17th Conference of the Science Council of Asia (SCA)
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, and INNOVATION FOR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

14-16 June 2017, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Philippines

17th Conference of the Science Council of Asia (SCA)
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, and INNOVATION FOR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

F-20
Science Council of Japan and Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction
Masako Yoneda
Keio Advanced Research Center
Keio University, Japan
Email: yoneda@psats.or.jp

Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is the representative organization of Japanese scientist community ranging over
all fields of sciences subsuming humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Theacademic organization covering all fields is rare one in the world. SCJ has four roles: 1. Policy recommendations
to the government and public, 2. International activities, 3. Promotion of scientific literacy, 4. Establishmentof networks among scientists. This paper focus on the 4th role and introduce an actual activity. Members ofSCJ and 47 academic societies established Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction in January 2016,
which covers social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. This network works very wellfor promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and social implementation of research, for example the 2017
Kumamoto earthquake. In academic world, specialization has been progressed and integration has beenweakened. A similar organization is expected to be established in other field for responding to the global
problem, and I consider the possibility. Many natural disasters occur in Asia. I also consider what we can do topromote collaboration among Asian countries with a view to the future.
Keywords: Science Council of Japan; Academic Network; Disaster Reduction; collaboration among Asiancountries; 2017 Kumamoto earthquake134

14-16 June 2017, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, PhilippinesScience Council of Japan and Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction
Masako Yoneda
Council member of Science Council of Japan, 7-22-34, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Professor, Keio Advanced Research Center, Keio University

Abstract
In academic world, specialization has been progressed and integration has been weakened.
Members of Science Council of Japan (SCJ) and 47 academic societies (later 55) established “Japan
Academic Network for Disaster Reduction(JANET-DR)” which covers social sciences, life sciences,natural sciences and engineering. JANET-DR works well for promoting interdisciplinary collaborationand social implementation of research, for the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. JANET-DR suggests anew connection with academic association. In academic world, a similar organization is expected tobe established in other field for responding to the Asian and global problem.

Keywords: academic network, disaster reduction, interdisciplinary cooperation
Introduction
Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is the representative organization of Japanese scientist community
ranging over all fields of sciences subsuming humanities, social sciences, life sciences, naturalsciences, and engineering. The academic organization covering all fields is rare one in the world. SCJ
has four roles(1) : 1. Policy recommendations to the government and public, 2. International activities,
3. Promotion of scientific literacy, 4. Establishment of networks among scientists. This paper focuseson the 4th role and introduces an actual activity.
Members of SCJ and 47 academic societies (later 55) established “Japan Academic Network for
Disaster Reduction(JANET-DR)” in January 2016, which covers social sciences, life sciences, naturalsciences and engineering (2), (3), (4).
1. Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction (JANET-DR)
Every time a big natural disaster occurs, various academic societies conduct lots of surveys andresearches. But the result is often announced only in own academic society, and most of theinformation is not shared by different academic societies.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, so many surveys were done, but the findings obtained frommost of the surveys were accumulated in each academy.

For disaster prevention, it is important tocollect comprehensive measures by gathering knowledge from various specialized fields.

A platformto promote interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary.
With this consciousness, volunteers of SCJ became founders and established the “Academic Society
Liaison Association Corresponding to the Great East-Japan Earthquake” in May 2011, together with24 academic societies (later 30) relevant to disaster management. As the successor of this association,
JANET-DR was established in 2016. JANET-DR targets not only earthquakes but also other natural
disasters in general.

2. The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and report meetings
The Kumamoto earthquake happened on 14 and 16 April, about three months after JANET’s start.
M 6.5 earthquake occurred at 21:26, 14 April 2016, in Kumamoto.

.

.

Then, the strongest M 7.3 earthquake occurred at 1:45, 16 April which was called

the main shock of “the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake”. The hypocenters of those earthquakes are
situated at shallow depth in Futagawa and Hinagu fault zones. The displacement of those faults caused
lots of aftershocks.
SCJ & JANET-DR cooperated and held a joint press conference on 18 April. Representatives ofeight academic societies explained about the Kumamoto earthquake and answered many questions
from various media companies. On 2 May, the " Urgent report meeting" was held and 17 academic
societies announced interim reports of urgent investigation and relief activities.
On 9 May, SCJ announced President's statement The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake on April 16 and
Our Actions with Representative Directors of JANET-DR. This statement is attached to the end of
this paper.
On 16 July, "Three-month report meeting" was held and representatives of 23 academic societies
presented. This series of report meetings helped to convey accurate information from academia tosociety. In lots of articles on newspapers and television programs cited the presenters' comments ofthese report meetings.
The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake exceeded seismic intensity 7 twice, seismic intensity more than 6seven times, aftershocks occurred more than 4,000 times. As of March 2017, 50 deaths, 174 related
deaths, 2,677 wounded, 189,079 houses collapsed or damaged were reported.
In Kumamoto, in addition to the aftershocks, the eruption of Mt. Aso and the frequent occurrenceof landslide disasters due to heavy rain are still concerned. Many academic societies continue
researches and support activities, with accumulating a lot of knowledge.
In order to make use of these findings for disaster restoration and disaster mitigation, we thought
we should hold a report meeting in Kumamoto prefecture, not in Tokyo.

And it finally came to theone-year report meeting.
3. One-year report meeting in Kumamoto Prefectural Office
SCJ and JANET-DR, together with Kumamoto Prefecture, held “Kumamoto Earthquake /One-year
report meeting” in Kumamoto Prefectural Office on 15 April 2017.
events of "Kumamoto earthquake memorial event".

It was held as one of official

In addition to the presentations of 30 academic

societies, Kumamoto prefecture and Kumamoto city reported their current status and their plans. It isnecessary to understand the situation of the affected site for contributing to future recovery and disasterprevention.
The participants of the meeting exceeded 500 people. After the opening addresses by Mr. Ikuo
Kabashima, Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, and Dr. Takashi Ohnishi, president of SCJ, we had
15 oral presentations and 16 poster presentations of academic societies. It was a stimulating meetingwith many questions and answers. 17 media companies including five TV companies got interviewed.

“Kumamoto earthquake/ One-year report meeting” in Kumamoto Prefectural Office on 15 April 2017

Program of “Kumamoto earthquake/ One-year report meeting”
1) Oral Presentation of academic society
1-1) Observation and phenomena of the Kumamoto earthquake
The Japanese Society for Active Fault Studies
The Seismological Society of JapanThe Remote Sensing Society of Japan1-2) About the damage situation of the earthquake and measures
Architectural Institute of JapanThe Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of JapanThe Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Japan Society of Civil Engineers
The Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering1-3) About sediment-related disasters, wind and flood damage and countermeasures
The Japanese Forest Society
Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering
The Japanese Geotechnical Society
1-4) Information provision · evacuation · relief · restoration · reconstruction
Japan Society for Disaster Information Studies
Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine
Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management
Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering
2) Presentation by Kumamoto prefecture
Response in the event of a disaster, Restoration reconstruction plan
Presentation by Kumamoto city
Response in the event of a disaster, Reconstruction plan of Kumamoto castle3) Poster session
Association for Children’s Environment
Institute of Social Safety ScienceGeographic Information Systems Association of Japan
Japan Society of Engineering Geology
Japan Association for Fire Science and Engineering
Japan Association of Nursing Academies
Japan Association for Planning and Public Management
Japan Society of Disaster Nursing
Japan Society for Disaster Recovery and Revitalization
The Seismological Society of Japan
Japan Society for Natural Disaster Science
Japan Association for Quaternary Research
The Japan Landslide Society
Institute of landscape Architecture
Geological Society of JapanThe Japanese Society of Revegetation Technology
After the one-year report meeting, we held an exchange meeting among Kumamoto prefecture,
SCJ and JANET-DR. Kumamoto Prefecture requested SCJ and JANET-DR to provide survey
information for establishing the digital archive record of Kumamoto earthquake. SCJ and JANET-DR
have a direction to deepen collaboration with Kumamoto prefecture and are willing to cooperate tobuild up digital archive.
On the day after the report meeting, 70 researchers took part in three small buses and inspected theaffected areas of the Kumamoto earthquake. We went around the collapse and damage of Kumamoto
castle and its restoration work, wooden temporary housings and the survey of active faults in Mashiki
town. We also went to the collapse of Aso shrine and Aso bridge and their restoration site.

We gotdetail explanation about the reconstruction situation from staffs in charge in various places.

The damage of Kumamoto castle

The survey of active faults in Mashiki town on 16 April 2017

4. Association of academic societies and responsibilities of SCJ
SCJ has a mission to build a network of scientists and disseminate the results of science andtechnology to society. The background of the establishment of JANET-DR has this responsibility.
The membership selection of SCJ was changed to "a system where members select the members of
the next term" from 2006 (20th term) as of now. Before 2006, the membership selection was held withthe recommendation from academic societies, therefore, the connection of SCJ and academic societies
was strong.

After the time of change, the academic society became a "cooperative academic researchorganization" of SCJ, but every time the membership is reelected, the connection between SCJ andthe academic societies is weakened.
In the academic world where professional differentiation continues, SCJ is standing at a position toadvance integration and collaboration. SCJ is an academy rare in the world that encompasses all fields
of humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural science and engineering, and has the potential tocreate cooperation across fields. JANET-DR suggests a new connection possibilities with academicassociation.
Conclusion
JANET-DR works well for promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and social implementation ofresearch, for the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. In academic world, specialization has been progressed
and integration has been weakened. A similar organization is expected to be established in other fieldfor responding to the Asian and global problem.
Many natural disasters occur in Asia. I also consider what we can do to promote collaboration
among academies in Asian countries with a view to the future.
Acknowledgements
I express sincere appreciation to President Takashi Onishi, Vice-President Keisuke Hanaki, Prof.
Hisao Komatsu, Prof. Akira Wada, Prof. Teruhiko Yoda, Prof. Hiroshi Yoshino, Prof. Toshimitsu
Komatsu and the members of Science Council of Japan for their guidance and cooperation.

One-year report meeting was able to be carried out with strong support and cooperation of Japan Societyof Civil Engineers and Kumamoto Prefecture. I deeply appreciate the steering members of JANETDR and representatives of 55 academic societies.
JANET-DR would like to make cooperation with prefectures and municipalities, and to contributefor disaster reduction with interdisciplinary cooperation among academic societies.
References:(1) Function of Science Council of Japan, http://www.scj.go.jp/en/scj/index.html(2) Masako Yoneda, Akira Wada, Teruhiko Yoda, Kazuo Tamura, Yasushi Asami and Kimiro Meguro,
Establishment of Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction, 16th Conference of ScienceCouncil of Asia, June 1 2016, Colombo, Sri-Lanka.
(3) Masako Yoneda, Akira Wada, Teruhiko Yoda, Kazuo Tamura, Yasushi Asami and Kimiro Meguro,
Joint statement and Cooperation of 30 disaster-related academic societies of Japan, World Engineering
Conference and Convention 2015, Track 8-3, December 2 2015, Kyoto(4) Masako Yoneda, Akira Wada, Teruhiko Yoda, Kazuo Tamura, Yasushi Asami and Kimiro Meguro,
Global sharing of the findings from the past great earthquake disasters in Japan, 15th Science Councilof Asia Conference and International Symposium, P23-28, May 15 2015, Siem Reap.

The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake on April 16 and Our Actions

9 May, 2016

Takashi Onishi, President, Science Council of Japan
Akira Wada and Noriaki Hirose, Representative Directors, Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction
Science Council of Japan (SCJ) and Japan Academic Network for Disaster Reduction (JANET-DR, a network of 50
academic societies related to disaster reduction) would like to express our condolences for the people who lost lives
in the Kumamoto Earthquake and offer our heartfelt sympathies for those affected by the disasters. And, we alsowould like to express our gratitude for the helps and sympathies offered by our colleagues abroad. We would like tourgently report what occurred in Kumamoto and what actions were taken by SCJ and JANET-DR so far.
A series of strong earthquakes attacked Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in central Kyushu in the mid of April. The
severe casualties and damages were reported: 49 killed, one missing, 18 disaster- related deaths, 1,600 wounded, 63
thousand houses collapsed or damaged, and 15 thousands evacuated as of 6 May (183 thousands on 17 April). The
first strong earthquake was recorded at 21:26, 14 April, 2016, in Mashiki Town, Kumamoto. Then, after many smallscale aftershocks, the strongest shock occurred 1:45, 16 April in the same town, which was called the main shock of“the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake”. The hypocenters of those earthquakes are situated at shallow depth in Futagawa
and Hinagu fault zones, two of the most prominent active faults in Kyushu region. The displacement of those faults
caused more than 1,000 shocks at various seismic intensity in Kumamoto areas.
The pictures shown on the document No. 1 were taken at the sites, which showed a strike-slip fault appeared on apaddy field, wooden houses collapsed in Mashiki Town, landslides in Minami-Aso Village and the collapse of AsoOhashi road-bridge presumably caused by landslide.
It is obvious that strong shocks caused by the displacement of the active faults in the vicinity destroyed mainly oldwooden houses which didn’t fit the current seismic design standards and killed many people inside them. Some ofbuildings and infrastructure facilities, however, which are supposed to possess adequate seismic capacity were also
damaged. The damage of the earthquake differs according to the geographical feature and the situation of ground.
Therefore, further investigation must be done.
Some of the members of SCJ and JANET-DR went to the disaster area for the urgent investigation and had two
opportunities to report what learnt from these disasters.
Firstly, the emergency joint press conference was held on April 18, at the meeting room of Japan Society of Civil
Engineers with the participation of 43 journalists in order to transfer the accurate information of the earthquakes anddisasters caused by them from the academics to the media as shown on the document No. 2. As a result, many viewsof experts attended in the conference as speakers were cited in many articles.

Secondly, the urgent report meeting was held on May 2, at SCJ auditorium with the lectures from 17 societies andmore than 300 participants including 54 journalists as shown on the same document No. 2. The lectures on theinvestigation were made by experts of many societies;
We would like to appreciate the experts who made precious reports for the understandings, lessons and scientificideas for the further research.
The followings were stressed through lectures and discussions as what we have to:1.

Understanding and even predicting the further development of the present activities of the active faults.
Especially, finding how the series of earthquakes will affect other active faults or subduction- zones is what
the society wants to know.

2.

Understanding the expansion of landslide in mountainous areas where landslides took place due to theearthquakes.

3.

Understanding how the continuous two peaks of large-scale shocks affected the destruction of man-madestructures.

4.

Considering how we can reduce the people’s anxieties or fears caused by the earthquakes.

5.

Considering how we can propagate practical disaster-reduction measures, as the Kumamoto earthquake islikely to occur anywhere in Japan.

6.

Considering how we can accelerate recovery and reconstruction making use of the past experience ofdisasters such as effective measures in loss of power, in evacuation center management, and so on.

7.

Strongly recommending retrofitting old buildings and housing, everywhere in Japan, which do not have theseismic capacity to withstand earthquakes.
We will have another report meeting when our societies finish their initial field survey hopefully in July.