Second World Tsunami Museum Conference in collaboration with ICOM-ASPAC
Japan Conference 2018 “Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Future – NaturalDisasters and Museums” (30/11-01/12/2018)
Theme: World Tsunami Awareness Day, tsunami museum
Place: Tokyo National Museum and Fukuoka National Museum"The 2nd World Tsunami Museum Conference" was held at the Tokyo National Museum Auditorium
on Friday, November 30, 2018 at the timing of the third "World Tsunami Awareness Day" sinceestablishment (Organized by the United Nations International Disaster Reduction Strategy
Secretariat (UNISDR) · Ministry of Foreign Affairs · ASEAN Economic Research Center ERIA,Tohoku University’s International Research Institute of Disaster Science). Building on last year’sinauguration conference, the second conference gathered national and international museum
directors to deepen the discussion and collaboration for tsunami prevention. This discussion
continued on Saturday, December 1 during the "ICOM-ASPAC (International Conference for Asiaand the Pacific Association of the International Conference) KYUSHU, JAPAN 2018" held at theNational Museum of Kyushu. The contributions of IRIDeS included lectures and panel discussions
by Director Fumihiko Imamura and panel discussion by Prof. Yuichi Ono (Disaster Information
Management and Public Collaboration Division). Other participants included Assist. Prof. Anawat
Suppasri (Hazard and Risk Evaluation Research Division), Assist. Prof. Elizabeth Maly (Humanand Social Response Research Division), Assist. Prof. Sébastien Penmellen Boret (DisasterInformation Management and Public Collaboration Division), Assist. Prof. Natsuko Chubachi(Public Relations Office) and Ms. Yukie Suzuki Technical Assistant (Public Relations Office).
Tokyo National Museum (30 November, 2018)
The main event in Tokyo opened with remarks of the Japanese House of Representatives, Mr. Teru
Fukui on national resilience. Director Imamura followed with a lecture on "Importance of passing
down experiences and communicating about threats of tsunami between generations." This lecture
was complemented with reports from the "Okushiri Island Tsunami Officials" for the 25thanniversary of the Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake and Ms. Kazuko Kohri, the Mayor of Sendai
City, who talked about Sendai’s experience of the 2011 disaster. She introduced the example ofArahama Elementary School on the theme of "time axis.” The second part of the conference
consisted of lectures by representatives of UNESCO, Museums and officials from Okushiri, AcehIndonesia, China, Chile, Tohoku, Tokyo, Kyoto and Kyushu. Together they discussed the presentsituations and concerns regarding the preservation and teaching of disaster memories. Professor
Ono concluded the discussion with remarks on the next world tsunami museum conference.
Fukuoka National Museum (1 December, 2018)
The discussion in Fukuoka during the ICOM-ASPAC Japan Conference 2018 “Cultural Heritage forSustainable Future – Natural Disasters and Museums.” The session began with reports on the 1stand 2nd World Tsunami Museum Conference in Okinawa and Tokyo by Ms. Yuki Matsuoka (UNISDR,Kobe) and Prof. Yuichi Ono. Talks by the representatives of tsunami museums included Mr.
Hiroyoshi Nishi (Director Emeritus of Inamura-no-hi no Yakata), Ms. Hafnidar (Aceh Tsunami
Museum and Aceh Culture and Tourism Department), and Ms. Zhangbi Feng (5.12 Wenchuan
Earthquake Memorial Museum Management Center). The afternoon concluded with a panel
discussion moderated by Prof. Ono and a special note by Mr. Ricardo Toro Tassara (NationalDirector of ONEMI, Chile). The participants emphasized the needs for increased disastereducations in museums and potential topics for the 3rd World Conference on Tsunami Museum.
Report: Dr. Sébastien P. Boret
Photos: Dr. Natsuko Chubachi(continues to the next page)

Program of the 2nd World Tsunami Museum Conference 2018 (Nov. 30)
Greeting: Yuki Matsuoka, Head of United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in
Japan・Akiko Yamanaka, Special Advisor to ERIA・Masami Zeniya, Director of Tokyo National
Museum・Terui Fukui, a member of the House of Representatives
Part 1 "Passing down lessons and communicating about the threats of disasters from generation
to generation"
Lecture: Prof. Fumihiko Imamura, Director of IRIDeS, "Importance of passing down experiences
and communicating about threats of tsunami between generations"
Panel: Ms. Keiko Adachi (Director of the Okushiri Island Tsunami Museum, Japan), Ms. Hafnidar(Head of Tsunami Museum and Head of Historical Section of Aceh Culture and Tourism Department,Indonesia), and Ms. Zhangbi Feng (Director of the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum
Management Center, China), Ms. Kazuko Kohri (Mayor of Sendai City, Japan), and Mr. Ricardo
Toro Tassara (National Director of National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry, Chile).
Chairperson: Prof. Yuichi Ono (Information Management and Social Collaboration Division ofIRIDeS Tohoku University, Japan)
Part 2 "Towards conservation and inheritance of the memories of disasters"
Lecture and panel discussion: Mr. Mirta Lourenco (Chief of Section for Media Development andSociety, UNESCO), Mr. Nobuyuki Kamba (Emeritus Member of Tokyo National Museum), Prof.
Mitsuru Haga (Professor of Tohoku University), and Mr. Tomohiro Akutsu (Chief of National Archivesof Japan).
Closing Session
Summary: Prof. Yuichi Ono
Addresses: Mr. Johei Sasaki, Executive Director of Kyoto National Museum, and Mr. Hiroyuki
Shimatani, Executive Director of Kyushu National Museum

Lecture by Prof. Fumihiko ImamuraGroup Photo of the 2nd World Tsunami
Museum Conference 2018

Panel Discussion with moderator Prof. Ono

Group Photo of the ICOM-ASPAC
Conference 2018