kawata yoshiaki, phd
TRANSCRIPT
Increasing The International Recognition of Hamaguchi Goryo
As a Hero
Kawata Yoshiaki, PhD
Laureate of the 2007 UN Sasakawa Award
for Disaster Risk Reduction
November 5, 2021
Difference between a hero and a great person
• Hero: Person of exceptional bravery and
intelligence who has accomplished great
things that would be impossible for ordinary
people
Example: Napoleon
• Great person: Person of great importance
whose name is recorded in history
A hero is superior to a great person!
Who is your favorite great person?
1. Albert Einstein 12. Leonardo da Vinci
2. Walt Disney 13. Ino Tadataka
3. Steve Jobs 14. Oda Nobunaga
4. Thomas Edison 15. Katsushika Hokusai
5. Florence Nightingale 16. Tokugawa Ieyasu
6. Pablo Picasso 17. Toyotomi Hideyoshi
7. Ludwig van Beethoven 18. Noguchi Hideyo
8. Ernest Hemingway 19. Miyazawa Kenji
9. Helen Keller 20. Murasaki Shikibu
10. Mother Teresa 21. Yosano Akiko
11. Mahatma Gandhi
Choose up to three people you like or respect most.
Mother Teresa
Noguchi Hideyo
Florence Nightingale
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Helen Keller
Oda Nobunaga
Steve Jobs
Walt Disney
Ino Tadataka
Thomas Edison
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Miyazawa Kenji
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Ludwig van Beethoven
Katsushika Hokusai
Mahatma Gandhi
Pablo Picasso
Murasaki Shikibu
Yosano Akiko
Ernest Hemingway
Others
Choose up to three people you like or respect most.
No. 1 No. 2 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8No. 3
Me
nW
om
en
Under 30
30s
40s
50s
60s and
older
Under 30
30s
40s
50s
60s and
older
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
Albert Einstein
Oda Nobunaga
Oda NobunagaAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da VinciNoguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Noguchi Hideyo
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa IeyasuIno Tadataka
Ino Tadataka
Ino Tadataka
Ino Tadataka
Ino Tadataka
Ino Tadataka
Thomas Edison
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Miyazawa Kenji
Miyazawa KenjiMother Teresa
Mother Teresa/Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence NightingaleHelen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen KellerHelen Keller
(399)
(788)
(1,445)
(1,863)
(2,286)
(554)
(992)
(1,305)
(1,177)
(953)
(People)
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Men Women
Under 30 30s 40s 50s 60s and older
(399) (788) (1,445) (1,863) (2,286)
Under 30 30s 40s 50s 60s and older
(554) (992) (1,305) (1,177) (953)
Mother Teresa
Noguchi Hideyo
Florence Nightingale
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Helen Keller
Oda Nobunaga
Steve Jobs
Walt Disney
Ino Tadataka
Thomas Edison
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Miyazawa Kenji
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Ludwig van Beethoven
Katsushika Hokusai
Mahatma Gandhi
Pablo Picasso
Murasaki Shikibu
Yosano Akiko
Ernest Hemingway
Others
Mother Teresa
Noguchi Hideyo
Florence Nightingale
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
Helen Keller
Oda Nobunaga
Steve Jobs
Walt Disney
Ino Tadataka
Thomas Edison
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Miyazawa Kenji
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Ludwig van Beethoven
Katsushika Hokusai
Mahatma Gandhi
Pablo Picasso
Murasaki Shikibu
Yosano Akiko
Ernest Hemingway
Others
(People)(People)
Hamaguchi Goryo’s great achievements that
made him a HERO
1. When Hiro Village was hit by a huge tsunami, he set fire to his ricesheaves to help villagers evacuate.
2. He petitioned Kishu Domain to rescue villagers.
3. He launched an embankment construction project and employedvillagers who had lost their jobs due to the tsunami.
4. He ran a business of manufacturing and selling soy sauce under theYamasa brand in Edo and Choshi and sent the proceeds to Hiro Villageto support the embankment construction project.
5. He continued providing financial support even after he was affected bythe 1855 Ansei Edo Earthquake himself.
6. He served the local and national governments in the Meiji period aschairman of the Wakayama Prefecture Assembly and as Minister ofPost and Telecommunications.
7. No one in the village was killed by the tsunami caused by the 1946Showa Nankai Earthquake.
• The Ansei Nankai Earthquake struck around 18:00 on November 5, 1854.
• A huge tsunami hit Hiro Village in Kishu Domain (present-day Wakayama Prefecture) half an hour after the earthquake.
• Goryo set fire to his rice sheaves to help villagers evacuate in the darkness.
1. When Hiro Village was hit by a large tsunami, he set fire to his rice sheaves to help villagers evacuate.
2. He petitioned Kishu Domain to rescue villagers.
Writing a petition to Kishu Domain
3. He launched an embankment construction project and employed villagers who had lost
their jobs due to the tsunami.
Villagers constructing an embankment together
4. He ran a business of manufacturing and selling soy sauce under the Yamasa brand in Edo and Choshi
and sent the proceeds to Hiro Village to support the embankment construction project.
Artisans working hard at a soy sauce factory
5. He continued to provide financial support even after he was affected
by the 1855 Ansei Edo Earthquake himself.
1855 Ansei Edo Earthquake
6. He served the local and national governments in the Meiji period as chairman of the Wakayama Prefecture Assembly and as Minister of Post and Telecommunications.
Hamaguchi Goryo (right) visiting the U.S. in 1884
7. No one in the village was killed by the tsunami caused by the 1946 Showa Nankai Earthquake.
Embankment for tsunami in the pre-war days
1854 Ansei Nankai
Earthquake
1946 Showa Nankai
Earthquake
Tsunami-inundated area
Tsunami-inundated area Embankment of Hiro Village Tsunami-inundated area
Area inundated by tsunami triggered by the Ansei Nankai Earthquake
Area inundated by tsunami triggered by the Showa Nankai Earthquake
Present-day embankment for tsunami
Strategic measures to increase the international recognition of
Hamaguchi Goryo as a hero
1. To teach elementary school children the great things achieved by Goryo in Japanese-language class.
‥‥‥An essay titled “Protecting our hometown 100 years in the future” was included in an elementary school Japanese-language textbook, which was used by 6.3 million elementary school children from 2011 to 2020.
2. To communicate the importance of tsunami preparedness to international society upon the occasion of the UN’s World Tsunami Awareness Day (November 5).
‥‥‥High School Students Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day, the world’s first tsunami-related international event for high school students, was held.
3. To make Goryo’s historical contribution to tsunami preparedness more widely known to researchers in tsunami mitigation and individuals engaged in disaster risk reduction.
‥‥‥The Hamaguchi Award was established and presented.
4. To establish a ministerial office responsible for disaster management before the Nankai Trough Earthquake hits.
The story of the “Fire of Rice Sheaves” was included in a Japanese-language
textbook for fifth-grade elementary school children for 12 years from 1937 to
1947.
An article about the “Fire of Rice Sheaves” was published in the local news
section of the evening edition of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper dated May 7
(Friday), 2010.
I wrote an essay titled “Protecting our
hometown 100 years in the future” for a
Japanese-language textbook for fifth-
grade elementary school children
(published by Mitsumura Tosho
Publishing Co., Ltd.), which was used
from 2011. It is the first time in 64 years
that an essay on disaster risk reduction
was included in a Japanese-language
textbook.
The original essay was used for four years
from 2011 to 2014.
For five years from 2015 to 2020, a revised
version of the essay was used, to mentally
help the children affected by the Great
East Japan Earthquake.
Total number of fifth-grade elementary
school children who studied the essay:
Approx. 700,000 children per year x 9
years = 6.3 million children
“Protecting our hometown 100
years in the future”
A ten-page essay designed for three
hours’ study by fifth-grade elementary
school children
High School Students Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2018
in Wakayama
Award Ceremony of the First Hamaguchi Award
in 2016
Repeated occurrence of Nankai earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis
• Nine great earthquakes have hit the Nankai Trough area since 684.
• The Ansei Nankai Earthquake Struck in the evening on November 5, 1854.
• Hamaguchi Goryo did heroic deeds following the earthquake.
• He helped villagers to evacuate, and contributed to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the area.
Hirogawa-cho
Hakuho
Ninna
Eicho
Kowa
Shohei
Meio
Keicho
Hoei
Ansei
Showa
203 years
209 years
262 years
137 years
107 years
102 years
147 years
90 years
Gap
Earthquake
and
tsunami
Nankai earthquakesTonankai
earthquakes
Tokai
earthquakes
Data missing (?)
684
887
10961099
1361 1361
1498
1709
1854 1854
1946 1944
1605
Hypocentral region of the Great Nankai Trough Earthquake
Tokai earthquakes
East Nankai earthquakesNankai
earthquakes
Area enclosed by yellow line: Combined Tokai, East Tokai and Nankai earthquakes (M8.7)
Area enclosed by black line: Great Nankai Trough Earthquake (a single plate boundary earthquake) (M9.0)
Area enclosed by purple line (added): Great Nankai Trough Earthquake and a subsequent tsunami earthquake (M9.1)
Hypocentral region of
the Great Nankai Trough Earthquake (M9.1)
Estimated tsunami source area (as a basis for analysis )
Area likely to be affected by a tsunami earthquake
Hypocentral region and tsunami source areas estimated by the Central Disaster Management Council (2003)Nankai Trough axis
*The sea floor map is based on data provided by the Japan Coast Guard.
Fig. V3: Newly estimated tsunami source areas
Catastrophic disasters likely to occur in the near future
Disaster Scale
30-year
occurrence
probability
Seismic
intensity
Population
of affected
area
Estimated No.
of deaths
Amount of
disaster
debris
Damage Remarks
Tokyo Inland
EarthquakeM7.3 70% 7
30 million(Seismic
intensity of
lower 6 or
higher)
23,000
98
million
tons
95
trillion
yen
A super large-scale
urban disaster
destroying metropolitan
functions
Nankai
Trough
Earthquake
M9.0 70–80% 7
40.73
million(Seismic
intensity of
lower 6 or
higher)
231,000(Estimate by
Japanese
government)
310
million
tons
220
trillion
yen
Population affected by
tsunami inundation of
30 cm or more:
60.88 mil.
A super wide-area
disaster in which the
Disaster Relief Act is
applied to 707
municipalities
Flooding in
Tokyo
(Inundation of 3 m
or more in urban
center of Tokyo
caused by tidal wave,
flood, or tsunami)
– – –3.78
million159,000
54.1
million
tons
91
trillion
yen
No. of totally or
partially destroyed
buildings: 730,000
A disaster that causes
pollutants in water
bodies to flow out,
causing serious
environmental pollution
Forum founders’ meeting was held in Tokyo on June 8, 2021.
Mr. Kato Katsunobu, Chief Cabinet Secretary, gave an address on
behalf of guest participants.
Steps to establish a ministerial office responsible
for disaster management
1. Amend the Basic Act on Disaster Management to enable comprehensive disaster preparedness measures to be taken.
2. Establish a ministerial office responsible for disaster management.
3. Incorporate an article about emergency management in the Constitution of Japan.
I propose naming the ministerial office responsible for disaster management the Office for
National Crisis Response instead of the Ministry of Disaster Management, as the latter
gives the wrong impression that it is not needed during ordinary times. The Office for
National Crisis Response should be established and made responsible for achieving a new
social vision by addressing various tasks required in Japanese society today, such as
promoting a shift in industrial structure, educational reform, and healthcare reform including
infection control. Accordingly, I propose setting up a department in charge of
comprehensive national crisis response within the Cabinet Secretariat to position “national
crisis response” as one of the priorities for the future of Japan.