Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage,Ritsumeikan University
58, Komatsubara Kitamachi, Kita­ku, Kyoto, Japan 603­8341
http://www.rits­dmuch.jp/en/Outline
Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University (R­DMUCH)
based in Kyoto and Shiga, the rich repository of cultural heritage, has been aiming at establishinga base hub for education and research in “Disaster Mitigation of Cultural Heritage and HistoricCities.” This considers preservation of arts and culture and disaster mitigation measures to protect
the community as a whole. Protection of cultural heritages and the surrounding historic cities, this
only can be achieved through comprehensive research of various disciplines. This makes it
possible to reflect development of technology and research outcomes into actual social policies.
R­DMUCH aims to be a global leading education and research center that provides policies for thedevelopment of cultural and safe society both in Japan and the rest of the world.
Research Groups
R­DMUCH consists of five academic research groups and a program.
Historical Disasters: Investigating the wisdom of disaster mitigation in the past by construction ofdatabase and mapping using GIS to analyze and verify the validity of wise practices in combination
with the latest modern technology. ​Human and Animal­Induced Disasters: Developing socialframeworks and technologies in order to protect cultural heritage from human­made disaster, as
well as damage by animals such as raccoons, which has been reported to be increasing recently.
Disaster Mitigation Technology: Main threats of natural disasters at cultural heritage site areexamined. Further, developing techniques that increase the resistance of cultural heritage in facingsuch hazards. ​Planning for Disaster Mitigation: Drawing up plans to provide for the suitableenvironment and conditions for disaster mitigation in historic cities. Establishing the requirements
and evaluation methods, and promoting research for the disaster mitigation­based and historic
town development. ​Policies for Disaster Mitigation: Promoting research on policies forcompatibility between disaster mitigation for cultural heritage and tourism targeting culturalheritages. Also conducting research on policies and budget planning for the preservation andtransmission of cultural heritage. ​International Cooperation and Outreach: Supporting training
projects on disaster mitigation of cultural heritage in the world. Further, developing methods toshare the information about disaster mitigation of cultural heritage by GIS technology to archiveand open information gathered by five research groups.
Outreach Activities■ ​Conference on Disaster Mitigation of Cultural
Heritage and Historic Cities ​and publication of theacademic journal ​“Disaster Mitigation of Cultural
Heritage and Historic Cities”■ ​International Training Course on Disaster Risk
Management of Cultural Heritages since 2006 incooperation with relevant international organizations,such as UNESCO, ICCROM, etc.
■ ​Map Contest for Community Safety offering
opportunities for school children and their parents toshare the information about safety and security of theircommunities through making their original maps.

Research Achievements and Challenges
Important research achievements
The major achievements of R­DMUCH activities aresummarized in ‘Handbook for Disaster Mitigation of Cultural
Heritage’ published in 2013. The handbook has English andJapanese versions so that it provides a comprehensive guideof concepts and items to be examined for protection ofcultural heritages from disasters for both domestic andinternational readers. The activities of our five researchgroups are integrated into three broad stages of disastermitigation of cultural heritages. ​Understanding of risks andvulnerability entails diverse activities of data collection andrisk assessments of cultural properties associated withvarious kinds of disasters. ​Development of measures andtechnology covers both extraction of traditional mitigation from historical records and developmentof modern technologies to preserve cultural heritages in historic city settings. ​Planning andevaluation of policies develops guidelines and city plans to be carried out to attain the goal ofdisaster mitigation of cultural heritages in actual situations. Furthermore, R­DMUCH provides
various ​Outreach activities, particularly the international training program on ‘cultural heritage andrisk management’, on the basis of the research. Major topics and achievements at R­DMUCH arelisted in the followings:
Understanding of risks and vulnerability● Geospatial information infrastructure was developed for managing and sharing disasterrisks and vulnerability of cultural heritage and historic cities.
● To enhance the readability of hazard maps, the web GIS (geographic information system)
site, ‘Safety and Security 3D Maps of the Historical City of Kyoto’, was released fordisseminating hazard information over 3D cityscape through the Internet.
● The GIS based maps of geographic distributionsof cultural heritages which suffered damage
from the Great East Japan Earthquake weredisseminated soon after the disaster occurred
for supporting restoration of local culture indamaged areas.
● A nation­wide social survey revealed that not asmall portion of sampled temples and shrines
experienced crime and animal­cause damages
to their sites and cultural properties.
● Field surveyed data of temples and shrines
damaged by raccoons are analyzed in a GIS
environment to obtain geographic features of therisk of raccoon invasion into historical woodenbuildings in the vicinity of Kyoto­city.
● The databases of Kyoto disaster chronology
thfrom 8​
century to the present and disasterarticles in newspaper in modernization age werecompleted. These are expected to befundamental information sources when thedisaster history in Kyoto is examined.

Development of measures and technology● A new information system using mobile network to share alarms of fire outbreaks in aneighborhood was invented (patented) and tested by a pilot experiment in Sasayama­cityand Miyama area in Kyoto.
● A high performance hydrant which is easily used by ordinary citizens even for their dailywatering activities was developed (patented) and implemented by local residents in
Higashiyama­ward of Kyoto­city.
● A specialized monitoring system was devised for prevention of man­made disasters, suchas arson to historical buildings and robbery of cultural properties, at temples and shrines bydetecting anomalous behaviors of persons monitored.
● Methods to assess traffic capacity in disaster situations were developed and applied toevacuation routes from the main historic attractions of Higashiyama­Ku, Kyoto­city.
● Hydrological analysis was conducted to evaluate countermeasures to flooding at theAyutthaya world heritage site in Thailand.
● An agent based model was designed to evaluate evacuation measures and signs in Himeji
Castle in Hyogo prefecture.
Planning and evaluation of policies● The comprehensive manual concerning aseismic and slow­burning repairing of historicalbuildings was edited for the preservation district for groups of historic buildings inTakayama­city.
● Several measures were proposed for not increasing vulnerability of historical buildings
affected by the relaxation of Building­Standards­Law for promoting townscape conservationin historical zones.
● A gaming simulation was developed to learn economic policies of the Ayutthaya
world­heritage site that seriously suffered from flooding.
● Assorted guidelines were formulated for water supply of disaster mitigation, prevention ofslope disaster and transportation management in disaster situations in the context ofhistoric cities.
Outreach/training prgrams
R­DMUCH also aims to develop human resources that will be engaged in disaster mitigation ofcultural heritage as researchers or practitioners. Especially we have offered an international
training course on ‘cultural heritage and risk management’ as a UNESCO Chair Programme. Since
2006 we have annually implemented this program with invited practitioners and researchers ofcultural heritage conservation and disaster prevention fields from various countries. The
accumulated number of trainee reaches 80. This training opportunity has been taking on the roleas an international network hub for the field. The training guide reflecting the essence of thisprogram was published in English in collaboration with UNESCO and ICCROM. Besides, we held afollow­up training course in India, the 11th Ritsumeikan & Thammasat University joint workshops
and several social events in cooperation with citizens via several organizations, particularly"tomorrow of Kyoto ­ cultural heritage platform".
Major research challenges(1) Development of systematic methodologies to determine conservation priority of cultural
heritage by considering both cultural values and vulnerability/risk,(2) Enriching collections of traditional wisdom for disaster mitigation both in domestic and oversea
case studies for providing wider options of disaster mitigation measures in various contexts,(3) Advancements of state­of­the­art technologies to promote both the safety of cultural heritages
and maintenance of their cultural values to empower policy makers, city planners and citizens,and(4) Accumulating practical studies of actual contribution to promoting disaster mitigation in historiccities.

Suggestions for the Disaster Research Roadmap
Diverse culture and cultural heritage are indispensable elements for development of humansociety, but many important cultural heritages in the world have lost because of disasters year byyear.
The impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake is not limited to tangible cultural properties suchas buildings, historic sites, and famous locales. Intangible cultural heritage such as festivals andannual events also suffered damage from this disaster. For example, the props, costumes, andmasks used for traditional dance forms as well as many of the individuals who embodied living
cultural traditions were lost in the tsunami. In some regions, whole communities were displacedand scattered.
However, many survivors of this natural disaster found the impetus to recover through the sharedculture that had been preserved within their local communities. Intangible heritage supported theresurrection of the spirit, and tangible heritage supported the inheritance of memory. They bothprovided the vital energy needed for the rebuilding of lives and the recovery of towns.
It is essential that we turn our attention to the disaster mitigation of cultural heritages and historicalcities at the foundation of our daily lives. As we continue studying on disaster mitigation for cultural
sustainability, we must ensure its inclusion in regional and national disaster preparedness plans
and response systems. Capacity building and international network development on this research
fields are also needed.