Six Months
Months Since
Since Western
Western Japan
japan Flood
Six
Flood

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Foreword

In 2018, IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released the 1.5 Degree!
Report, which says that in spite of climate change mitigation efforts to keep the!
temperature increase under 1.5 deg C, there would be increasing impacts of disaster!
events, and Asia would be one of the key hotspots. The report also suggests the!
importance of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in reducing the!
impacts. The extreme weather of past is becoming “new normal” of present.

The research and publication of this report was funded byUnited Church of Canada
The Interboard Senkyoshi Shadan
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Working Team
Contents: Sangita Das
Design: Tama Art University
Kazato Takahashi, Rikako Asoma, Takuma Matsumoto
Advisors: Rajib Shaw, Yumiko Ohashi, Sakiko Kanbara, Takeshi Komino

January 2019

The contents of this publication may be copied,distributed and displayed alike and with attribution
only for non commercial purposes.

Please refer this publication as follows:
Das S. (2019): "Six Months Since Western Japan Flood:
Lessons From Mabi", 28 pages, CWS Japan, Tokyo.

Last year we saw several major climatic and non-climatic events in different parts of!
Japan. The West Japan flooding is of particular importance not only due to its vast!
area of inundation but also because of cascading effects of flood and heat waves.!
The Mabi town of Kurashiki city in Okayama prefecture is one of the worst affected!
areas, where several during and post disaster issues have emerged.
CWS Japan made a modest attempt to make couple of field surveys, conduct deep!
interviews with key stakeholders and prominent residents in Mabi, and tried to!develop
this 10 issues compilation. The key purpose of this document is to!share the issues/lessons widely, especially outside Japan. The issues/ lessons include!both positive andnegative aspects, and need to be thought on the perspective of the!scale of thedisaster. Needless to say that there are many more important lessons, which are notincluded in the report, however, these 10 issues can!be a good starting point inunderstanding complexity of the disaster.
During the preparation of the report, we have been blessed with the cooperation of!
many people, in spite of their busy schedule. I sincerely thank them, especially to!
Professor Sakiko Kanbara and Ms. Junko Kaneto. People / residents, local!
governments and non governments organizations have always been very generous,!
and my sincere appreciation to them.
I hope and wish that the report serves its purpose, and the readers find it useful.

Tokyo
January 31, 2019

Rajib Shaw
Board ChairCWS Japan
1

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to Prof. Sakiko Kanbara of Kochi University,
without whose help this report would not have been possible. Ms.
Junko Kaneto of Rhizome KK, who bravely documented each minute of
the flood from Mabi memorial Hospital, has very generously given us all
the pictures and videos for this report. We have seen a lot through hereyes during our visits, and learnt about the opinions of the residents
through the internet surveys conducted by her team. We are grateful toProf. Yumiko Ohashi of Tama Art University, who has taken out timefrom her busy schedule to guide a team of students for the graphic
design of the entire report. We would also like to thank Mr. Hara of theConstruction Bureau of Kurashiki City, and Mr. Saga of Okayama Councilof Social Welfare (Shakai Fukushi Kyogikai) for meeting us and providing
us with extremely valuable information for this research. Ms. Shikanaeof Okayama NPO Center has helped us with all kinds of information
whenever we contacted her. Ms. Karashima of Peace Boat Foundation
has told us us about some of the challenges of managing volunteers
after a large disaster. Last but not the least, we would like to express
our sincerest gratitude to the residents of Mabi town, who, in spite ofbeing severely affected and displaced by this disaster, have made time
to meet and talk to us.

Introduction

page 4Timeline of Five Days

page 6

Ten issues

page 8Issue 1 Flood Risk Communication
Issue 2 Infrastructure Measures
Issue 3 Early Warning
Issue 4 Evacuation and Emergency Behavior
Issue 5 Shelter Management
Issue 6 Volunteer Management
Issue 7 Health Issues
Issue 8 Temporary Shelter
Issue 9 Recovery Planning Process
Issue 10 Periodic Changes in Community
Perception and Behavior

Way Forward2

page 283

Introduction

The Western region of Japan saw successive heavy rainfalls fromthe end of June to mid July of 2018, causing devastating floods inmany areas including Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime. One of themost severely affected areas was a small peaceful town called Mabi
in Okayama prefecture. The town stands on two rivers called Takahashi and Oda, both of which overflowed and flooded almost
one-third area of the town. The embankments broke down at 8
places and the floodwater rose as high as 5 meter in many areas.
About 4600 houses were affected and 51 people were killed, mostof whom were above 70 years of age.
CWS Japan has responded to this emergency along with its partners during the first month. After seeing the situation we decided togo back to study and understand the important lessons this disasterhas taught us, and then share the knowledge as widely as possible.
We revisited the town twice after that, and interviewed affected
residents as well as volunteers and city office personnel.
Newspapers and magazines were reviewed, important facts were
carefully studied. This report summarizes the key findings of theresearch done through literature survey and field visit during theperiod of November 2018 to January 2019.
Gunjyo Hirugano

Chizu Chizu
Kagamino Onbara

Hukuchiyama Sakaura

Akioota Kuroyama

Source: The Daily Mainichi, July 11, 2018

Summary of Damages
Levee break down: 8 places along 4 rivers
Total area submerged: 12 Hectare(one-third of the town)
Total houses submerged: about 4600
Total number of people rescued: 2350
+50 1people

Hukuoka Sawarawakiyama

Casualty
Saga Kitayama

Shinoyama sichikawa

UnzendakeUmazi Yanase

Seijyo Jyojyusya

4

Source: Wikipedia

under 20 1people

+40

2%

Total number of Death: 51
Male: 22, Female: 29(90% because of drowning)
Average Age: 73.8 years
Source: Nikkei Architecture,
Special Edition on Western Japan Flood,
August 9, 2018+20

2people3people

4%

6%

+60

2%

+90

3people6%+80

4people8%18people+70

35%

20people

38%

5

Timeline of Five Days

1:30

22:40

July 5th

Warning of heavy
rainfall in Kurashiki city

City Disaster Countermeasures Headquarter
was set up

Instruction for immediate evacuation
issued on the northern side of Oda river

1:34

23:35

Explosion in Soja Aluminum
factory

7/ 6

7/ 7

0:47

22:00

Evacuation alert announced
in MabiMorning

39 evacuation centerswere set up all over
Kurashiki city

7/ 8

7/ 9

6

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport(MoLIT) delivers an emergency bulletin throughe-mail that the water is overflowing from the leveeon the right bank of the Oda river

23:45

6:52

MoLIT confirms thelevee breakdown at
Oda riverotherInstruction for immediateevacuation issued atareas south of Oda river- KuraDRO was set up to provide help by combining the Health Insurance System
and Medical System(Picture of KuraDRO)- Non-drinking water supply was restored Mabi.
Application for “Disaster Victim Certificate” started.
Around 6200 applications were accepted by Oct, 12.
Minister of Disaster Management visited the Mabi area

MoLIT confirms the levee
breakdown at Takama river- Rescue Team (City Fire Brigade, Self Defense Force, Okayama Police) started operation- Drainage work initiated by TEC. FORCE- City set up emergency water stations- Health Management Officers / Nurses started activity in the evacuation centers- Receiving of relief supplies started

7/ 10-Self-Defense Forces (SDF) started to remove the debris- Coolers were installed in the evacuation centers- SDF started bathing support- Bus service started between the evacuation center sand the bathingfacilities- Temporary operation of Sewage Purification Center started

7

１
issue

Flood Risk Communication

Mabi has a history of devastating floods. In 1893, theOda river overflowed following heavy rainfall and it issaid that the flood water went as high as
14 meter (picture below). In recent years, especiallysince the 70s, the town has seen repeated floods
almost every few years, but the water level neverexceeded 50 cm. This, unfortunately, had resulted in
the general misperception that the water could never
never go above that height.
The town was required under a 2005 law to create“Hazard Maps” outlining areas at high risk of flooding,landslides and other disasters, and the locations ofHazard Map ofevacuation centers. But the official hazard map was
Kurashiki City
distributed only in 2016, by which time most of the(Source: City Website)high risk areas were already occupied. The map
clearly mentions about the risk of severe flooding andthe possible frequency (every 100 or 150 years), where the water may rise as
high as 5 meter. Unfortunately most residents did not comprehend the level ofrisk even after the Hazard Maps were distributed to them. The residents werealso unaware of Backwater Phenomenon, where the smaller rivers becomemuch more dangerous.
It is necessary to raise the awareness in community level by holding meetings,
side by side with distributing individual hazard maps. A booklet with comprehensive explanation about the risks and the necessary protective measures canalso help the residents take timely actions in both individual and community
level.
Mr. Hiromichi
Morimoto, a Lecturer at Kawasaki
College of Allied
Health Professions, showing thelocation of his
house right at the border of the high riskarea. He heard about the flood risks before
buying the house, but he never imagined it
could be so devastating.

8

A document describing thehorror of the 1893 flood(Source: Dr. Sakiko Kanbara)

How backwater phenomenon occurred in the Oda River
❹

Ta
ka
ha
sh

❷

❸

Oda RiveriR❶ Water level rises due to rain.
iv e

Water level rises as downstream ﬂow is stopped❷ by the TakahashiRiver with a rising water level.

r❶❸ Stagnant ﬂow pushes up water level further.
❹ Barks breach and ﬂood occurs.

A stone in the playground of Kawabe Elementary Schoolshows the maximum water level after the September 1976
typhoon (about 50 cm).

1976

2018

9

２
issue

Infrastructure Measures

According to reports, there were talks of a river bypass and a weir, or small dam
to supply water to farms and reduce flood risks along the Takahashi and Oda
rivers since as far back as 1968. It is said that resistance from residents on thesouthern side of the Odagawa river over being cut off from groundwater stalled
the plans (from Reuters report). The matter was on the table again when Mabi
became a part of the city in 2005. There has been several discussions between
Kurashiki City and the Land Ministry to start the work on the project. The project
finally won approval in 2010, and in 2014, 28 billion yen was allocated for a
30-year plan that included a bypass between the Odagawa and the Takahashi
river. Work on that project was scheduled to get under way from Autumn 2018.
Source: Reuters Graphics, July 16, 2018
The water level of the
Suemasa riverincreased due toheavy rain, and about
1 km north from its
meet point with the
Oda River, a bridge
collapsed.

A bypass between

during ﬂoods is
reducedTakahashi River

Water level

the Oda river andthe Takahashi river
was planned in order toshift their meet point todownstream

Oda RiverSource: Director, Construction Bureau, Kurashiki City
Replace conﬂuence

The Takama river
meets the Oda river at
Mabi town of Kurashiki
City, and the embankment at the meet pointof the two rivers broke
down.

point downstream

Source: Director, Construction Bureau, Kurashiki City

10

Source: Director, Construction Bureau, Kurashiki City

11

3

issue

Early Warning

In 2015, Japan’s Central Land Ministry came up with a policy to better copewith disasters, which included training local authorities on when to issue warnings. Advisories and orders to evacuate, however, are still left up to local
authorities.
In Kurashiki City and the nearby areas heavy rain had started since the morning of July 6th. The weather forecast showed continuous rainfall over the next
two days, and the city office was getting prepared for an emergency since themorning of July 5th. The first evacuation order for the area south of the Oda
river was issued at 11:45 p.m. on July 6th. Some residents said that they did
not know the difference between an emergency warning and an evacuation
order. Some came to know about the difference through social media after thewarning was issued. At 1:30 a.m. on July 7th, using loudspeakers, mobile
phone alerts, and television and radio messages, the city ordered residents in
the heavily populated area north of the river to seek shelter. Only four minutes
later the failure of the first levee on Takama river was confirmed. Within thenext few hours four more levees broke down, flooding one-third area of theentire town.

Moning of Juiy 7

Souce: SANKEI Shinbun

https://www.sankei.com/smp/west/news/181006/wst1810060028-s1.html

Some residents said that they got the emergency order for evacuation, butthey did not know which areas were in danger. Ms. Kaneto of Kawabe area
said that she drove with her parents at 5 in the morning of July 7th towards
Mabi Sogo Park looking for shelter, which was actually in the direction of theflooding (next page). They were in danger of drowning on their way, had they
not been stopped by the police.

Diagram of Warning Systems
Prepare to evacuate

12

Evacuation Alert

Souce: ASAHI Shinbun

Evacuation Order

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZJd1dwf4Uo

13

4

issue

Evacuation and Emergency Behavior

All of the 51 deaths caused by this disaster were deaths in water, and as many as
40 of the victims have died in their own houses. From our interviews and fromnewspaper reports, it was revealed repeatedly that the residents did not startevacuating to a safer place until almost midnight of July 6th, even after hearing
the ﬁrst warning. The reasons for this delay can be broadly summarized asfollows:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
14

Physical inability.
Elderly people could not move out of their houses on theirown in the dark of the night.
Underestimation of the danger.
Most people did not think the water would come from the relatively
smaller rivers or would rise above knee-height.
Many residents reported that they did not move out of theirhouses because no one in the neighborhood did.
Some of the residents were worried about their pets, as they are
generally not allowed inside an emergency shelter.
Many did not know where to go. Three out of six elementary
schools, which are also designated emergency shelters,
were under water by the morning of July 7th.
Many did not know how to go to the shelters. The Hazard
Map shows the locations of the designated shelters, but it
does not suggest the evacuation route.
Unlike earthquake, the residents never had any drill for a situation
like this. It was already too late for those who waited for the sunrise
to evacuate.

Ms. Junko Kaneto, Resident of Kawabe area
“On July 6th at around 9 PM I saw the evacuation advisory in the news and went
to pick up my mother and our dog, who lived right next to the banks of the Takahashi river. I drove them to my rented apartment in the neighborhood, which is in
the second floor of the building, and on our way we saw the water of the river risealmost to the level of the narrow road on the bank. My father drove his own car
and joined us later. After 2 AM on the 7th, I got a phone call from a friend who
informed us that the nearest emergency shelter (Okada Elementary School) was
already fully occupied. I talked to my parents about evacuating for safety, but they
did not think it was necessary, as they did not think the water could rise up to thesecond floor. Besides they were also worried that we would not be allowed totake our dog inside the shelter. So we decided to spend the night in my apartment. At around 4 AM we were awaken by the sound of the emergency evacuation order in our phones. We realized the seriousness of the situation and left myapartment at around 5 AM. We wanted to go to Mabi Sogo Park at first, because
it was the nearest public facility that had a large open space. I understood laterthat it was actually towards the areas that were affected first. We were stopped
on our way as the road to that place was already inundated. After considering
everything, we decided to go to Mabi Memorial Hospital, which was very close towhere we were stopped. By 6 AM, the water came up to the parking area of thehospital, and kept rising for the next few hours. About 30 evacuees, including
ourselves, were gathered in the 2nd floor at first, but eventually had to move tothe upper floors as the water started entering there. As many as 300 people hadto spend the night that way, till the Self Defense Force came to rescue us in themorning of July 8th.”
15

５
issue

Shelter Management

In Japan it is usually the public elementary schools that are the designatedemergency shelters. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, three out of six
such elementary schools were submerged by early morning of July 7th. The
residents who evacuated, needed to find an alternative in the middle of thenight in bad weather. Many people took shelter in Kumano Shrine, which is
not a designated shelter, but became a “Notified Shelter” 3 weeks later. A
good number of people contin-ued staying there till the end of August
because of lack of space in the desig-nated shelters.
The handing over of the designated shelters is also an important issue.
According to the Headmaster of Sono Elementary School, although there is amanual on how this should be done, the teachers were completely at a loss
about this since they never had a training or drill. Another crucial issue isserious shortage of NGOs who specialize in Shelter Management. Ms.
Yamanaka Yumiko of Kyushu Christ Disaster Relief Center suggested thatthe only way to deal with this is to develop manpower for shelter management at local levels through training of volunteers.

ShelterNo. of evacuees on July 7th

Okada Elementary School

About 2000

Nima Elementary School

About 1000

Sono Elementary School

About 800

Kawabe Elementary School

Submerged

Yata Elementary School

Submerged

Kurese Elementary School

Submerged

Source: Sanyo Shinbun January 12, 2019

16

Mr. Kitani,
the Headmaster of Sono
Elementary School“Our school has never been used as a shelter before, as far as I know. There was a manual withsome general instructions, but on July 6th, we did not have the time to check those instructions.
The first warning was issued after 11 AM on the 6th, but people started coming in only after 11
PM. Within a matter of hours there were over 900 people in our school, and they needed food andshelter. Not having enough knowledge about the manual was not an excuse anymore. There were
only three personnel from the city to take care of the management. Since we live close by, thePrincipal and I came over to help. There was severe shortage of food, so the Principal madearrangements to prepare some warm food. The toilets could not be flushed, so we had to takecare of that too. Everything needed our attention and we had to act fast.”

Mr. Hiroyuki Ohta
Flood victim, trained Disaster
Management Officer

I became a trained Disaster Management Officer a few years ago because I wanted to makemyself useful for my community. When I look back now, it feels as if it was my destiny to get thattraining only a couple of years before the devastating flood washed my town. On July 6th, after I
heard the sound of explosion at the factory, I knew something was seriously wrong. I talked to mywife and son, and in a few hours we decided to walk to Okada Elementary School just to be safe
till the rain stops. None of us imagined we were leaving the house for months. Within half a day
the shelter filled with about 2000 people and hundreds of cars. I joined the shelter management
team and some quick decisions had to be taken. I never read the 121 pages long, A4-sized
Shelter Management manual even during my training, to be honest. All our decisions and actions
were based mainly on our team discussion and common sense. We had to manage food, rest andtoilet facilities for 2000 people, and we also had to be careful about spreading of diseases. We
got a good supply of sanitizers along with all kinds of relief goods, and I believe that helped us
fight the diseases that usually break out at shelters. We also came up with little ideas to keep the
shelter clean—like a game called “clean up the shoes”.

17

6

issue

VolunteerManagement

Volunteers in Kurashiki City
records, as many as 53,019 persons volunteered during the first monthafter the disaster. Most of them came from the nearby areas to volunteer
for a day. Some came from differ-ent parts of the country to volunteer
during the weekends. Managing such a large number of people is a difficult
task by itself. No NGO has enough manpower to handle the management
only by its own staff. Therefore those who can stay for two to three weeks
and have previous volunteering experience are requested to help with the
management. In case of Mabi, the most important aspects of Volunteer
Management were as follows:

1 To decide who works where. Sometimes the residents came to the
Volunteer Center seeking help, sometimes the Volunteer Managers
walked up to the residents to find out if they needed help. Once the needassessment of an area was done, the Managers distributed the work
among the volunteers who registered on that day.
2 Because of the nature of work, many volunteers got injured and needed
immediate medical care. Also, because it was mid July, extra care wasnecessary to make sure that the volunteers did not get heat strokes.

Jul.

2324

According to Okayama Council of Social Welfare (Shakai Fukushi Kyo gikai )

1459

July

150
11

Wed

301

427

12

13

Thu

Fri

17,183

1458
561

14

Sat

15

Sun

16

Man

Public holiday

17

Tue

816
18

Wed

753
19

Thu

Aug.

644
20
Fri

25,131
Sep.

10,705

Source: Website of Okayama Council of Social Welfare Shakai Fukushi Kyogikai
https://team-kibidango.vc/%E6%B4%BB%E5%8B%95%E6%A6%82%E6%B3%81/vn/

Kantan Map

The volunteers needed the residents’ information to keep track of their work.
Unfortunately the City could not provide the data because of the Personal
Information Protection Law. Compelled by the urgency of the situation, thevolunteers, with the assistance of an Osaka based company called At Creation
KK, and support from Apple Japan, developed an iPad based tool called
Kantan (meaning “Simple” ) Map. It contains information like the name of theowner, age and health issues, most of which the volunteers collected while
helping the owners clean up their houses. They are now adding theinformation about the residents’ present whereabouts too. The process,however, takes a lot of time they mentioned, since they are doing the collection
and input of the information one at a time, manually.

Ms. Yukari Karashima of Peace Boat Foundation mentioned that eventhough there was a serious shortage of volunteers compared to the amountof work in Mabi, there were some areas where the residents were not very
welcoming of the volunteers. No disaster affected area, she adds, canrecover from the damage on its own, and hence it is really necessary thatthe affected people are accepting of the volunteers who are willing to help
them.

18

Ms. Shikanae of Okayama NPO Center explaining about the Kantan Map.

19

７
７
issue
issue

Healthcare Issues
Imakara Techo: Diaries From Now

The temperature on July 7th went as high as 37 degree, so theimmediate concern was heat strokes caused by the heat. The watersupply was severely affected, hence dehydration was another big
concern. Toilets could not be flushed, which could also spread diseases. Unfortunately almost all the medical care facilities and drug
stores were affected by the flood, so the town had to depend entirelyon the emergency medical care support provided by the government
during the first few days. Some people staying at the emergency
shelters said that the medical team appointed by the government
always visited the shelters during the day, when most of them were out
for their day jobs or to clean their houses. Volunteer nurses took turns
to stay at the shelters during the first few weeks and provided themuch needed care at the much needed time.

①②① Basic information about each family member.
② A Calendar to record health conditions. The lower rows contain health advices (in blue)and certain things that need to be done till one can get back to normal life (in green).

CWS Japan supported a team from Kochi University to create and disseminate
Imakara-Techo (Diary from Now) to help evacuees manage their “assessment
fatigue” and create integrated information about themselves and their situation
to be shared with all agencies and aid providers for their recovery. This proved
to be a very useful tool to share all their basic information, situation details,
medical records and other information so that they don’t need to answer similar
questions repeatedly. The concept of this diary came from Dr. Sakiko Kanbara,
the head of global program for disaster nursing at Kochi University, through her
years of experience in Nepal and Japan. A team of students of Tama Art University’s Product Design Department, guided by their teacher, gave it shapebased on their close observation of the situation in Mabi.
After the success of Imakara-Techo, a new version called “Korekara-Techo”
was developed and distributed by the same parties towards the end of October.
The diaries are now available online (Japanese only), which was developed by
an Okayama based company called Rhizome KK.
(Website: https://app.imakara-techo.com/login)20

Meeting of the Medical Team(Source: Dr. Sakiko Kanbara)

21

８
issue

Temporary Shelter

There were about 4600 affected families who needed immediate temporary housing, but the total number of constructed (and furnished) temporary shelters as ofDecember 2018 is 298. Some people moved outside the town to live with theirfamilies, some rented houses on their own within or nearby the town. About 80%of the displaced families have been living in the Minashi Temporary Houses(unoccupied private houses rented and allocated by the Government), most ofwhich are outside the town (Asahi Shinbun, January 6th). The Minashi Houses
were not furnished, and some of them are very old and very difficult to live induring winter. The biggest problem with the Minashi Houses is that they arescattered in various areas outside the town, and it is not possible to reach theresidents to find out about their needs, as the authority is yet to link their
whereabouts with their original addresses. This also makes it difficult for thechildren to reach their designated schools, because they are no more within awalking distance. In case of Kawabe Elementary School, which is presently
located in a prefabricated building on the playground of Sono Elemenrtary
School, it takes 8 buses more than an hour to collect all the children from theirrespective Minashi houses.
The Construction Bureau is now trying to make a GIS based map that will containall the important information about the owners, including their present Minashi
House location.

Prefabricated building of Kawabe Elementary Schoolin the playground of Sono Elementary School

Rebuilding of the affected Houses
Rebuilding of the affected Houses
Unoccupied
Government
House

Hirosima Okayama

Ehime

331

120

103

780

3316

Dismantling

Affected
OwnersCannot afford
the Cost of repairing

Minashi Houses(unoccupied houses
rented and allocatedby the Government)

Pre-fabricatedTemporary Shelter

169

298

176

As of December 14,2018(In case of Govt.Housesof Ehime,January 1,2019)171

Govt.expensesor
Own expense

Rebuilding
Some LocationorDifferent location

New Apartment/House
Rented Apartment/House
Govt. house
Wlithin or outside
the city/prefecture

Can afford the cost → Repair by themselves

Source: Asahi Shinbun, January 6, 201922

Prefabricated Temporary Houses near Sono Elementary School

23

9

issue

1
2
3
4

Recovery Planning Process

Reconstruction of Infrastructure
By year 2023 a bypass of the Oda river will be created 4.6 km downstream from its
present meet point with the Takahashi river (from the government’s emergency
disaster management budget). Embankments and levees will be made stronger andhigher at several areas along the Oda river.

Up toAugustSeptember OctoberNovember December

January
2019

February

March

Publishing the Recovery Vision/ Goals

Understanding ofpresent situation/ issues

Publishing the
Recovery Plan

Issues to be taken up
for the recovery process

Rebuilding of the affected Houses

April 2019
onwards

Setting the Recovery
Vision/ Goals

The Government has started several soft loan schemes to cater to the different kindsof needs of the owners of the affected houses. It has also started a hotline number toprovide guidelines and help to the affected residents regarding the rebuilding of theirhouses. As of November 12, 2018, the Government has covered the cost of theremoval of the damaged parts of 850 houses.

Setting the objectives and a time-frame
Making of the Recovery
Plan Proposal
Making of the
RecoveryPlan Proposal
Start of execution
based on the plan

Rebuilding of small industries
The government has started several loan schemes with different interest rates tohelp the owners restart their businesses. As of November 2nd, the government has
provided group subsidies to 133 business owners. Arrangements were also made tohelp 177 smaller businesses who need more continued support.

Tentative recovery plan given by the City Chief atthe opinion exchange session with the residents of
Kawabe area on November 10, 2018

Restoration of Agriculture
As of November 10th, 460 owners applied for rebuilding and repair of green
houses, 82 people applied for fertilization management, and 103 people applied forhelp in harvesting of rice.

Mabi Care

24

Mabi Care is a website that collects and shares all the information the residents of apost-disaster town may need during the recovery process. About a week after the flood,
Dr. Sakiko Kanbara of Kochi University, who was born and raised in Mabi, realized thatthe residents, most of whom lost their cars and were staying in a shelter in an entirely
different neighborhood, needed information about various kinds of facilities to slowly
start getting back to normal life. All the information needed to be in one place, yetneeded to be very simple to search. During her field survey she found that some of the
facilities within Mabi and the nearby areas, like convenience and drug stores, toilets andsupermarkets, were unaffected and were operating. Mabi Care collects and updates thelocation and opening hours of all those facilities and more, from which the residents
have been greatly benefitted.

How Information is Collected and Shared in mabi-care.com
Medical Facilities(Hospitals,Pharmacies)
Emergency Shelter
Convenience
Store,Restaurants etc.
Toilets
Bathing Facilities etc.
The officers checkand modify the
information

The collected information andannouncements are sharedthrough the portal sites
Find from Map

Posters at Emergency
Shelters
Public Reviews
Vlunteers
Information
Registration Forms

Find from List

25

10
issue

Periodic Changes in Community Perception and Behavior

Kawabe (meaning River-side) was a beautiful neighborhood next to thewestern bank of the Takahashi river. 99% of this area went under water, andmost of the 1700 households had to evacuate and move into temporary

shelters located in different areas within and outside the town. Many of themwish to repair or rebuild their houses and move back, but because of thelimitation of the number of construction companies, they do not know when

Key Observations
In the first stage, when asked whether they want to return to their houses inthe severely affected Kawabe area after they are rebuilt, 90.4% answered

No

Yes. This percentage did not change in four months between the first andfourth stage (91.6%).

their turn will come. To keep in touch and stand by each other during this very

difficult time, the residents formed an NPO called “Aruku” (to walk) in October
2018. It started as an internet network circle in August, through which they
have been conducting periodic surveys. Even though the survey was

conducted among residents who use the internet and social network, much of
the real situation is reflected in the results.

36% of the respondents of the first stage hoped to get back by Spring ofYes

2019, where another 35% said they do not have any idea.
65.4% owners of the affected houses plan to repair their houses. 13.3% said
they want to break down the older house and rebuild. 21.3% said they havenot decided anything yet.

In the second stage, out of 266 respondents 56.8% are presently living
temporary houses. 15.4% are staying with their friends or family, and a large

2018.9/6~9/10

2018.9/18~9/21

2018.10/19

2018.12/31~2019.1/11

Stage

Stage

Stage

Stage

240 persons

266 persons

214 persons

273 persons

number of them are living in rented houses with government subsidies.
living temporary
staying with theirhousesfriends or family

About meals, most (78.9%) people are already cooking by themselves. The
others are either buying ready-made food, or receiving cooked food provided
at the shelters.
Of those who are not cooking their own meals (96 persons), about 60% said

MainQuestions
Questions
Main

Main Questions

Main Questions

Main
MainQuestions
Questions

Do you plan to return

Present residence

Present residence

to Mabi?

(Temporary Shelter/

Did you evacuate

relative or friends’
If yes, when?

house/ own houseetc.)

What do you plan to
do with your damaged

Do you make yourhouse? (Repair/own meal?

Rebuild/ Not decided)
If not, why?

26

when the order cameon September 30
during the typhoon?
If not, why?

Do you plan to returnto Mabi?
What do you plan to
do with yourdamaged house?

they don’ t have the willpower to go to the kitchen and prepare the food. The
others said they either do not have the utensils or facilities or the time.

In the third stage, out of 214 respondents only 23.4% is living in Mabi town atpresent. 57% is living outside the town and 14.5% is living in Soja city.

living in Soja
city

When asked whether they evacuated after the 24th typhoon on
September 30th, 64.8% of the 71 respondents who are living in Mabi

When do you think

town said they did not.

you can move back?

Among them, 30.9% said they did not think this typhoon was going tocause much damage, and 19.1% said they could not go because they
had pets.

living in Mabi
town

living outside
the town

27

Way Forward

In the last decade Japan has seen floods almost every year.
The effects of Climate Change have been becoming more andmore visible through weather disasters like rainfall induced /river floods as well as typhoon induced coastal floods.
Although there are variations of the issues/ challenges andlessons, based on the local contexts, there are also similarities
when it comes to early warning and evacuation behavior ofcommunities, emergency shelter / temporary housing issues,
post disaster recovery planning etc.
Key point is how we learn from these lessons, and how theselessons are reflected to future disaster preparedness. Japan
faces tremendous challenges of resources (financial, technical aswell as human resources) in small and medium sized towns andrural areas.
De-population, aged population is increasing in these areas.
It would be important to think of innovative solutions on how toutilize new technologies, blended with social networking andcapital to develop resilient communities in these areas. We hope
this report will encourage innovative thinking in this regard.

Reference
1

Sieg, Linda. “Japan hit by worst weather disaster in decades: Why did so many die?”
The Japan Times. July11,2018https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/11/national/
japan-hit-worst-weather-disaster-decades-many-die/#.W5tLLpP7SRv

2

小沢邦男、橋本拓樹、千種辰弥 ,「みなし仮設」が８割

西日本豪雨の被災者、孤立が課題 ,The Asahi Shinbun, January 6th, 2019https://digital.asahi.com/articles
ASLDT45TBLDTPTIL00B.html?_requesturl=articles/ASLDT45TBLDTPTIL00B.html
3「西日本豪雨の教訓」
Nikkei Architecture, Special Edition on Western Japan Flood, August 9, 2018https://tech.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/nxt/mag/na/18/00025/

4 「検証

豪雨被害

晴れの国の試練」

The Sanyo Shinbun, January 12, 2019http://www.sanyonews.jp/article/808240
5「西日本豪雨ー死と破壊」
Reuters Graphics, July 16, 2018
http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/WEATHER-JAPAN-LJA/0100718Y2JJ/index.html

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