The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) is working on three tasks: predicting disasters, preventing damage, and realizing speedy reconstruction and recovery efforts in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, torrential rains, blizzards, and ice storms.

In the last three years 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). Disasters of the rainfall include the heavy rainfall in the northern Kyushu (Fukuoka and Oita) in July 2017, the heavy rain event in southwestern Japan in July 2018, the rainfall in northern Kyushu (Saga) in August 2019, and the heavy rainfall in Kanto and Tohoku in October 2019. There were also other disasters: an avalanche accident on Nasudake in 2017 and a phreatic eruption of Kusatsu-Shiranesan in 2018.

Due to the above-mentioned very frequent occurrence of such natural disasters on the Japanese islands, our institute has conducted several research projects to mitigate the damage from such disasters and to accelerate the recovery from them. As the third NIED special issue in the Journal of Disaster Research, several related research results were presented such as those on seismic disasters (Wakai et al., Nakazawa et al., and Ohsumi et al.), those on climatic disasters (Nakamura, and Ishizawa and Danjo), and those of their integrated researches for disaster risk reduction (Cui et al. and Nakajima et al.).

Although the achievements detailed in these papers are the results of individual research, the NIED hopes that these results as a whole will be fully utilized to promote science and technology for disaster risk reduction and resilience. The NIED hopes that this special issue awakens the readers’ interest in new research and, of course, creates an opportunity for further collaborative works with us.

As global sea levels continue to rise, atoll countries—facing persistent and imminent risk—are expected to become source nations of climate migrants in the foreseeable future. This special issue features 10 academic articles, which examine if residents in Pacific atoll countries were, are, or will be ready to re-establish their livelihoods after relocation.

The topic of migration is akin to a kaleidoscope, with continuously evolving shapes and colors, necessitating a broad spectrum of approaches across various disciplines. The authors of these articles thus examined the topic through mathematics, civil engineering, cultural and disaster studies, economics, education, geography, international relations, language, law, sociology and politics. The methodologies applied range from policy analysis to structural equation modeling.

Migration driven by climate change takes place gradually, even over a few decades. Unlike forced migration due to causes such as war and conflict, future climate migrants have the short-term advantage of time to ready themselves for displacement from their homeland. Preparation prior to relocation may include enhancing one’s language or vocational skills.

One of the focal points of this special issue is therefore the preparedness of migrants, both past and future. Case studies were carried out across Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the United States.

We also considered how migrants are received following resettlement, both in terms of legal instruments and assistance given by the public and private sectors. Case studies conducted in Austria and the United States address this aspect.

Yet another focus is to identify prevailing factors through which people develop their perceptions of climate change and its implications, for such perceptions are a driving force for migration. Case studies in Kiribati and the Marshall Islands contribute to this understanding.

We hope this special issue sharpens the vision of climate change and migration, and serves as a stepping stone for further research in the field.

Since the start of the 21st century, major disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, have caused tremendous damage. The scope of the impact has spread across borders because global chains and the like have diversified. Consequently, disaster prevention and mitigation for reduction is now an important issue in the international community. To advance disaster reduction, it has been necessary to combine the humanities and social sciences with medical science and natural sciences as well, and Tohoku University has become the base of disaster prevention. What activities have begun, and for what purpose? I would like to find out and deepen my interest through this mini special feature.

The first part gives the background and objectives of the world’s top research cluster for disaster science. The second part presents survival study, or how to protect oneself from disasters such as tsunamis. Survival study is highly unique to this cluster. Reclassifying is proposed to compile the causes of death indicated by autopsy and systematizing deaths in the event of a disaster. Next, efforts in the humanities and social sciences to preserve the folk performing arts left in the community are presented. It has been pointed out that once local communities and connections are lost in disasters and its recovery faces more difficulty.

A year has passed since the first special issue on the development of disaster statistics was published in the Journal of Disaster Research. The Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) at Tohoku University is steadily making progress as well. The GCDS now participates in Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC), which was launched by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). In addition, the GCDS has committed to publishing this special issue of the Journal of Disaster Research toward the development of disaster statistics. Needless to say, the publication of the special issue itself has a positive impact on accelerating research activity at the GCDS.

The guest editors are pleased to publish valuable academic articles that are closely related to the activities of the GCDS, thus contributing to the development of disaster statistics. In this second issue, there seem to be two main categories of research questions: “development of the existing disciplined-based research” and “analyzing various issues by means of questionnaire surveys.” Under the first category, by means of disaster statistics, two disciplines are covered: river engineering and international studies. The large number of studies based on questionnaire surveys act as an excellent reminder of the effectiveness of such a survey as a methodology for disaster statistics.

Last but not least, we hope that this second special issue on the development of disaster statistics will also contribute to the literature on disaster statistics and accelerate its development.

In 2018, Japan not only had an abnormally hot summer, but also experienced successive disasters, including the Northern Osaka Earthquake, the Western Japan Heavy Rain, Typhoon No. 21, the Hokkaido Mid Iburi Earthquake, and Typhoon No. 24. In particular, the record-breaking heavy rains continued in a large area of Western Japan from June 28 to July 4, due to the storm front and Typhoon No. 7. The amount of rainfall totaled over 1,800 mm in the Shikoku Region and 1,200 mm in the Tokai Region. The quantity of rain that fell within 48 and 72 hours in both the Chugoku and Kinki Regions, as well as many other areas, was the highest rainfall ever recorded. A special warning regarding heavy rain was issued in 10 prefectures and every kind of disaster that Japan had experienced recently occurred in various locations. As of August 21, a report from Disaster Management Section, Cabinet Office indicated 221 deaths, 9 missing persons, 68 severely injured persons, 319 slightly injured persons, 3 persons with an unknown level of injury, 6,206 destroyed homes, 9,764 severely-damaged homes, 3,765 partially-destroyed homes, 9,006 homes with flooding above the first-floor level, and 20,086 houses with flooding below the first-floor level.

During this large-scale disaster, which was named the Western Japan Heavy Rain, the Disaster Relief Act was applied to 110 municipalities and JDR decided to issue a special edition to address issues pertinent to this specific disaster event. Paper submissions were requested that not only comprised demonstrative researches on hazard and damage characteristics, methods of evacuation, and features of disaster response, but also included introductions of best practices, which were conducted in various fields and prompted diverse collaboration to develop and establish measures to mediate the effect of the future Nankai Trough Earthquake, as well as problems and solutions to successfully realize diverse collaboration. In response to the call for papers for the special issue, nine researches were submitted and six were accepted following a strict review process. To address the category of hazard characteristics analyses, two papers analyzing the characteristics of the flooding resulting from the Western Japan Heavy Rain and one paper comprising an analysis of landslide disasters were accepted. In the category of disaster response, one paper focusing on the use of SNS and two papers regarding the elderly were accepted. It would be our sincere pleasure if this special issue could contribute to future reductions in damage resulting from natural disasters.

We announce that the Fourth JDR Award was won by Professor Emeritus Nobuo Shuto, Tohoku University, Japan. We congratulate the winner and sincerely wish for future success.

It is our great pleasure to present the Fourth JDR Award to Professor Nobuo Shuto for his outstanding contributions to the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) as the Honorary Editor.

Professor Shuto, Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University, is a pioneer of the theoretical study of tsunamis. He has also made a large contribution to the development of numerical simulations, visualization through computer graphics, and other critical techniques for the study and control of tsunami disasters. The development of tsunami disaster reduction and management that we have today is thanks in large part to his achievements.

On behalf of the JDR editorial board, I wish to thank Professor Nobuo Shuto for his efforts and to congratulate him as the winner of the Fourth JDR Award.

After the 1960 Great Chilean Tsunami, coastal dikes were remodeled and new ones constructed in Japan. In 1968, immediately after the completion of those construction and remodeling works, the Tokachi-Oki Earthquake struck, but fortunately the structures involved sustained very little damage. This led to a general feeling that it was possible to protect against the tsunamis completely by simply building coastal dikes and other defense structures. Japan did not see an increase in the number of tsunami researchers, but things were worse in the U.S. The National Science Foundation allocated its tsunami-related budget only to the NOAA, which issues tsunami forecasts, and allocated the rest of the budget entirely to ocean development. This situation continued until the 1983 Nihonkai-Chubu Earthquake Tsunami struck. In 1992, there was a tsunami earthquake off the coast of Nicaragua. Following that, research was conducted based on international cooperation through fax communications. Then cooperative international research continued to be done on tsunamis such as the 1992 Flores Tsunami, the 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake Tsunami, and the 1996 Irian Jaya Tsunami. However, their findings were provided only through Proceedings of the International Tsunami Symposium every two years, and most of the findings were limited to factual information about tsunamis.

Requests for information on tsunamis rapidly increased after the 2004 Great Indian Ocean Tsunami, information not only on the tsunami itself but also on tsunami countermeasures. It was when JDR made its appearance. The JDR disseminated the latest information for practical use. It also benefitted those who were the sources of information, as they no longer had to deal with the frustration of having to wait for conferences held only every two years. In addition, the JDR reviews submissions much more quickly than do other journals. Tsunamis, such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake Tsunami and the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake Tsunami, continue to strike. As a platform for sharing knowledge related to reconstruction and countermeasures, as well as to tsunamis themselves, the importance the JDR is growing.

This is why you are encouraged to contribute to the JDR.

The phreatic eruption of the Ontake volcano in 2014 reminded us that even moderately active volcanoes, most of which are tourist attractions in Japan, can sometimes exhibit unpredictable and hazardous behaviors, taking away the lives of those who do not fully recognize their threat. With this adding momentum, the Japanese people want volcanology and its applications to be developed to further improve the precision of volcanic eruption alerts. To meet this expectation, a comprehensive program, the “Integrated program for next-generation volcano research and human resource development,” sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, was started in November 2016 on a 10-years plan. The most stunning aspect of this program is the integration of (1) a research project and (2) a human resource development program to mitigate volcanic disasters in Japan from long-term point of view. Both of these are collaboratively supported by many researchers from almost all Japanese universities and national institutions related to volcanology. This special issue compiles several topics in this research project to demonstrate its present stage of development and to indicate its anticipated future destination. The target of the research project is to develop, using multi-disciplinary scientific methods, new ways of evaluating volcanic hazards. Specifically, four research groups jointly (A) construct a data archive and exchange system connecting all Japanese volcanologists, (B) develop new geophysical and geochemical observation techniques and methods of analyzing data, (C) evolve methods of predicting volcanic eruptions based on eruption history from precise geological survey and numerical simulations, and (D) propose the provision of technologies for volcanic disasters. We hope that this program will greatly help to mitigate volcanic disasters in Japan, and we will strive to realize this through the research project.

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster taught us many lessons. Many new findings, insights, and suggestions have been made and implemented in damage determination and in disaster observation, sensing, and simulation. The challenges in terms of mitigating damage from future catastrophic natural disasters, such as the expected Metropolitan Tokyo Earthquake and Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami, are how we share the visions of the possible impacts and prepare to mitigate loss and damage, how we enhance society’s disaster resilience and the ability of society and social systems to prepare well, how we respond promptly and effectively to natural disasters, and how we apply lessons learned to future disaster management.

In recent years, a huge amount of information known as “disaster big data,” including data related to the dynamic movement of a large number of people, vehicles, and goods as IoT, has been obtained to understand how our society responds to natural disasters, both inside and outside the affected areas. The key question is how to utilize disaster big data to enhance disaster resilience.

Researchers with various areas of expertise are working together in a collaborative project called JST CREST: “Establishing the Most Advanced Disaster Reduction Management System by Fusion of Real-Time Disaster Simulation and Big Data Assimilation.” The project aims to identify possible disaster scenarios caused by earthquakes and tsunamis that occur and progress in a chained or compound manner, as well as to create new technologies to lead responses and disaster mitigation measures that help societies recover from disasters.

Since 2016, we have published three special issues entitled “Disaster and Big Data,” and now we will publish a fourth one which includes 10 research papers and 1 report. These aim to share the recent progress of the project as a sequel to Part 3, published in March 2018. As a guest editor of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and members of the editorial committee. It is my hope that the fruits of everyone’s efforts and outcomes will be utilized in disaster management efforts to mitigate damage and losses from future catastrophic disasters.

Enhancing social resilience in the event of natural disasters is a critical issue for Japan. It will requires a need huge efforts to further increase the physical preparedness; on the other hand, compared to increasing physical preparedness, enhancing social resilience is a cost-effective means of mitigating the effects of natural disasters. The Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion program (SIP), the biggest national research program in Japan, selected a theme related to enhancing social resilience in the face of natural disasters in 2014. The authors of this special issue worked as a part of the SIP for five years and developed state-of-the-art technologies for the enhancement, namely, next-generation tsunami and heavy rain observation, integrated liquefaction counter-measures, methods for sharing disaster information, a real-time disaster estimation system, an emergency communication system, and the development of applications for regional use. Most of the technologies have been implemented in efforts at natural disaster mitigation following earthquakes and heavy rains in 2017 and 2018. The development and implementation of advanced technologies are the essence of the SIP because it aims to foster innovation. While the SIP is a Japanese government program, it promotes international utilization of the technologies it develops. There are many instances which might be studied better by developing and utilizing advanced technologies in various countries following different types of natural disasters. I hope that this special issue will be a gateway for readers who are interested in using such advanced technologies to mitigate natural disasters and enhance social resilience during such events.

Our research project titled “Integrated study on mitigation of multimodal disasters caused by ejection of volcanic products” began in 2014 under SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) and is now coming to an end in 2019. Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes distributed along its archipelago making it a high risk location for volcano-related disasters. The target volcanoes in our study are Guntur, Galunggung, Merapi, Kelud, and Semeru in Java, and Sinabung in North Sumatra. Guntur and Galunggung are currently dormant and are potentially high-risk volcanoes. Merapi generated pyroclastic flows along the Gendol River in 2010, which resulted in over 300 casualties and induced frequent lahars. New eruptive activity of Merapi began in 2018. The 2014 eruption of Kelud formed a gigantic ash plume over 17 km high, dispersing ash widely over the island of Java. Semeru continued minor eruptive activity, accompanying a risk of a dome collapse. The aim of our research includes disaster mitigation of the Sinabung volcano, whose eruption began to form a lava dome at its summit at the end of 2013, followed by frequent pyroclastic flows for approximately 4 years, and the deposits became the source of rain-triggered lahars. Our goal is to implement SSDM (Support System for Decision-Making), which would allow us to forecast volcano-related hazards based on scales and types of eruptions inferred from monitoring data. This special issue collects fundamental scientific knowledge and technology for the SSDM as output from our project. The SSDM is an integrated system of monitoring, constructed scenarios, forecasting scale of eruption, simulation of sediment movement and volcanic ash dispersion in the atmosphere. X-band radars newly installed by our project in Indonesia were well utilized for estimation of spatial distribution not only of rain fall in catchments but also of volcanic ash clouds. Finally, we hope the SSDM will continue to be utilized under a consortium in Merapi, which was newly established in collaboration with our projects, and extended to other volcanoes.

The Global Forum on Science and Technology for Disaster Resilience was held in Tokyo from 23 to 25 November 2017 with 228 participants from 42 countries. To implement the priorities for action in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015–2030, the Forum aimed to encourage all stakeholders to develop guidelines for supporting national platforms for DRR by making the best use of science and technology and producing a synthesis report on disaster science and technology.

During the Forum, seven working groups held presentations and panel discussions that corresponded to the four priorities for action in the Sendai Framework (1. Understanding disaster risk; 2. Strengthening disaster risk governance; 3. Investing in DDR; and 4. “Build Back Better”), as well as on Interdisciplinary collaboration, National platforms, and Synthesis report.

At the end of the Forum, seven policy briefs, as well as “Tokyo Statement 2017,” were adopted. In this special issue of the Journal of Disaster Research, co-chairs of the working groups summarize their discussions and recommendations for each working group. Additional papers on the role of private sectors and Nation’s Synthesis are also included in the issue.

We thank all the authors and reviewers of the papers, as well as all the participants of the Forum for their valuable contributions.

The World Bosai Forum was held at the Sendai International Center and Kawauchi Hagi Hall, Tohoku University, bringing together 947 participants from over 42 countries. This was nearly double the number of participants that we had initially expected. Proactive and meaningful discussions were held by a wide range of officials and experts from domestic and overseas industries, governments, academia, and private sectors, as well as by local citizens. From our partnership with the Asian Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction (ACUDR) and International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (USMCA), we had a total of 126 participants.

We successfully created a platform for building international cooperation to share and resolve the current situation and handle various challenges for Bosai or disaster risk reduction. Practical and effective discussions have contributed to raising and promoting awareness of Bosai and the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 to the world from Sendai. Our first World Bosai Forum was concluded with productive outcomes, and its future meetings will be held every 2 years.

The guest editors of this special issue are pleased to publish valuable academic papers presented at the first World Bosai Forum. As you may notice, this research stems from a wide variety of current issues. The nature of interdisciplinary approaches may be unique to the World Bosai Forum, and the guest editors hope that this special issue will contribute to enhanced recognition of the Forum.

This special issue presents the findings obtained so far by the relevant studies that have been conducted mainly at the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS), which is affiliated with the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) at Tohoku University, Japan.

The establishment of the GCDS was jointly announced by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the IRIDeS in March 2015 during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNWCDRR) in Sendai, Japan. The Centre is expected to contribute greatly to sustainable development, based on risk-informed policy making, through the following activities: providing scientific analyses and technical advice based on their disaster loss and damage data, supporting the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and individual countries in the work of monitoring the progress of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and providing policy advice to build the capacities of national/local governments, based on their demands.

In this context, the guest editors of this special issue are pleased to publish valuable academic articles closely related to the GCDS’ activities that contribute to the development of disaster statistics. As Sasaki and Ono (2018) observed, there exist three major categories of research questions that contribute to the development of disaster statistics: investigation into disaster statistics and/or global disaster-related databases, development of the existing discipline-based research, and analysis of various issues through questionnaire surveys.

Last but not least, it is our hope that this special issue contributes to the literature of disaster statistics and accelerates its development.

The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) is working on three tasks: predicting disasters, preventing damage, and realizing speedy reconstruction and recovery efforts in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, torrential rains, blizzards, and ice storms.

In the last two years of the NIED’s fourth mid/long term plan period, which began in 2016, the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (M6.5 and M7.3), the heavy rainfall in the Northern Kyushu District in July 2017, and the heavy rain event of July 2018 are listed as “named” disasters, named by Japan Meteorological Agency. In addition, there were other disasters: an avalanche accident on Nasudake in 2017, an earthquake (M6.1) with its epicenter in northern Osaka, an eruption of Kirishimayama (Shinmoedake and Ioyama) and a phreatic eruption of Kusatsu-Shiranesan in 2018.

The results of research done on the above-mentioned disasters and the latest results of ongoing projects in each research division and center were compiled as the second NIED special issue of the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR). In this special issue, we are delighted to present ten papers on three topics: climatic disasters, seismic disasters, and integrated research on disaster risk reduction. In particular, this special issue contains three papers on the above-mentioned heavy rainfall in the Northern Kyushu District in July 2017 and two papers related to the Kumamoto earthquake.

Although the achievements detailed in these papers are the results of individual research, the NIED hopes that these results as a whole will be fully utilized to promote science and technology for disaster risk reduction and resilience. The NIED hopes that this special issue awakens the readers’ interest in new research and, of course, creates an opportunity for further collaborative works with us.

1. Introduction There are approximately 2,700 dams in Japan. Their total reservoir capacity is approximately 25 billion m³ (BCM), far less than the 34.4 BCM of Hoover Dam in the US or the 39.3 BCM of the Three Gorges Dam in China. Lake Biwa, with a capacity of 27.5 BCM, which has recently been used for multiple purposes by the Lake Biwa Comprehensive Development Project, is equivalent in scale to such artificial lakes. On the other hand, dams in Japan that were constructed on mountain rivers with considerable sediment deposits are decreasing their capacity more rapidly than those constructed on continental rivers, so they require measures against deposition to maintain their long-term reservoir capacity. In addition, extreme weather phenomena (increased rainfall and drought intensity) under climate changes increase high demand for storage capacity of dams. In order to effectively use these dams as limited resources and to hand them over to the next generation in healthy state, continuous investment and development of maintenance technology are required. Recently, to promote this investment and development, “A vision for upgrading dams (effective use of existing dams to mitigate damage from frequent floods and droughts and to generate renewable energy)” was established by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) on June 27, 2017 [1]. This special issue is collecting the significance of the dam upgrading projects and important challenges from various aspects to be implemented. for further details, please refer the pdf.
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The Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) is a Japanese government program that promotes international joint research. The program is structured as a collaboration between the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The program includes various fields, such as Environment and Energy, Bioresources, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, and Infectious Disease Control, and a total 52 projects were currently in progress as of May, 2018.

It is expected that the promotion of international joint research under this program will enable Japanese research institutions to conduct research more effectively in fields and having targets that make it advantageous to do that research in developing countries, including countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

Recently, SATREPS projects in the field of Infectious Disease have been but under the control of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). Although adult maladies, such as malignant tumors, heart disease, and cerebral apoplexy, are major causes of death in the developed countries including Japan, infectious diseases are still responsible for the high mortality rates in developing countries. Therefore, Infectious Disease Control is the important field of SATREPS.

Infectious Disease Control projects are progressing in several countries, including Kenya, Zambia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Brazil, and various infectious diseases and pathogens have been targeted.

In this special issue on Infectious Disease Control, the following reports from three projects have been selected: “The JICA-AMED SATREPS Project to Control Outbreaks of Yellow Fever and Rift Valley Fever in Kenya” by Nagasaki University, “Comprehensive Etiological and Epidemiological Study on Acute Respiratory Infections in Children in the Philippines” by Tohoku University, and “International Joint Research on Antifungal Resistant Fungi in Brazil” by Chiba University. These projects include viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.

If they become available, further supplementary reports from other projects in this field will be published in a future issue.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has been utilized in a variety of research fields within the geosciences. This research has been further developed for application to hazard monitoring and natural disaster mitigation. Some developments have even been implemented in society in countermeasures against natural disasters. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), for example, has established a nationwide GNSS network called GEONET. The data from GEONET are used extensively among researchers and practitioners, not only for basic research but also for the development of methods and systems that can mitigate disasters. This special volume is a collection of articles that discuss how such methods and systems are now being developed and/or planned to both clarify the mechanisms behind natural hazards and mitigate the damage they may cause. The volume consists of 13 papers covering a wide range of natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, crustal movements, tsunamis, ionospheric disturbances, and volcanic eruptions. Some papers help us to understand how natural hazards behave, which should be the first step toward disaster mitigation. On the other hand, other articles report direct efforts made toward providing early warnings of impending disasters. Disaster mitigation systems may require real-time (and even kinematic with high-rate data sampling) processing and dissemination of data. Moreover, some applications involve data collection from coastal waters and the open sea. Now that the density of GNSS stations has approached saturation on land, the scarcity of data collected offshore will have to be rectified through the development of GNSS systems in the ocean. We do hope that this volume will be a step in the further progress of utilizing GNSS for disaster monitoring and mitigation in the future to make society safer and more secure.

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster left behind many lessons to learn, and there have since been many new findings and insights that have led to suggestions made and implemented in disaster observation, sensing, simulation, and damage determination. The challenges for mitigating the damage from future catastrophic natural disasters, such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake or the Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami, are in how we share our visions of the possible impacts, how we prepare to mitigate the losses and damages, and how we enhance society’s disaster resilience.

The huge amount of information obtained, called “disaster big data,” is related to the dynamic movement, as IoT, of a large number people, vehicles, and goods from inside and outside the affected areas. This has dramatically facilitated our understanding of how our society has responded to unprecedented catastrophes. The key question is how to utilize big data in establishing social systems that respond promptly, sensibly, and effectively to natural disasters, and in withstanding adversity with resilience.

Researchers with various types of expertise are working together under a collaborative project called JST CREST “Establishing the advanced disaster reduction management system by fusion of real-time disaster simulation and big data assimilation.” The project aims to identify possible earthquake and tsunami disaster scenarios that occur and progress in a chained or compound manner and to create new technologies to lead responses and disaster mitigation measures to help society to recover from disasters.

As we have published two previous special issues entitled “Disaster and Big Data” since 2016, this issue is our third. Included are 14 papers that aim to share the recent progress of the project as the sequel to Part 2, published in March 2017. As one of the guest editors of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and the members of the editorial committee. I do hope that this work will be utilized in disaster management efforts to mitigate the damage and losses in future catastrophic disasters.

This special issue summarizes the main results of the first half of the five-year SATREPS project in Myanmar. SATREPS stands for “Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development” and it is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The title of our project is “Construction of Myanmar Disaster Response Enhancement System and Industry-Academia-Government Cooperation Platform.” Ours is the first SATREPS project in Myanmar and Yangon Technological University (YTU) is our main counterpart institute and relevant organizations mainly national and local governments are collaborating as strategic partners.

In Myanmar, rural and urban development has been progressing rapidly and on a large scale, and the expansion of urban population coupled with climate change has increased the risk of disaster to a critical level, especially in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. By monitoring changes in the urban environment, such as the topography, ground, buildings, and infrastructure, we seek to lower the level of risk. Our project will improve the disaster management system, plan and response capability, based on an evaluation of disaster vulnerabilities. Considering floods including tidal wave problems and earthquakes as the target hazards, we aim to contribute to the development of precise regional development plans and disaster management measures by identifying disaster risks in advance, and we will support the Myanmar government in strengthening its disaster response capabilities.

We plan to set up a system by which industry, academia, and the government collaborate to promote the understanding of research content, to continue research activities, and to implement research results in Myanmar. We hope that our activities in the SATREPS project will become an ideal model for solving issues in urban development and disaster management, and that the project will also contribute the other Asian countries.

Hazard and risk researchers are using their research results to target several vastly different stakeholders: the scientific community, governmental institutions, engineers and the larger technical community, companies, and finally the local residents. Each of these groups has a different focus on the results and is drawing different conclusions from them. In this special issue for the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR), we address the problems surrounding hazard and risk communication by asking important questions. How can we communicate hazard and/or risk to the public? How can we involve communities in risk assessment? How can we raise the acceptance of risk models in communities? How can communities be involved in mitigation measures? Finally, how can we explain the inherit uncertainties of hazard and risk assessments? To answer these questions, it is essential to integrate knowledge from the social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering.

As the first step in this effort, we selected seven papers in the present special issue: six are related to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes in Japan and one to a research in Taiwan. They include studies on hazard and risk estimates before the disaster, risk communication during the earthquake sequence by the Japan Metrological Agency, the psychological and behavioral characteristics of disaster victims, resident evacuation patterns, the recovery process, and risk communication in disaster. The paper of the research in Taiwan addresses the importance of resident involvement to earthquake science for disaster preparedness.

In April 2016, our institute, NIED, under its new English name the “National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience,” commenced its fourth mid-to-long term planning period, set to last seven years.

We are constantly required to carry out comprehensive efforts, including observations, forecasts, experiments, assessments, and countermeasures related to a variety of natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, heavy rains, blizzards, and ice storms.

Since this is NIED’s first special issue for the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR), works were collected on a wide variety of topics from research divisions and centers as well as from ongoing projects in order to give an overview of the latest achievements of the institute. We are delighted to present 17 papers on five topics: seismic disasters, volcanic disasters, climatic disasters, landslide disasters, and the development of comprehensive Information Communications Technology (ICT) for disaster management. Even though the achievements detailed in these papers are certainly the results individual research, NIED hopes to maximize these achievements for the promotion of science and technology for disaster risk reduction and resilience as a whole. It is our hope that this special issue awakens the readers’ interest in a study, and, of course, creates an opportunity for further collaborative works with us.