Settlement and Mobility after the Great East-Japan Earthquake:

Abstract

In this paper we focused on the settlement process and mobility after the Great East-Japan Earthquake 2011. The experiences of people affected by the tsunami just after the Great Earthquake which attacked especially one of the most depopulated areas in Japan show a lot of problems of evacuation for aged and/or handicapped people. There the percentage of aged people over 65-year-old was much higher than the average throughout the country, and the death rate of aged people caused by the tsunami was much higher. This meant that the devastated situation after this disaster symbolize the future of disaster impact in Japan. Based on the analysis of the evacuation process we can find what we ought to prepare in advance for natural disasters. In order to find the way to cope with the situation we have to pay more attention to the long-term forming processes of vulnerability and resilience and to the reduction cycle of the effects of natural disasters in the areas. That is because the difficulties of their evacuation processes are closely related to the difficulties they experienced in their everyday lives, their family’s living conditions and their social vulnerability. They might be reluctant to evacuate to the place where they didn’t think they could keep their health and feel relieved. So we have to consider in advance what kind of care we could do and what situation would develop there. In regard to this point we may well think about the lifestyle of multi-habitation as one lifestyle people can choose pre/ during/after the severe event.