Do you know where your local emergency evacuation site is?
Have you ever participated in your local disaster drills?
Regrettably, only a few young people are actively engaged in their local disaster reduction and preparedness efforts.

Unlike such young people, Ms. Risa Iwai became a member of Higashi-Kawasaki Disaster Reduction Junior Team in her first year of middle school, and she is currently active as a member of the Chuo Fire Brigade, one of Kobe City’s local fire brigades, while attending university.

She joined the fire brigade at the age of 19 because she thought it was “cool”. Not only was the firefighters’ mode of behavior “cool” in her eyes, but their way of life, on hand to help local communities, gained much of her respect.




Taking the first step because it seems fun

In an effort to bolster local disaster preparedness after experiencing the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Kobe City Government has supported the disaster reduction and welfare initiatives of organizations called Disaster-Safe Welfare Communities, which are operated jointly by citizens, businesses, and the administrative sector. However, they had difficulty getting young people to participate in their activities.

So, the disaster-reduction division of Higashi-Kawasaki Fureai (Interaction) Community Development Council encouraged local middle schoolers to form a team consisting only of young people, hoping that they would have no hesitation in getting involved in disaster reduction activities. Thus, Higashi-Kawasaki Disaster Reduction Junior Team (“Junior Team”) was formed on November 9, 1996.

Ms. Iwai joined the Junior Team in 2006.

When a school teacher told us that we could have various experiences in the Junior Team, I thought that it would be fun. So, I and two peers from the school’s volleyball club decided to join it. The teacher advisor to the volleyball club had a good understanding of volunteer activities and gave us a supportive push. Unless our club had matches with other schools, he excused us from club activities to participate in the Junior Team’s events, which were held twice a month, on Saturday or Sunday mornings.

Personnel from the local fire department and firefighters from the local fire brigades trained members of the Junior Team on how to use compact portable fire pumps, fire extinguishers, and automated external defibrillators (AED), how to do first aid, as well as how to prepare hot meals for evacuees.

Photo: Junior Team members receiving training in pump operation. Members of the Junior Team at the time Ms. Iwai belonged to it wore sweat suits, but current members train in uniform.

Photo: Junior Team members receiving first-aid training. They are trained to master the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).

In addition to such training, members now learn about what items should be in an emergency grab bag and how much weight one can carry without too much difficulty, by carrying one on their back.

When I join their training as a member of a fire brigade to support the Junior Team, I see them gain really valuable experience.

Belonging to a generation without personal experience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

Ms. Iwai was born in May 1994. Because she was only seven months old when the earthquake struck, she doesn’t remember a thing about the disaster. She says she only has knowledge acquired by hearing from her family members and visiting the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution on an elementary school field trip.

In a Junior Team overnight camp, we experienced simulated tremors on an earthquake simulation truck and ate emergency food to get a feel of how it would be to live at an evacuation center. At night, each of us was wrapped up in a blanket and slept together in a room.

It was not until I returned home and had hot rice and tasty dishes served to me that I realized the value of what I had taken for granted.

Even after learning a lot about the earthquake, she still cannot give an account of the disaster in her own words, because she didn’t witness it herself. When coaching middle school students belonging to the Junior Team, in her capacity as a fire brigade member, Ms. Iwai often feels unsure about how to talk about the earthquake.

However, she capitalizes on her youth.

In the Junior Team, there are more girls than boys, to the ratio 6 to 4. Girl members have taken to me well and speak to me in a relaxed manner, maybe because I am female and closer to their age than other members of the fire brigade. I make a point of attending the Junior Team’s activities, unless something major comes up.

Photo: Members of the Higashi-Kawasaki Disaster Reduction Junior Team. There have always been more girls than boys.

We may have an image of fire brigades as organizations made up mostly of male members. However, Ms. Iwai seems to be making the most of the benefits of being female, when talking with current members of the Junior Team.


There are things female members can do better

At present, there are about 880,000 members of local volunteer fire brigades in Japan. The number of female members amounts to some 20,000 and is increasing year by year, raising expectations for even greater contributions by female members.

For example, many elderly residents would feel more at ease receiving a visit from a female rather than a male fire brigade member, going door-to-door to talk about fire prevention. Similarly, female participants in disaster drills and first-aid training courses would be less likely to hesitate in asking questions, if the instructor is also a female.

Kobe City Chuo Fire Brigade has 15 female members including Ms. Iwai.

Recently, we had a get-together for female members of Kobe City’s local fire brigades. Those present were from various walks of life: some were working women, some were full-time homemakers, with the youngest at 20, myself, and the oldest, at almost 60.
　　
Usually, female members are not involved in firefighting operations at the scene of a fire, but are active in the area of publicity and disaster education. However, I think I should be always prepared to join firefighting efforts in the event of a catastrophe like the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, where extra hands are needed.

Kobe City’s Local Disaster Prevention Plan, which was revised in December 2014, emphasizes the necessity for multifaceted strategies for disaster reduction and preparedness. It is accordingly expected that a female perspective will be required more and more in the future.


Setting her mind on a teaching career

Through the activities of the fire brigade, Ms. Iwai has met many people of different ages and careers who are members of her fire brigade, and other local fire brigades in Kobe City. Inspired also by communication with local residents and officials of the local fire department, she began thinking about her future.

Ms. Iwai, who already had aspirations to pursue a teaching career when she was in middle school, has tried to become a physical-education teacher. She is now exploring other options for her career path.

I am going to take a training course soon to become a first aid instructor. Certified instructors are authorized to teach people how to use an AED and perform chest compressions. I realized that becoming a school teacher is not just about teaching.

I feel I’m approaching what I wanted to do, while engaging in the activities of the fire brigade. Since I sometimes visit the local fire department as a fire brigade member, I think I could do some good in the community if I join the fire department as a professional in the future.

Photo: Those who have completed a three-day training course and passed a test are qualified to serve as a first aid instructor.

“I hoped I would be able to learn disaster response skills again through teaching middle school students in the Junior Team, which I was once a member of,” Ms. Iwai said, explaining why she decided to join the fire brigade. She frankly states that she has never felt like getting away from disaster management activities since she belonged to the Junior Team.

Even if new members of the Junior Team, who are first-grade middle school students, don’t have any previous knowledge, they will have acquired the necessary skills to use an AED and perform firefighting operations when they complete the three year training program in the Junior Team. It’s interesting to learn something new. So, I think everyone should join the team.

Senior people in the community sometimes join the Junior Team’s activities.

Elderly participants listen carefully to my explanations. In a first aid class, an old lady had trouble folding a triangular bandage, complaining, “It’s difficult. I don’t get how to do it.” When I gave her advice, she looked really grateful. I used to be shy, but I now enjoy talking with people.

Her way of talking, with a sheepish grin, doesn’t show the slightest sign that she boasts about making such a contribution to the local community, through her involvement in local disaster management.
And, having no personal experience of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake could be an advantage for young people like Ms. Iwai, as it allows them to enjoy learning new things about disaster reduction and preparedness activities.

Thinking that activities are fun and interesting can motivate people to prepare for disasters.
Additionally, disaster management should be based on courage, derived from sad memories of the earthquake shared by those who experienced such an event.
In the future, the pleasure of connecting with people will play a greater role in regional disaster management

I believe that the goal of Kobe regarding local disaster management is to establish a disaster-safe welfare community, where people share experiences from the earthquake, with the next generation helping them acquire knowledge about earthquakes and the necessary skills to tackle future disasters, so that they will be able to help each other in an emergency.

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