Every time a disaster happens, people realize the importance of disaster prevention and consider what they should do in the future. They then calmly take a step toward a long journey to reconstruction. The seriousness can only be understood by those with experience of a disaster and is beyond our imagination.

Kobe University Professor Emeritus Yoshiteru Murosaki, who has been involved with disaster risk reduction work for over 40 years, became a disaster victim himself for the first time when the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred. After he understood the seriousness of being a victim, he became active in disaster prevention and reconstruction support by using his experiences of the earthquake.


On the day of the earthquake, Dr. Murosaki was busy dealing with the media in Osaka



On the day of the earthquake, the Japan/United States Workshop on Urban Earthquake Hazard Reduction was scheduled to be held at Osaka International House in Tennoji Ward, Osaka City. As vice-chairman of the workshop, Dr. Murosaki arrived in Osaka on the previous day.

The following morning, most Japanese researchers immediately headed to Kobe. However, since we invited many researchers from the United States, we couldn’t cancel the workshop, so we decided to hold the sessions in the morning. In the afternoon, at the meeting site, where Japan’s leading researchers in the field of disaster risk reduction were in attendance, we were inundated with interview requests from the media, and we spoke to the media in turns. On the second day, we canceled the sessions scheduled for the day and visited Kobe to inspect the sites.

Many researchers got into cars prepared by the media to go to Kobe, but Dr. Murosaki was anxious about Kobe University, whom he worked for, so he went separately by taxi. When he crossed the river on the border between Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures, he got stuck in heavy traffic and decided to walk from Nishinomiya to the University.


The moment when an ordinary researcher in the field of disaster risk reduction turned into a disaster victim

Until I got out of the taxi, I was thinking of what kind of investigation I should conduct in an orderly way as an ordinary disaster reduction professional. However, when I crossed the river and saw the houses falling down, a lot of tears came to my eyes.

We call this type of collapse a “pancake collapse” in our terminology. Many houses collapsed with the first floor falling down to the ground and were reduced to rubble. The sky was very vast and we could still hear cries for help here and there. Some buildings were burning.
Looking at the scene that I had never imagined as a disaster reduction professional, I was deeply shocked and thought “something like this doesn’t happen to us.”

Around three o’clock in the afternoon, he finally arrived at Kobe University. All his students were shocked out of their wits. Dr. Murosaki had them verify their friends’ and acquaintances’ safety and let them go back to their parents’ home, if possible.

When we go to disaster-stricken areas, we usually take many photographs for investigation. However, since I was a victim and understood how the victims felt, I didn’t feel like taking photographs.

I felt the weight of being affected by a disaster when I heard a professional involved in disaster risk reduction for many years saying, “I took few photographs immediately after the earthquake.”


His experience of the earthquake disaster drastically changed the way his research was conducted



After experiencing the earthquake, with the perspective of a victim, Dr. Murosaki drastically changed the way his research was conducted.

Until then, he had published his papers reporting the research results about one year after thoroughly examining the disaster and collecting enough data, but he realized that this absolutely wouldn’t be sufficient in this case. Regardless of the format, whether a brief note or oral communication, he believed immediately providing information would lead to the relief of the sufferers.

I was involved with disaster prevention planning for Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City. After the earthquake, I received some calls telling me that “If you had said there was a possibility of the city being hit by an earthquake measuring seven on the Japanese seismic scale and houses being destroyed, we would have implemented seismic reinforcement and my family would have survived.”

What does it mean to take responsibility? Dr. Murosaki thought that he first needed to analyze the reason why he had made a mistake.

Before the earthquake occurred, we researchers used to predict what would happen next, based on what happened in the past. Since Kobe City had not been hit by an earthquake measuring six or above on the Japanese seismic scale, we made a disaster prevention plan based on that fact. Yet, on the contrary, an earthquake measuring seven occurred.

That is, we need to estimate the damage from theoretically predicted earthquakes, with a vision of future possibility, even if they have never happened before.

Photo:Dr. Murosaki in front of the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, where the Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute is located, for which Dr. Murosaki serves as the Chief Director of Research Bureau. Next to Dr. Murosaki is a part of a concrete bridge pier of the Hanshin Expressway that collapsed in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

Another lesson he learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake is the importance of speaking directly to the citizens.

Actually, I myself did say that the city might be hit by an earthquake of level 7 on the Japanese seismic scale. However, I said it to the government, and it didn’t spread to the citizens. I learned a big lesson of how important it is to speak directly to the citizens.

Dr. Murosaki now spends a lot of time on activities with citizens, including volunteer work and lectures at fora held by citizens groups.


A chain of reconstruction: making use of individuals’ disaster experiences in future disaster recovery

Photo:Exhibition of “20-year timeline made by everyone” at the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution for sharing experiences of and lessons learned from the earthquake.

Even after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, many disasters occurred across Japan. Dr. Murosaki rushed to and investigated most of the disaster sites and has been involved in their recovery plans.

He believes that reconstruction of Kobe is still insufficient from the viewpoint of an expert. Nevertheless, he feels responsible for telling what he learned from the earthquake, including these inadequacies.

There is the term “responsibilities of disaster-struck areas,” which means to return the support received at the time of a disaster. One of the responsibilities of Kobe is bouncing back from the disaster to create a wonderful society, and sharing the outcome with the world. Another responsibility is returning the favor when any disaster occurs in the future.

Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, many citizens of Kobe went to the devastated areas to work as volunteers, which became a trending topic of conversation at that time. And even now, four years later, many people continue to go to these areas. This is because there is a belief deeply ingrained in the people of Kobe to return the favor as a responsibility of a disaster-struck area.

Reconstruction is not over once the town makes a full recovery. One reconstruction continues to the next, which will further serve as a basis for another new reconstruction. I call this “a chain of reconstruction.” Japan has experienced numerous disasters since ancient times and made great efforts each time, from which we learned various lessons.

The disaster recovery plan of Kobe was a two-step process: the local government first drew up a recovery plan and the local community development committee then reviewed and modified the recovery plan. This process was utilized in the 921 earthquake that occurred in Taiwan in 1999, and the example of the recovery of Taiwan was used in the Chuetsu earthquakes that occurred in Niigata Prefecture in 2004.

An earthquake recovery fund, which was established in Kobe, was also established in Taiwan and Chuetsu. A similar livelihood support system was developed in Taiwan for the local community development system. The Tohoku region, where reconstruction has been delayed, has recently started to make greater efforts than Kobe did.

Above all, disasters teach us how foolish and wrong human beings are. We reflect on that, and the feelings of regret and remorse make human beings stronger. I believe that’s the power of humanity.

Many challenges are still left in the city of Kobe.

In order to train his successors, Dr. Murosaki hopes to pass on lessons learned from Kobe, which he believes are not fully communicated, to young researchers in the field of disaster risk reduction who don’t know much about the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

To train your successors, you need to pass on not only your knowledge but also your “heart.” In other words, I have to tell them why on earth I’m studying disaster risk reduction. I believe that it is important in the field of disaster risk reduction research to go to the disaster sites, directly investigate the damage situation, and talk to the sufferers.

Dr. Murosaki says that many challenges are still left in Kobe. Short-term problems include returning to a sound life as soon as possible. Long-term problems include living in harmony with nature.

Moreover, another important issue is to develop a sustainable community in which you can work near where you live and which is like a large family that is more livable for the young and old alike, and to create a nation where scattered, autonomous, individual communities are linked through a network. Dr. Murosaki calls a disaster-resistant, persistent small community a “sustainable community.”

We were presented many challenges by the earthquake, but long-term challenges are mostly forgotten today. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the earthquake, I hope that people remember such challenges again and discuss what was done and what was not in order to reconsider what should continue to be done. I believe that if we address the challenges presented by the disaster, we can be prepared for the next disaster.

The meaning of Dr. Murosaki being affected by the earthquake

Photo:Local memorial to victims of the earthquake at the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. The commemorative event “1.17 gathering” is held every year in front of this memorial.

Twenty years have passed since the earthquake. Dr. Murosaki goes to Nagata Ward in Kobe City at 5:46 a.m. on January 17 every year to walk down a certain street. People offering a silent prayer there say to him: “You came again this year, Professor.” Meanwhile, when he doesn’t see an elderly person whom he had met every year, he becomes aware of the passage of time.

I was told by one researcher working abroad that “You are probably the only investigator who has been affected by a disaster at the place where you were involved with the disaster prevention plan. It is very meaningful to know the difference between what it is like to see the disaster from the outside and what it is like to see it from the inside.”

True to these words, Dr. Murosaki became a compassionate, thoughtful researcher who offers advice and guidance directly to the citizens. Contrary to the stiff and formal image of academic research among the general public, his various humane theories based on his experience touch our hearts and are very well understood.

Various disasters will definitely happen somewhere in the future. At such times, Dr. Murosaki will stand by you as a disaster reduction professional so that the ties between disaster reduction and reconstruction can be used in an effective and better way, and so that he can be of help to everyone in moving forward without being at a loss of what to do.


(Interviewed and written by Yuki Hirakawa)
This article was created with the cooperation of greenz.jp.