Message from the Mayor of the City of Sendai

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, which caused devastating damage, particularly in the coastal areas, the City of Sendai has steadily continued to progress in its recovery in collaboration with a wide range of entities. While cherishing the lessons learned through that process, we are working to create a sustainable city where people can live with peace of mind, with the aim of making the City a Disaster-Resilient and Environmentally-Friendly City.

At the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), that was held in Sendai in 2015, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 was adopted as a global policy guidance to follow up until 2030. The philosophy of the Sendai Framework closely aligns with our recovery and efforts in DRR in the City, where we have overcome a large disaster. We continue moving forward and carry that philosophy with us into the future, with our strength that comes from the pride of being the city where the Sendai Framework was adopted.

Promoting disaster risk reduction cannot be achieved by governments alone. Together with a diverse range of stakeholders—including citizens, private sectors, and academic institutions—the City of Sendai has steadily built up initiatives to create a city that is resilient to disasters. We also place strong emphasis on international communication so that the experiences and lessons the City has gained can contribute to DRR worldwide. In 2023, in collaboration with the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) of Tohoku University, the City of Sendai became the first local government to conduct a midterm review of the Sendai Framework.

In recognition of these achievements, the City of Sendai was certified by the UNDRR as the first “MCR2030 Resilience Hub” in Japan. This signifies that we are expected to play a leading role among cities around the world towards their realization of safer and highly disaster-resilient cities.

Today, large-scale disasters are occurring frequently across the globe, and their impacts are spreading beyond regional borders. In such an era, we must continue our efforts to reduce disaster damage as much as possible—by sharing wisdom and knowledge through international connections, in addition to using the power of local communities. Now, I would like to emphasize once again that our City has overcome the earthquake and moved forward with hope. We will continue to make steady progress toward a more resilient society together with our citizens, all related organizations, and our global partners.

Kazuko Kohri
Mayor, City of Sendai