Conclusion
The Future of Disaster Research
Deputy Director, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS)

Hiroaki Maruya
Translated by Catherine Sachi Kikuchi

In this book, we introduced the development of disaster research, the need for which theGreat East Japan Earthquake has heightened awareness, in a wide range of fields mainly byTohoku University faculty. Ten years have passed since the earthquake, and while it is of course
necessary to continue researching reconstruction, many fields of disaster research have reached aturning point where we need to think carefully about what to research for the present affectedareas and people. For example, a key point is to remember and utilize the lessons learned fromthe disaster. I hope that every research field will develop principles from now on with broad
perspectives.
When we consider the purpose of disaster research, which is to mitigate future disasterdamage, we need to consider that the existing knowledge of earthquakes has become outdated inmany ways. A typical example is communication, where the situation is quite different today. Cellphones have become smartphones, use of Wi-Fi has spread, and online conference apps andsocial media are part of our daily lives. The government disaster management systems and private
sector preparedness have also changed to a certain extent. Therefore, it is necessary to study theexperience of the Great East Japan Earthquake while conducting research on more recent
disasters. In other words, disaster research from now requires us to constantly update ourknowledge.
In addition, based on the experience of studies on earthquakes, we have realized that thedevelopment of disaster research needs to be more interdisciplinary, because the approaches
required for disaster correspondence are multifaceted and connected to each other in general.
Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of medical collaboration indisaster responses. The International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) aims toconduct interdisciplinary research by integrating science & engineering, medicine, and thehumanities. I, too, have experienced that we can raise interest for disaster research in our study
session on disaster management of companies by combining research of the engineering field witha historical perspective, and considering human safety and health. Therefore, we should deepen
the research in our own fields, while making more of opportunities to be exposed to research fromother fields.
Lastly, within disaster research, we would like to achieve both the attaching of importanceto each region and engaging in international collaboration. In terms of individual regions, even adisaster across wide geographical areas is a local disaster, and to understand the characteristics
of each region is a basic step. Furthermore, since the number of disaster researchers even inJapan, a disaster-prone country, is small compared to the need for disaster education, every
researcher should support each region regardless of their field of expertise. On the international
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front, Japan's disaster management is generally considered advanced and there are highexpectations for the dissemination of information, but a colleague who is familiar with othercountries pointed out that there are aspects of our disaster countermeasures in the state of“Galapagosization.” I thought this may be true, for example, in Japanese evacuation centers whereevacuees are crowded in gymnasiums. Then, we had have an urgent need to improve thissituation because of the COVID-19 pandemic, .
With that being said, young researchers who will lead research in the future may say thatmy requests above are too much of a burden. However, the requirement is naturally high because
this is a field that is directly related to people’s life, and therefore demands careful consideration. I
hope that young researchers will make the most of interdisciplinary collaboration. A key point is towork together with colleagues whose strengths are our weaknesses. I also believe that the duty forexperienced researchers is to make disaster research an attractive field and increase the numberof research colleagues.

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