SENDAI -Towards a Disaster-Resilient and Environmentally-Friendly City

 

Development Group for the "Look Before You Leap" brochure 2nd grade, Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen High School

Since April of our frst year, we have been involved in problemsolving inquiry activities during the Integrated Studies part of the Super Global High School (SGH) Program. All of us experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, when we were in our ffth year of elementary school. In our activities, we examined how support was provided to vulnerable people at the time of the earthquake, and found that foreign people from more than 15 countries had fallen victim to the earthquake and that most support systems for vulnerable people had not been improved.

When we went on a study tour abroad, we prepared materials both in Japanese and English to discuss disaster risk reduction with the local instructors and students, and read a disaster prevention pamphlet used there. Through this study tour, we noticed that the death of many foreign residents at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake was caused by a low level of awareness of disaster prevention and language issues. To improve this situation, we were determined to work to develop disaster risk reduction brochures for non-Japanese residents both in English and Japanese from our own perspectives.

We titled the brochures "Look Before You Leap" to convey our message of "please read these pamphlets before a disaster strikes" To create the brochures, we conducted a questionnaire survey targeting non-Japanese residents living in Sendai and participated in a disaster drill for non-Japanese residents, to examine what information is necessary for them. Consequently, a variety of information is included in the pamphlets, concerning how to prepare for earthquakes and tsunamis, how to evacuate safely, how to spend time in evacuation centers, and how to use emergency messaging services, using simple Japanese and English.

 

▲Disaster Risk Reduction Brochhures for Non-Japanese Residents
Left : Japanese version
Right: Overseas version

These brochures have been completed. However, we would like to continue improving them, incorporating feedback from many people, to have as many residents as possible make use of them.