[Please introduce yourself.]

My name is Chiharu Hoshi, and I live in Kyoto City. Thank you for having me today.

[What made you evacuate from Fukushima to Kyoto?]

On March 11, 2011, I was at my home in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, when the disaster happened. My oldest son was 11 months old at the time, and I was worried about raising my child and about the nuclear disaster. During that time, I decided to leave my hometown for a while and evacuate to Kyoto.

[How did you rebuild your life in Kyoto?]

My children, my mother, and I moved to Kyoto. My husband decided to join us later because of his work. The day after he joined us, my husband went to Hello Work (employment service center) and found a job, and he worked at the same place for about five or six years. Regarding evacuation, we must start finding jobs and rebuilding our lives. It was a big challenge to rebuild our livelihoods, so only a few couples evacuated together like us then. The disaster destroyed the company we used to work for in the Koriyama area, so there was no choice except to leave our hometown. We also discussed that it would be better for us to live somewhere in the West rather than the eastern part of Japan, and Kyoto accepted us as a host, so we chose Kyoto to rebuild our lives.

Since my husband was looking for a job at the new place, he seemed stressed. As our children and I felt the same way, he had to start all over again in a new place, and he had to rebuild our lives while keeping his feelings for Fukushima in his heart, so I think he was under a lot of pressure, had some regrets and a lot of conflicting feelings. On the other hand, we appreciate that we were able to move into evacuated housing, which has been the most extensive support in recent years. Looking back, I am incredibly grateful for that support because it allowed us to focus on rebuilding our lives and moving forward.

We have each made significant decisions at various times. After 12 years, everyone's decisions have led to the present, and I firmly believe that each decision made at that time will lead to the future.

[What are you currently working on?]

We are currently working on regional disaster prevention. We are focusing on activities using our experience with the Great East Japan Earthquake in future disasters. With a focus on regional strength in disaster preparedness, we give lectures in various places, and we host events called "Gaku Bosai" as part of our team's disaster preparedness activities.

When we were in the local area right after the disaster, I received the cooperation and support of the local people. Even after I came to Kyoto, the local people immensely helped me.

I have felt from first-hand experience that human connections are essential and that no matter how we evolve, human connections become more critical in times of crisis. Therefore, when those ties are fading, we are working based on resilience - what is essential, what is local power, why is it connected to disaster prevention, and why is it necessary for reconstruction?

To protect the lives of children, from the viewpoint of disaster prevention and the local community, safeguarding lives is the most important thing I want to teach the children, and that is what I am doing now.

[How and why did you start your current work?]

What we learned from experiencing the Great East Japan Earthquake is well-spent if it helps disaster prevention. When we think about what we need to prepare for in an emergency, we imagine the disaster, think about what is necessary and valid, and how to communicate that to others. We also think about what to do to prepare for a disaster, what to do after, and how they change and are connected.

Imagining a disaster is entirely different from experiencing one.

How do we communicate that to others? They may be looking for that information, and we are slightly uneasy and have some doubts.

How do we communicate that to others? We use printed text, like books and textbooks, and prepare information based on our experiences to help prevent or mitigate disasters, whatever is most likely to help prevent or mitigate disasters and change people's feelings.

However, it is hard to make people empathize using simple word of mouth, and it takes a lot of time to write down real experiences. Still, we want to save people from becoming victims, and people have to think about our experiences as if they could happen to them. It would take a lot of work to talk about disaster prevention. Having people try activities would make people empathize more than just word of mouth, so we considered what was necessary and shaped the activities around them.

[Initiatives at Events]

In the 2023 Gaku Bosai, we are working on an activity to provide a realistic soup kitchen. With the cooperation of BOND&JUSTISE, which has been in the disaster area for 12 years, we will have ten strangers on the spot on a mission to cook meals for 100 people using equipment used at the soup kitchens.

People who didn't know each other started a soup kitchen and made meals for 100 people. No one taught us the process beforehand, so we had to figure it out as we went along. We started without any preparations, just like in a natural disaster. We did it like that so we could simulate reality.

The event asks participants to experience what part of the situation they thought would be difficult when such a situation occurs in the event of a disaster, and if they felt it was difficult, what they should prepare in advance and what they should prepare for. In addition to the experience of preparing meals, the participants will also understand the roles of self-help, mutual aid and public assistance, such as the Self-Defence Forces and the fire brigade. The general public may rely on public assistance. Still, when they rethink why self-help is necessary, they will realize that it is precisely in situations like this that self-help, mutual aid and public assistance come first and that it is the fire brigade, the SDF, the police and the Red Cross that can help. To make people realize that self-help, mutual help and public help are necessary, we showed people from the fire service, the Self-Defence Forces, the police, and the Red Cross involved in disasters. We also displayed their vehicles and asked them to give lectures. We made booths where people can ask questions.

Rather than general disaster prevention, we have a system that allows people who have come into contact with people who have never experienced a disaster or have experienced a disaster to be involved in the field.

[How did the event go?]

It takes time to get an image of what you will do ahead of time. Everyone has a vague idea, but when preparing meals for 100 people, there are many steps. It is not easy to cook for 100 people, and there is also the question of how much to check. They must do it quickly when the disaster comes and consider spreading this issue to the community. As for the professionals from the disaster management and the Self-Defence Forces who are in the public assistance position, they seemed to be surprised by the fact that there are so many people who are concerned about disaster prevention and there are many ordinary citizens who think about disaster prevention, and there are many public assistance workers who support them.

However, it is difficult to find an opportunity to connect with them, which may lead people to believe that disaster awareness needs to be higher. In reality, people are unaware of disaster prevention and don't know what to do about it. I am always thinking about how we can fill this gap even more.

[What do you want to say the most about your activities?]

Both tellers and listeners can learn about disaster prevention and mitigation in various ways. It is also about knowing and being prepared. We start by knowing and thinking that we can only do this regularly, not in times of disaster. In times of disaster, we have to prioritize life and survival. Knowing and thinking usually comes later.

So what can we do in regular times? If we can connect with as many people as possible during regular times, make preparations that we know about, put them into action, and communicate with them, this will give us the strength to overcome disasters. This activity helps us learn more about what we learned during the disaster and what we thought during and after the disaster.

Now is the time to connect regular times to disaster and from disaster to recovery.

We can connect them this way because the disaster has happened.

After experiencing it, how much you do during regular times makes a big difference in how difficult it will be afterwards.

What you do now affects what happens later. This lesson is what I want to tell the most.

[How do you deal with both managing shops and disaster prevention?]

We always do one thing. It could be about the community, children, shops, or disaster prevention. It is probably one thing in my mind. As I continue to do this, I separate the direction of our work into talking about the local area, disaster prevention, and shops, but in the end, it is all part of my daily life. They are all important because they are part of my daily life, and I wouldn't be me if any of them were missing, so they are my daily life.