We are pleased to publish this special issue, dedicated to the NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2024. The fifth NIED mid-/long-term plan period began in 2023, and this issue includes the first results of six papers, two reviews, one survey report, one note, and one material. Recently, violent natural disasters have triggered the development of effective countermeasures. Akita, Yamaguchi et al., and Hirashima et al. dealt with climate hazards such as heavy rainfall, snow, and ice disasters. Yamazaki-Honda reported the progress and challenges of disaster reduction and climate change adaptation using DRR strategies. Yadab et al., Akita, and Naito et al. reported data analysis and suggestions to evaluate seismic and volcanic hazards. Nagata et al. proposed the ICT tool “YOU@RISK” to educate regarding volcanic disaster risks. Sato et al. emphasized the importance and effectiveness of information technology. Kimura et al. emphasized preparedness and elaborated on measures to improve preparedness for all natural hazards. These new outcomes will promote the development of a sustainable society against these hazards and will be flagships to proceed with NIED research projects.

We are glad that this special issue takes up the activities of The Resilience Research Council of Japan (RRCJ). Twelve years have passed since the founding of the RRCJ. In addition to regular meetings at which experts from various fields participate in disseminating information, one of the RRCJ’s main activities is holding study groups to delve deeply into specific aspects of disaster preparedness.

To respond to the intensification and frequent occurrence of disasters in recent years, it is urgent to review existing measures against disasters and business continuity plans (BCPs). Furthermore, comprehensive and flexible strategies should be developed to enhance disaster resilience. Each study in this special issue provides new perspectives and clues on this problem.

First, the existing BCPs lack concrete measures from the perspectives of individual corporate departments and employees. To tackle this problem, new procedures are proposed to formulate BCPs based on the questions “What if?” and “What when?” This is expected to increase the effectiveness of BCPs.

Second and third, comprehensive methods for evaluating resilience are lacking. As a result of an examination of the 13 current indexes of “Resilient Organizations” and the “Organization Resilience Index” of the British Standards Institution, it is revealed that some important elements are absent from the evaluation of corporate resilience. By complementing the corporate resilience model with these elements, the model can be improved.

Furthermore, local governments must implement effective disaster countermeasures for those with limited resources in their disaster management plans.

The fourth study evaluates disaster management measures from the point of view of both local governments and residents, and proposes innovative solutions to collaborate and organize, adapt to the environment, and manage for the next generation. This reveals the problems faced by local governments and residents’ lack of knowledge, and provides a roadmap for future improvements.

Overall, these studies indicate that creating a resilience strategy involving a...<more>

The World BOSAI Forum 2023 (WBF2023), held in March 2023 in Sendai, Japan, was successfully convened as a global platform for practical discussion of disaster risk reduction issues in a free and dynamic manner, in contrast to the United Nations, where national interests collide, or academic conferences where experts gather. In particular, we aimed to disseminate the knowledge and lessons learned from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) to the world and share the knowledge and lessons with Japan. We would like to take this opportunity again to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who participated in the sessions, exhibitions, posters, and flash talk presentations, as well as to the many locals who attended the event. According to the World BOSAI Forum [1], the WBF2023 was attended by 5,412 people over 3 days, including 1,335 pre-registrants from 40 countries and regions, on-site registrants, and EXPO participants. It included 30 oral sessions, 7 conferences, 50 poster sessions, 33 flash talk presentations, and 33 exhibition booths, where tangible solutions for disaster risk reduction were discussed through dialogue among international organizations, governments, academia, the private sector, NGOs, and citizens.

At the forum, Tohoku University hosted 4 sessions and co-hosted 10 sessions, which introduced the role of Tohoku University and the International Research Institute of Disaster Science as well as their contributions to the processes of recovery and reconstruction from the 2011 GEJET.

Finally, the forum came up with recommendations for a Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 (MTR SF). In May 2023, the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the MTR SF was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York [2].

The guest editors are pleased to publish this special issue in the Journal of Disaster Research, which comprises six articles sharing the research advancements presented at the WBF2023. We hope that this special issue on the WBF2023 will contribute to the literature on disaster science and further advance disaster ri...<more>

This special issue summarizes the research findings of the “Crowd Control Adaptive to Individual and Group Attributes” project, which is selected as a full-scale research project under the “Development of the Crisis Navigator for Individuals” prioritized theme of the JST Mirai Program.^*

Despite the lingering memory of the 2022 crowd accident in Itaewon, South Korea, similar accidents have occurred worldwide, including the firework display in Akashi, Japan, and the Love Parade in Germany. Addressing this social issue is imperative. To significantly reduce the risk of crowd accidents, this project aimed to elucidate the mechanism underlying human flow stagnation and establish a method to effectively guide the flow of people. Our approach involves creating a mathematical model that can estimate the flow of people by considering individual and group attributes, such as wheelchair and group behavior, to accurately predict flow stagnation. Based on these predictions, we developed a system that provides individuals with information on movement and utilizes technology to guide crowd flow, drawing principles from game theory and nudge theory. This system is characterized by integrating information on human flow, environmental factors, simulation results for predicting future conditions, and crowd control measures within the Crowd Management Platform as a Service (CMPaaS). Furthermore, we conducted demonstration tests at shopping malls, train stations, and event venues, and found that it offers valuable guidance to achieve risk reduction effects at real-world sites.

In this special issue, the first paper presents an overview of the newly created crowd management platform. Thereafter, it is organized into 16 articles presenting current research results categorized under Simulation, Theory, Control, Experiment, and Data Analysis, followed by a note on visitor trajectories in indoor facilities.

We anticipate that the outcomes of this study will facilitate interdisciplinary research in this field and promote the social implementation of crowd management platforms to prevent crowd accidents, thus creating ...<more>

We are pleased to announce that the MURAKAMI Suminao Award for Disaster Research and the JDR annual awards (the JDR Award for the Most Cited Paper, the JDR Award for the Most Downloaded Article, and the JDR Award for the Most Contributory Reviewer) of 2023 have been decided by the JDR editorial boards. The award ceremony was held on December 6, 2023 at Gakushikaikan, Tokyo, Japan. We congratulate the winners and sincerely wish for future success.

Message from the Winner, Fumihiko Imamura

Message from the Winner, Ryohei Kato

Message from the Winner, Chun-Hao Shao

Message from the Winner, Pei-Chun Shao

Message from the Winner, Fang-Ming Kuo

Message from the Winner, Reo Kimura

The national earthquake and national volcanic eruption prediction programs of Japan started in 1965 and 1974, respectively, based on the recommendation of the Geodesy Council. As a result, observations of seismic and volcanic activity have been enhanced and our understanding of the mechanisms of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions has made significant advances. However, these research results did not fully contribute to mitigating the damage caused by the 1995 Kobe earthquake or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. In order to make further contributions to disaster mitigation, we recognize the importance of research to apply the scientific understanding of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in collaboration with researchers in related research fields. The Earthquake and Volcano Hazards Observation and Research Program (2014–2018) was thus started on the basis of a recommendation of the Council for Science and Technology.

In this Program, research in the area of forecasting the hazards of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions has become one of the main pillars of research. Disaster information and knowledge of the disaster process, which involve the interaction of hazards and natural and social vulnerability, have been investigated in cooperation with earth scientists, engineers, and social scientists. On the basis of our results, research on literacy for disaster resilience was selected as one of the main pillars of research in the Second Observation and Research Program of Earthquake and Volcano Hazards (2019–2023), because a better understanding of and immediate information about disasters are important for disaster mitigation.

This special issue, which aims to disseminate the results of almost five years of research activities on literacy for disaster resilience in that Program, includes 15 papers and survey reports from multidisciplinary fields of study. The collection begins with Kimura and Ikeda’s important paper discussing the conceptual structure of the knowledge and abilities necessary to build disaster resilience capacities by analyzing school and community-based efforts, followed by a variety of empirical stud...<more>

Established in 2010 as an integrated research program for disaster risk reduction, the IRDR ICoE Taipei is co-sponsored by the International Science Council (ISC) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). In the past decade, the IRDR ICoE Taipei has received hundreds of participants around the world to the more than a dozen international training workshops (AI, Advanced Institute) it has organized. These workshops focused mostly on the capacity building program for disaster risk reduction. Bearing this in mind, one important motivation for this Special Issue was to encourage the participants of each Advanced Institute, in particular those who were awarded Seed Grants to conduct one-year projects following each workshop, to publish the results of their studies on the topics related to disaster risk reduction.

In this Special Issue, the first paper provides a brief review of the capacity building program of the IRDR ICoE Taipei, followed by three research articles. Viola van Onselen and her co-workers in Taiwan present a methodology of strategies of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, with several case studies in coastal environments of Taiwan. Shyamli Singh of India proposes an integrated system for sustainable rice economics linking from farm to market, a case study on one of the largest rice production fields on the Indo-Gangetic plain. From the engineering perspective, Wen-Yi Huang and his colleagues in Taiwan and Australia present a paper dealing with the reinforcement of soil walls to prevent geohazards on the roads.

This is the first special issue produced as a collaboration between the IRDR ICoE Taipei and the JDR, with great support from the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) and Academia Sinica of Taiwan. We hope there will be more Special Issues to come in the next few years.

We are very pleased to publish this Special Issue, NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2023, which includes three papers and one tutorial.

The first paper, authored by Dhakal and Kunugi, presents the orientation changes that earthquake movements have caused in the accelerometers of a seafloor observation network for earthquakes and tsunamis along the Japan Trench (S-net). This study is expected to contribute to more accurate analyses of S-net data. The second and third papers are reports of research done on volcanoes. The paper by Tanada and Ueda presents the seismic activity of the Nasudake volcano through the use of NIED hypocenter data gathered from 1998 to 2022. Tanada and Ueda state that earthquakes have regularly occurred near the Chausudake lava dome and two craters and that, from the volcano disaster-prevention point of view, it is important to monitor the relationship between this seismic area and volcanic activity. The third paper, by Miyagi et al., reports on an experiment aimed at grasping the movement of climbers and sharing the level of disaster threat with climber-related organizations in real time. Their online visualization system for the movement of climbers helps to provide solutions to problems related to volcanic disaster prevention not only during disaster events but also in the periods between. The last paper is a tutorial by Hanashima and Usuda on “SIP4D-ZIP,” which is a standard for synthesizing and sharing common information from multiple organizations. This tutorial explains how to realize a versatile and automatic mutual data sharing and usage system for various kinds of necessary disaster information.

In conjunction with the fourth 7-year mid/long term plan period 2016-2022, NIED has published seven special issues since 2017, including this 2023 issue. We believe that the articles in these seven issues can contribute to the advancement of science and technology for disaster risk reduction and resilience.

On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan. It was an extremely powerful earthquake that caused a great fire. The death toll reached approximately 105,000, and the economic loss is estimated to have exceeded 30% of the Japanese gross national product at that time.

For September 2023, the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) has planned a special issue to commemorate 100 years since the Great Kanto Earthquake. While previous special issues by the JDR have focused on specific disasters, this special issue will focus on the lessons and findings from the catastrophe and will cover even the progress of disaster research since then. We received fourteen important and thought-provoking manuscripts not only on scientific and engineering aspects but also on social and cultural aspects, including comparisons with other disasters, historical views, reconstruction issues, and future perspectives. These fourteen articles can be categorized into the three groups described below.

The first four articles are the English translations of articles that originally appeared in “Koho Bosai,” the bimonthly journal on natural disaster reduction that is complied and published by the Disaster Management Section, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. The JDR believes that these four articles provide a concise English description of various aspects of the Great Kanto Earthquake disasters. Dr. Takemura summarizes the seismic features of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake. Dr. Sekizawa summarizes the large scale urban fires that it caused. Dr. Suzuki describes various aspects of the emergency responses. Dr. Murosaki details the recovery project in Tokyo. Those articles discussed various lessons learned from the 1923 Kanto Earthquake and emphasized the importance of transferring the lessons toward future disaster mitigation.

The next six papers were originally works studying various aspects of the Great Kanto Earthquake disasters. Dr. Midorikawa reviews the strong ground motion of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake. Dr. Kaneko evaluates the resulting tsunami. Mr. Mammen sheds new light on the relationshi...<more>

A transdisciplinary approach (TDA) for disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an inclusive and collaborative implementation strategy that brings together stakeholders from various disciplines and sectors. TDA facilitates the collective efforts of diverse stakeholders, encouraging them to work together to co-produce and co-implement solutions that reduce disaster risks. Technical Committee 21, “Transdisciplinary approach for building societal resilience to disasters (TC21),” was established as a technical committee of the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council in 2016. TC21 has been engaged in international collaborative research activities aimed at mitigating water-related disasters by introducing scientific, knowledge-based decision making using the TDA.

This special issue features four case studies that analyze DRR efforts through the lens of the TDA. One such case covers Xinshan Village in Taiwan, which sustained devastating impacts from Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Through collaborative efforts involving all levels of government, residents, academia, and specialists, the village successfully prevented there being any casualties. The second study focuses on the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program in Japan, a program which is developing disaster risk information systems through collaboration with local municipalities. These systems play crucial disaster management roles on the ground. The third study examines the mechanisms of cost- and responsibility-sharing for disaster management, developed by Japan and the US, and highlights the importance of collaboration and shared accountability in building resilient societies. The fourth study analyzes statement publications at the UN Global Platform for DRR and finds that the number of member states publishing official statements is decreasing.

The findings of these articles demonstrate that collaboration, technology, and investment is crucial for DRR and that these areas can be developed through the TDA. By fostering collaboration, embracing technology, and investing in resilient solutions, stakeholders can collectively build more resilient societies.

Earthquakes and tsunami disasters happen suddenly, devastating cities in just a few minutes. For decision makers to manage such disasters, they need current information on the status of their cities, but all information is collected separately and on paper now. All disaster-related information should be integrated to support decision making. To develop such an integrated system, Peru and Japan launched a new SATREPS project, “Development of Integrated Expert System for Estimation and Observation of Damage Level of Infrastructure in Lima Metropolitan Area,” in 2021. The project consists of four groups. Group 1 is related to earthquake and tsunami hazards, estimating the level of shaking and predicting the damage due to tsunami. Group 2 is related to damage detection/estimation, using sensing devices to estimate the level of damage to buildings and other infrastructure. Group 3 is related to understanding the damage over a wide area through satellite images, and also to the integration of all information from Groups 1 to 3. Group 4 is related to developing the capacity to utilize the integrated expert system. This special issue has been organized to present the progress accomplished in the first two years and to share the project’s achievements. It covers the fields of earthquake hazards, building and infrastructure damage estimation, damage estimation with satellite imagery, and human loss estimation.

We, as guest editors, are honored to have been given the opportunity to organize this mini special issue on “Modeling of Human-Policy-Technology Nexus and Simulation for Disaster Response and Business Continuity” for the Journal of Disaster Research. This mini special issue aims to contribute to the overcoming of challenges around better design, operation, and management for disaster response and business continuity, where various factors, including human behavior and decision-making, policy and prioritization, monetary and humanitarian costs, and technological and infrastructural constraints, are intertwined, making it difficult to comprehend the entire picture and find an optimal solution.

On the other hand, we firmly believe people have an essential role in disaster response and business continuity. However, unlike physical phenomena, there are no governing equations or laws for human behavior and decision-making; there are variations and inconsistencies in human modeling depending on whether what was done, what ought to be done, what can be done, etc. is being modeled. Sometimes, human behavior must be considered and the different modes of human models clearly distinguished when better socio-technical systems or other systems involving humans are discussed.

All the papers selected introduce the latest innovative research in modeling and simulation, training system design, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis, which are directly and indirectly applicable to a better design, operation, and the management of disaster response and business continuity. At the same time, these papers also focus on one or several aspects of human behavior modes, such as past and current evidence (descriptive model) and what persons or organizations are supposed to be (normative model). The collection of these papers is expected to give good insight and inspiration to the readers and those who may take on the challenges this special issue aims to provide and to help develop an understanding of the importance of a human-centric approach to disaster research.

Three years have passed since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. The pandemic rapidly spread worldwide, especially through Europe and the Americas.

The Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) edited its “Special Issue on COVID-19 and Historical Pandemics, Part 1 and Part 2” at the end of 2020 and 2021, and their electronic versions were published in January 2021 (JDR Vol.16, No.1, pp. 1-117) and January 2022 (JDR Vol.17, No.1, pp. 1-158), respectively.

However, the pandemic is still continued and not yet eradicated. The cumulative number of cases of COVID-19 worldwide, as released in the World Health Organization (WHO) Weekly Epidemiological Update was 260 million as of December 2021. We therefore planned for the publication of this Special Issue Part 3 and called for papers.

This Special Issue Part 3 includes nine manuscripts, which deal from various fields related to COVID-19, such as including vaccine rollout program, the role of social media, problems in school education, therapeutic agents, virology, and general epidemiology. This suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic is a complicated disaster.

In December 2022, the global number of cumulative cases have increased to 940 million, almost one-tenth of the world’s population, although this number includes many asymptomatic infections. On the contrary, the number of new COVID-19 cases has slowed of mildness in the American and European countries in the year 2022, yet there has been a conspicuous increase in newly reported cases in Asia, especially in the Republic of Korea and Japan. Although the cases from African countries have still continued to report fewer numbers of cases than the number from other areas, However, there is still some possibility of that this is because of a lower number of medicinal tests, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, are given in African countries. If this is the reason, future increases of the medicinal tests in Africa may cause result in undesirable increases of in the number of cases therein African counties.

We are hopeful that the COVID-1...<more>

This special issue includes works related to the ongoing project “Regional Resilience Enhancement through Establishment of Area-BCM at Industry Complexes in Thailand.” This special issue can be considered evidence that the research and development of this project follows and supports the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Let’s imagine we are taking a tour of Area-Business Continuity Management (Area-BCM) and SDGs together.

As a starter, the baseline concept of our Area-BCM is discussed (Kodaka et al.) followed by the papers focusing on the specific SDGs.

Toward SDG Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

We can start the tour with this goal, as it is the project’s primary focus. In order to have sustainable cities and communities, the concept of Area-BCM can be considered. Related to it, there is a study that reviews and suggests the critical success factors (Meechang and Watanabe). Moreover, we can see the possibility of extending the concept of business continuity to other service sectors, such as tourism during COVID-19 (Yudha et al.).

Toward SDG Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Let’s move to the next goal. There is a study exploring the well-being of working people and its likelihood among the local people in the community (Duangkaew et al.). People can be considered human resources in the Area-BCM. Accordingly, learning how people fared during a disaster allows us to design the suitable Area-BCM strategies for organizations. With sustainable employment aspects, inundation model for industrial park-scale is proposed for decision making regarding business continuity (Kakinuma et al.). And a practical model for shared risk assessment within multi-stakeholder is discussed for decision as a community (Ono).

Toward SDG Goal 13 Climate Action

Regarding the third goal, it is necessary to know the outcome of hazard analysis for us to understand the risks. Thus, an approach to flood hazard mapping using the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation model is presented (Sriariyawat et al.). Through various techniques, flood...<more>

We are very pleased to publish this special issue, dedicated to NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2022. There are four papers, two reviews, and one note in this issue.

In the last year of the NIED’s fourth mid/long term plan period, which began in 2016, natural disasters have occurred every year, including earthquake disasters such as the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (M7.3) and the 2018 Iburi, Hokkaido earthquake (M7.1). Rainfall disasters include the heavy rainfall in northern Kyushu in July 2017, southwestern Japan in July 2018, northern Kyushu in August 2019, Kanto and Tohoku in October 2019, and Kyushu in July 2020. In the summer of 2022, the heavy rainfall and extreme weather continued over Japan.

The first three papers and one note contain hazard and risk information. Dohi et al. present the development of Japan Tsunami Hazard Information Station (J-THIS), Cui et al. present a study of the estimation of damage based on analysis of SNS Information, Nakamura provides avalanche risk information, and Ise et al. note information linkage by the Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management (SIP4D). Horiuchi et al. review the contribution of the E-Defence shaking table. This special issue also includes two social science works. Nagata et al. present tsunami disaster risk reduction education programs, and Yamazaki-Honda reviews promoting coherence among disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development for disaster resilience.

In the first half of the 21st century, a mega disaster such as the Nankai Trough earthquake is expected to occur. Extreme climatic events are also becoming more frequent: typhoons, floods, heavy rains and snows, landslides, and heat waves. We hope this issue provides information useful to all readers who study natural disasters.

Since Japan has 111 active volcanoes, we living there need to be prepared for the volcanic disasters that we will likely encounter in our lifetime. The Integrated Program for Next Generation Volcano Research and Human Resource Development (INeVRH), a research project of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), started in 2016 and is now in its 7th year. It is approaching its final stage will be ready to make proposals that will improve our knowledge from both scientific and practical points of view. In theme A, the Japan Volcanic Data Network (JVDN) system started its function as a volcanic research platform, providing the observation and analysis data of many universities, governmental agencies, and institutes. The JVDN system promotes collaborative, multidisciplinary study. In theme B, many strategic observation techniques now deployed have revealed the characteristics of volcanoes in detail. For example, a dense seismic and magnetic survey has clarified the fine structure of the hydrothermal system beneath volcanoes, providing information that can be used to evaluate their phreatic eruption potential. In addition, brand-new volcanic gas observation techniques using drones now obtain in-situ information effectively. Theme C has obtained geologic and petrologic findings at many volcanoes and has come to the stage in which systematic compilation of this database would be useful to comparative studies of many volcanoes. These findings are also used in numerical simulations that combine geologic, petrologic, and geophysical formulations to produce more comprehensive models used to interpret volcanic activity. Theme D focuses on the development of practical technologies for volcanic disaster mitigation, mainly related to volcanic ash. A scheme for the quick detection and evaluation of volcanic ash is proposed through observation and numerical simulation, and an experiment is performed to reveal the thickness threshold of volcanic ash deposits on air-conditioners. This special issue reports on some up-to-date topics that could become the basis of dynamic and effective links between themes A...<more>

Migration is dynamic and varies greatly across the globe due to myriad factors, including demography, economy, geography, and environment. As people move, a number of challenges exist that can leave human rights and human dignity as an afterthought to the migration process. This special issue provides a legal and policy framework for supporting “migration with dignity,” providing examples of how to apply this framework across a number of contexts, including climate change, the migration cycle, and pandemics.

COVID-19 has drastically changed mobility and migration in key spheres, such as transportation, travel, construction, and hospitality. Our research for this special issue was conducted between 2020 and 2021; therefore, we had the opportunity to witness a once-in-a-century global pandemic with direct impacts on migration inflows and outflows. Consequently, we have included pandemics as a key theme for consideration in this issue, believing that the research agenda should be informed by the assessment of impacts in both the atoll countries and in the United States – the most common “destination” of Pacific Islanders. This additional research revealed the vulnerabilities of migrants in the destination countries and in their home countries, vulnerabilities that would not otherwise have been apparent.

Our research was also directly impacted by the pandemic. We intended to conduct field research in countries such as the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and the Republic of Maldives, with the RMI and FSM serving as countries of “origin” for migration to the United States. In the Maldives, there is a large domestic migration from the atolls to the newly constructed man-made islands. We experienced research and travel limitations due to COVID-19, where many countries have adopted strict isolation policies to prevent the spread of disease. Therefore, we had to conduct our surveys remotely using the Internet or by asking collaborators living in the area to conduct surveys on our behalf.

Our special issue also touches ...<more>

Japan is a country that experiences a considerable number of natural disasters. It sees frequent seismic and volcanic activity because it is located on the boundaries of multiple plates. In addition, the temperate monsoon climate brings heavy rains and therefore floods and landslides. Since ancient times, the Japanese have repeatedly recovered from various natural disasters. That history has much to teach those living alive now.

In Japan, observation systems for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have been set up, and research based on the records of these instruments is actively being done. However, some earthquakes and eruptions repeat at intervals of hundreds of years, making the investigation of historical and archaeological materials essential if the true circumstances of such natural events and damage they caused are to be learned. A part of the historical disaster research currently being conducted in Japan is presented in this mini special issue.

This mini special issue contains four papers. Ebara’s paper, taking up the ways in which artificial development has transformed the topography in the last 500 years, considers the relationship between the original topography and the damage caused by typhoons. Kaneko’s contribution considers the damage sustained by one village that was hit by the tsunami that resulted from the great earthquake in the early 18th century. Kaneko surveys archaeological sites and tombstones that reveal that many of the victims were women and children. Sugimori et al. elucidate the exact time of the great earthquake in the 19th century by using historical materials written in Japanese, English, and Russian. Along with the importance of comparing and contrasting various literatures, the work teaches us that disasters have no borders. Murata proposes a method of utilizing archaeological excavations in earthquake research. It also presents a case in which the condition of the ground, which cannot be understood by surface observation alone, is estimated from traces of a disaster.

From these papers, readers can learn the potential of historical and archaeological m...<more>

This special issue focuses on “Build Back Better,” which is the key concept of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030). The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction provides United Nations member states and economies concrete actions to protect their economic development achievements from disaster risk. However, how “Build Back Better” can be measured and linked to disaster risk reduction remain unclear.

Three papers here analyze the results of the “Life Recovery Survey Five Years After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake,” which was conducted in June of 2016. The first Life Recovery Survey was conducted four years after the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake to document the extent to which the disaster victims had been able to rebuild their lives. Subsequently, the survey was conducted every two years until ten years after the earthquake. The survey was also conducted in the areas affected by the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake and the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake. Five years after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the present authors conducted a survey to document the actual situation of the disaster victims in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, which were the hardest hit by the disaster.

In addition, we analyzed the history of Nankai Trough earthquakes with the goal of preparing for the next Nankai Trough earthquake, which is predicted to occur in the near future. These results make it possible to identify issues and make recommendations on the kinds of systems that should be implemented.

It is our hope that this special issue will provide basic data to elucidate these issues.

The main goal of the conceptual framework of this mini special issue, which is based on the International Symposium on Human Survivability 2016 (ISHS2016), is to provide a fresh look at the global challenges facing humanity in the areas of energy, water, food, population, disease, etc. The ISHS2016 focused on enhancing resilience to extreme or large-scale disasters that may threaten the well-being of present and future generations. By considering past, present, and future dimensions, we aimed to develop a holistic approach that integrated various research fields.

The symposium brought together scholars from not only the natural and social sciences but also the humanities. The idea behind this was that we need to go beyond the “silo-based” approach, where handling disasters is something left to experts with specialized knowledge. The integration of the knowledge of scholars from different academic fields and backgrounds could provide novel solutions to the problem of how to enhance our resilience to future disasters.

This mini special issue aims to identify key issues in prioritizing several different types of disasters in terms of their time frames and impact frames, with the knowledge that the disasters are of completely different types and that the capacity of each institution and the consciousness of society in terms of each issue are all unequal. From those, we may identify the main characteristics of “low probability and high impact disasters,” as well as the different approaches that are needed. Disasters vary from infectious diseases to space weather, tsunamis, and earthquakes.

COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, China, 2 years ago, became a pandemic, that continues to this day.

The Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) edited a special issue, “Special Issue on COVID-19 and Historical Pandemics” at the end of 2020 and an electronic version of the issue was published in January 2021 (JDR Vol.16, No.1, pp. 1-117).

Even though one year has passed, life has not yet returned to normal due to the continued spread of COVID-19. Although the percentage of the general public that has been vaccinated continues to increase and various drugs and treatments have been developed, the number of COVID-19 cases also continues to increase. A huge number of COVID-19 cases have been reported, especially in Europe and the Americas.

Accordingly, we planned to publish Special Issue Part 2 and called for papers.

This Special Issue Part 2 includes 18 manuscripts, which deal with general epidemiology, effects on socioeconomic or educational areas, and clinical medicine, including vaccines and medical treatments.

The virus spike protein plays an important role in its intrusion into human cells and the onset of COVID-19 infection. Although SARS-CoV-2 (the pathogenic virus of COVID-19) originated in Wuhan, China, various variant strains with mutation in gene coding in the spike protein have appeared in multiple countries. The WHO classifies these variants into the categories of VOC (variant of concern), VOI (variant of interest), or VUM (variant under monitoring).

The definitions of VOC and VOI are as follows. VOC: “A SARS-CoV-2 variant that meets the definition of a VOI and, through a comparative assessment, has been demonstrated to be associated with one or more changes in the degree of global public health significance.” VOI: “Increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation, or decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.”

The WHO uses Greek letters designating the variants. Ac...<more>