Disaster Prevention Tourism in Kuroshio Town
Understand the two faces of nature: bounty and disaster
Learn about people’s relationship with nature
Kuroshio Town, which faces the Pacific Ocean, is filled with abundant nature brought about by the Kuroshio Current. From living things, like the whales, dolphins, and sea turtles that live nearby, to industry, such as bonito pole fishing and sun-dried sea salt making, our culture has been molded by the bounty from the sea. The town is also known for its nature activities, such as whale watching, surfing, sea kayaking, beach combing, fishing, and others.
However, it is predicted that a 34m high tsunami, the biggest in Japan, will hit Kuroshio Town. In our town, we are aiming for “Zero people left behind; zero victims”. Every government official is in charge of a town district, so in this way, government support is spread throughout the town. Also, the government and the private sector have unified to continually hold workshops on disaster prevention. As a result, evacuation plans have been made for every resident who lives in an area that will be flooded, and evacuation routes and tours have been constructed based on those plans. Even now, starting with evacuation drills, we are working on various disaster prevention measures.
Nowadays, large-scale disasters like earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, forest fires, and others are occurring repeatedly not only in Japan, but throughout the world. In the present day, it may be that there aren’t any completely safe places left. In this environment, it is our philosophy that we should all learn how to “think and act by ourselves” in order to “protect our lives by ourselves”.
In Kuroshio Town disaster prevention tourism, you will come to understand the two faces of nature: bounty and destruction, and learn the culture and wisdom necessary to have a good relationship with nature.
From evacuation drills to habitual equipment inspection, learn about the hopes and efforts of residents who have a constant, high awareness of disaster prevention in this town that aims for zero victims. Also, by exchanging opinions about unsolved problems for various hypothetical situations, you can learn to think flexibly, which increases your possibility of survival.
We have prepared both nature activities, where you can experience the full beauty of the sea, and meals made with local ingredients for your enjoyment. We hope that participants can learn about disaster prevention while experiencing the charm of Kuroshio Town.
Disaster Prevention Facilities
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Tsunami Evacuation Tower
In response to the announcement of the new assumption of tsunami height and seismic intensity distribution due to the Nankai Trough Mega-Earthquake released by the Cabinet Office in 2012, the town conducted site inspections and workshops in each district, and created a plan for the development of evacuation routes and facilities. As a result, approximately 250 evacuation routes and 6 tsunami evacuation towers have been constructed. The tsunami evacuation towers were constructed in six areas of the town that are difficult-to-evacuate zones (Saga Area, Yokohama Area, Hayasaki Area, Hamanomiya Area, Machi Area, and Mangyo Area) to protect the lives and physical safety of town residents from tsunamis. The evacuation towers are also used regularly for local disaster prevention activities and evacuation drills.
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Kuroshio-Cho Cannery
Kuroshio-Cho Cannery Co., Ltd. was established on March 11, 2014 as a new local industry in Kuroshio Town after the Cabinet Office’s announcement in 2012 of the new assumption of Nankai Trough Mega-Earthquake that predicts Japan’s largest tsunami of 34 meters.
In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, some emergency food stockpiled by local governments and canned relief supplies delivered to evacuation centers did not have ingredient label and people were afraid to consume due to food allergy concerns. Therefore, based on this feedback, Kuroshio-Cho Cannery are particular about not using 7 major allergens as their ingredient.
“We eat because it’s delicious. We buy because we eat it on a daily basis. This will help you prepare.” as the rolling stock proposal, Kuroshio-Cho Cannery aims to create “emergency food that you want to eat every day = everyday food” that have both good taste and nutritional balance. These products with both of these qualities are sold at two roadside stations in the town.
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Stockpile Warehouse/Disaster Prevention Warehouse
As part of the measures aimed at achieving “zero victims”, Kuroshio Town held disaster prevention workshops in all 61 villages in the town and conducted review and inspection of evacuation areas and evacuation routes. The suggested evacuation routes and evacuation areas in the workshops were established and stockpile warehouse and disaster prevention warehouse have been set up along these evacuation areas.
Also, in areas expected to be inundated by tsunami flooding, efforts were made by each resident to determine and establish their own evacuation plans and rules; and for each household to prepare their own storage boxes to be stockpiled in storage warehouses at tsunami evacuation towers are underway.
High School Students Summit on “World Tsunami Awareness Day”
High School Students Summit in Kuroshio
High school students from 30 countries around the world gathered together to discuss disaster prevention.
In commemoration of the adoption of “World Tsunami Awareness Day” by the United Nations General Assembly, the world’s first “World Tsunami Awareness Day” “High School Students Summit in Kuroshio” was held on November 25th and 26th, 2016 in Kuroshio Town where it is expected to suffer massive tsunami damage from the Nankai Trough earthquake.
The summit was attended by 361 high school students from 30 countries around the world, as well as, Ministers in charge of disaster prevention and Ambassadors from various countries for a total of 739 participants.
At the summit, the participating high school students were organized into three groups, each focusing on different themes: “Learning and Understanding the Risk Caused by Natural Disasters”, “Preparing for Natural Disasters”, and “Recovery and Reconstruction from Damages from Natural Disasters”. Each group made a presentation of their countries’ initiatives and exchanged opinions and information.
The students also learned about the Kochi Prefecture and Kuroshio Town’s Nankai Trough earthquake countermeasure efforts through participating in tsunami evacuation drills to higher ground and visiting tsunami evacuation tower.
Based on the presentation of the excellent initiatives implemented by each country, active discussions took place, and as a result, the “Kuroshio Declaration” was adopted with the consensus of the participants.
The “Kuroshio Declaration” recognizes the global tsunami risks and the devastating impact of tsunamis and expresses the students’ determination to inherit the responsibility of passing on the predecessors’ aspiration for disaster prevention and mitigation to the future generation, and their resolve to do everything possible to protect as many precious lives as possible from disasters such as tsunami.
Kuroshio Town’s Disaster Prevention Efforts
“Never give up. Run away when the earth shakes.
Go faster, to a safer place”.
On March 31, 2012, the Kuroshio Town was shaken with the government’s announcement of the possibility of tsunami caused by a huge earthquake with Nankai Trough as its epicenter. The assumption of “a huge tsunami of 34.4 meter” was met with voices of resignation from the townspeople and a sense of crisis spread; leading to possibility of many people to give up and abandoning their evacuation plans – “evacuation abandoners”.
After many meetings in Kuroshio Town, it was decided that the town’s disaster prevention plan for the Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami would be built on the basic principle of not letting anyone abandon their evacuation – “not one person left behind”. With the slogan of “Never give up, run away when the earth shakes. Go faster, to a safer place.”, disaster prevention efforts are promoted with of goal of zero victims even in a town where the maximum tsunami height of 34 meters is expected.
As one of these initiatives, a Disaster Prevention Area Management System was established and secured a necessary system by having all employees, not just the officials in charge of disaster prevention at the government office, concurrently perform disaster prevention duties in addition to their regular duties. Workshops were also held in all villages to work on the maintenance and improvement of evacuation routes, evacuation sites, disaster prevention warehouses, and for the construction of tsunami evacuation towers.
Furthermore, “Regional Disaster Prevention Plan” that reflects the characteristics of the region were developed so that the local residents can protect their own lives and their communities; a “House-to-House Tsunami Evacuation Chart” based on survey of evacuation behavior action plan of all households in inundated areas where tsunami flooding is expected were prepared; and “Evacuation Center Operation and Management Manual were created.
In addition, Kuroshio Town worked on both “hard” and “soft” aspects, such as promoting disaster prevention education, promoting the earthquake-resistant wooden houses, and installation of a broadcasting announcement system.
Now, with the progress of disaster prevention efforts and initiatives, the townspeople’s awareness has changed to the feeling that “if you take evacuation action, you will be saved”.
In the future, Kuroshio Town will work to raise more awareness of disaster prevention in each and every resident so that they can protect their own lives and their livelihoods, and that disaster prevention will become a part of the local culture.
