Abstract
After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government identified the lack of proficiency in the Japanese language as one characteristic of foreigners that should be considered in disaster prevention planning. This article seeks to understand how proficiency in a local language affects disaster information gathering behavior by using the results of a questionnaire survey conducted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Respondents were categorized based on their Japanese and English language abilities. Their media mode, language preferences, information importance, and information-gathering difficulties also were examined. It was found that foreigners skilled in Japanese demonstrated similar information gathering behavior as Japanese respondents, but foreigners unskilled in Japanese showed little usage of Japanese-language media. This group also encountered difficulties due to a lack of Japanese proficiency, but many members were able to acquire some level of Japanese-language information through Internet-based methods. To address language proficiency in disaster prevention planning, information provision in languages other than Japanese should be increased, and Japanese information should be shared in a way that facilitates translation. Although this survey was significant in its scope, the results should be considered within the limitations of the Internet-based response collection and focus only on the less-affected area of Japan.
Highlights
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake highlighted critical issues in Japan regarding the dissemination of disaster information and its collection by populations not fluent in the Japanese language
The analysis presented here showed that language proficiency clearly affected the information collection behavior of foreigners in Japan after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake
There is a body of literature focusing on populations with unique needs in times of disaster, the findings presented here offer a new perspective by focusing on language proficiency, and how proficiency in a local language, or lack thereof, may affect disaster information gathering behavior and needs, through an investigation conducted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake
Summary
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake highlighted critical issues in Japan regarding the dissemination of disaster information and its collection by populations not fluent in the Japanese language. At 14:46 on 11 March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake with a hypocenter in the Pacific Ocean occurred off the eastern seaboard of the northeastern region of Japan This earthquake was the largest ever recorded in Japan, and caused a massive tsunami that hit the eastern and northeastern regions, and triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (Fig. 1), which included core meltdown and the release of radioactive material. Kawasaki et al (2013b) reported that within 1 day of the earthquake 10 countries issued official evacuation advisories to and travel restrictions on their citizens already resident in or planning to travel to Japan This number grew somewhat in the aftermath of the earthquake and as the nuclear crisis unfolded, but the level of urgency of the advisories varied. A large majority of foreign governments issued no specific advisory to their citizens in Japan, adding to confusion about the actual urgency level of the crisis
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