Video #27 - Japan: Disaster Management
Monday, January 16, 2006BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Japan is long experienced with dealing with catastrophic weather conditions. Over the past 1313 years, there have been 195 documented reports of tsunamis, and records of earthquakes going back to the year 684. Most recently, in 1995, a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale struck the city of Kobe, killing over 5200 people and causing over $100 billion dollars in damages. Because of this, Japan currently allocates around $22 billion dollars a year on "disaster management"; funding divisions to detect and minimize the damage.
Among the prevention factors which have begun to be incorporated are modifications on existing rivers and the areas around bodies of water, such as the creation of "Super-levees". Levees are natural or artificial embankments which are run parallel to bodies of water, accommodating for rising water levels and protecting cities below sea level behind them from flooding. Super-levees are essentially the same system but the embankments are extended and lower in a slowly declining slope on the city side, allowing the wave to run out of energy while minimizing its damage. Another benefit of super levees over normal levees and walls is that floodwaters will often destroy barriers if the water level is higher.
In addition to the levees, Japan also imposes strict building laws for maximum protection against earthquakes and tsunamis. It also constantly upgrades meteorological equipment, using the best in weather tracking and analysis technology. Despite all of these costly upgrades, Nobuyuki Tanaka of Japan's Meteorological Agency admits though that "speed is everything but no matter how fast we analyze the data, if we don't also get it out to the public fast, it's meaningless."
SOURCES
"How Japan handles Tsunami Threat." January 5th, 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4149009.stm
"Comprehensive Flood Management in Japan." Japan Institute of Construction Engineering http://www.jice.or.jp/river/river/rive03.pdf.
"Surviving a tsunami" United States Geological Survey. 1999. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1187/#many
"The Great Hanshin Earthquake" Japan Policy Research Institute. http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op2.html
LESSON PLAN
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:
10-12 grade Economics, International Relations, World History, Geography, International Baccalaureate Programs (IB), Current Events.
PURPOSE:
To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Asian economy and its significance globally.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
- Understand how the Japanese government deals with natural disasters.
- Compare the US and Japanese strategies for dealing with natural disasters.
- Evaluate current strategies and their effectiveness.
MATERIALS:
Background information provided. Resources on Japan available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area. Background information available through Internet "search engines."
ACTIVITIES:
- Research and report Japan's history of natural disasters and how the government dealt with them.
- Research and report on methods used by the Japanese disaster prevention programs and compare them to those of the US.
(In particular, contrast them to the response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans).
- Discuss how students would protect a city below sea level from earthquakes or flooding in the event of a tsunami and strategies they would use to deal with social and economic scenarios that arise.
EVALUATION:
Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.
Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale:
Content 1 = Superior (A) Creativity 2 = Excellent (B) Clarity 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)
