the damaged fuel rods in the reactors and from the associated storage facilities for the fuel rods that had been removed from the reactors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Victims of natural disasters are exposed to air pollution, changes in living conditions, and physical/emotional stress, which leads to exacerbation of asthma. The study aimed to examine the association between being victims of a natural disaster and asthma medication prescriptions among children and adolescents by comparing those affected and unaffected by the 2018 Japan floods. METHODS: Within the most severely impacted regions, a 1-year postdisaster retrospective cohort study was conducted on the basis of the National Health Insurance Claims Database. Participants aged 0 to 19 years with no record of asthma treatment in the year preceding the disaster were included in the analysis. The cumulative incidence of newly prescribed asthma inhalers in the 12 months after the disasters was compared between victims and nonvictims using survival analysis. To test the robustness, a difference-in-differences analysis was performed, including participants with a history of asthma prescriptions. RESULTS: Of the 1176171 participants included in the study, 4425 (0.40%) were assigned to the victim group. Of these, 287 individuals (6.4%) from the victim group and 59 469 individuals (5.6%) from the nonvictim group were newly prescribed asthma inhalers within the year after the floods. Survival analysis revealed that victims were more prone to receiving inhaler prescriptions compared with nonvictims (adjusted hazard ratio 1.30; 95% confidence interval 1.16-1.46). Consistent results were obtained from the difference-in-differences analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The 2018 Japan floods increased the demand for asthma inhalers among flood victims, underscoring the general implication that natural disasters can increase the incidence of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective disaster management can help mitigate both human and financial damage. However, the absence of appropriate disaster preparedness and management efforts can increase the vulnerability of international tourists to natural disasters. International tourists differ from residents and local tourists in various ways, including limited knowledge of disasters and disaster responses, use of different languages, limited access to signs, and shelter locations and evacuation routes. This study developed an agent-based evacuation model to determine the differences in evacuation behaviors among international tourists, residents, and local tourists during a tsunami. Further, it clarified the impact of both soft and hard countermeasures such as information provision and shelter capacity expansion. Our case study was conducted in the Minato Bay area in Osaka, Japan. The simulation results revealed disparities in the evacuation behaviors between international tourists and residents in the arrival times at shelters. The enhanced sign accessibility and provision of signs in multiple languages significantly reduced the arrival time of international tourists at shelters. Consequently, it is necessary to improve disaster management plans that ensure information provision in multiple languages and the establishment of temporary shelters near tourism spots to support international tourists during disaster evacuation. • Disparities exist in the evacuation behaviors of international tourists and residents. • International tourists following other evacuees take more time to reach shelters. • Enhanced sign accessibility reduces international tourists' arrival times. • Information provision in multiple languages reduces international tourists' arrival times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slope failure during or immediately after slope-cutting can cause fatal accidents. This study analyses the characteristics of labour accidents caused by slope failure during slope-cutting in Japan and presents a countermeasure to prevent accidents caused by slope failure, such as the implementation of a slope guideline by MHLW. A case history conducted during slope-cutting and nailing was presented as an example of the application of the slope guideline to ensure safety. Furthermore, monitoring methods were implemented to gain a quantitative understanding of slope deformation. Geological conditions other than those assumed prior to excavation and small collapses attributed to groundwater are indications of landslide risk. The guideline's quick checklist reflects the slope condition or deformation, allowing the client, designer and contractor to discuss and agree on a quick solution to a problem. The case study confirmed the effectiveness of the slope guideline as a tool for sharing information during construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011 posed significant challenges to the educational sector, particularly affecting nursing students in the disaster area. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the effects of the natural disaster coupled with the nuclear accident on the nursing students. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact of the Fukushima disasters on rate of academic failure events in nursing education. Methods: A retrospective cohort approach was conducted, focusing on 677 students from Soma Nursing School admitted between 2001 and 2017. Four failure events—failure to pass the national examination, student retention, suspension, and withdrawal from school—were compared between three time periods: pre-disaster, early peri-disaster, and later peri-disaster. This analysis was followed by a questionnaire survey among the students and an interview with faculty members to gain further insights. Results: Of the student cohort, 17% had at least one failure event. Students in the later peri-disaster phase faced an elevated failure rate at 29%. Variables such as being male, admission during later peri-disaster period, and local pre-admission residence played a significant role in these failure events in multivariate logistic regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval, p value]; 2.63 [1.49–4.64, < 0.001], 3.207 [2.00–5.15, < 0.001], and 1.84 [1.12–3.02, 0.02], respectively). Conclusions: This study highlights the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following nuclear accident on nursing education. The elevated failure rates in the later peri-disaster period emphasize the challenges posed by continuing disaster phases. Thus, there is a need for intensified and tailored strategies in nursing education in disaster-affected regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster evacuation increases the risk of becoming overweight or obese owing to lifestyle changes and psychosocial factors. This study evaluated the effect of evacuation on becoming overweight during a 7-year follow-up among residents of Fukushima Prefecture during the Great East Japan Earthquake. This was a prospective cohort study. We analysed data collected from 18,977 non-overweight Japanese participants who completed the 'Comprehensive Health Checkup Program' and 'Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey', as part of the Fukushima Health Management Survey, between July 2011 and November 2012. An evacuation was defined as the moving out of residents of municipalities designated as an evacuation zone by the government or having a self-reported experience of moving into shelters or temporary housing. Follow-up examinations were conducted in March 2018 to identify patients who became overweight. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Among 15,875 participants (6091 men and 9784 women; mean age 63.0 ± 11.1 years) who received follow-up examination (mean follow-up, 4.29 years), 2042 (856 men and 1186 women) became overweight. Age-, baseline body mass index-, lifestyle-, and psychosocial status–adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for becoming overweight after evacuation were 1.44 (1.24–1.66) for men and 1.66 (1.47–1.89) for women. Evacuation was associated with the risk of becoming overweight 7 years after the disaster. Thus, maintaining physical activity, healthy diet, and sleep quality and removing barriers to healthy behaviour caused by disasters, including anxiety concerning radiation, may prevent this health risk among evacuees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are destructive natural disasters that cause human and economic losses. Although many studies report the effects of forest age on landslide susceptibility, especially for shallow landslides, no studies have examined the effects at a national scale. We assumed that temporal variations in the annual number of rainfall-triggered landslides in Japan were determined by variations in rainfall and forest age distribution. By this assumption, this study aimed to quantify the decrease in the frequency of rainfall-induced landslides owing to the increasing maturity of forests in Japan. Data were collated from 21 studies covering 11 sites in three countries that reported a landslide susceptibility index (i.e., frequency ratio or landslide density) and the relation between forest age and the normalized landslide susceptibility index (NLSI) was modeled. Using this relation and the area for each forest age class, the change in landslide susceptibility at a national scale (NLSIJpn) was quantified during 1966–2017. The authors developed generalized linear models (GLMs) using the annual number of landslides as the response variable and the NLSIJpn and a rainfall index for each year as the explanatory variables. The number of rainfall-induced landslides was simulated in the GLMs in 15 scenarios with different forest age distributions and rainfall amounts. The number of landslides in young-age-dominated and middle-age-dominated forests was estimated to be 2.4 and 1.1 times, respectively, that in mature-age-dominated forests. The change in the number of landslides from young-age-dominated to mature-age-dominated forests was larger than that from an increase in the rainfall amount of 20%. We conclude that increasing the maturity of forests greatly reduces landslide frequency in Japan. In a changing climate with potentially threatening increases in rainfall, preserving mature forests is important to avoid amplifying landslide susceptibility on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do natural disasters affect election results? Some studies have shown that natural disasters negatively impact subsequent elections, while others do not. This study investigated the link between natural disasters and local elections using data from the Japanese prefectural governor elections for the years 1985–2015. A rich data set is available for prefectural governor elections in Japan that includes information on who won, the vote shares of all candidates, and when the election was held, among others. We found empirical evidence that the number of days between an election and most recent disaster before election positively impacted the vote share of the incumbent/successor. In other words, an incumbent/successor is likely to have less support in the election immediately following a disaster by the constituencies, but can get more support as time passes after the disaster. Moreover, political alignment with the central ruling parties positively affects the vote share of an incumbent/successor over time between an election and the most recent disaster. These results suggest a possibility that politicians seek popularity not through the implementation of proper disaster recovery policies but by taking advantage of their connection with central ruling parties, which may harm citizens' welfare in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]