Abstract
Disaster volunteering as a participatory approach to disaster mitigation was investigated by examining a case study of student disaster volunteering following the 2004 MidNiigata Prefecture Earthquake on October 23, 2004, which caused serious damage in Niigata Prefecture in Japan. Immediately after the quake, we started promoting disaster volunteering based on mid- and long-term perspectives. A student group worked as disaster volunteers in collaboration with a consortium of other disaster nonprofit organizations. Through the student activities, the group established a moderately familiar relationship— neither too close nor too distant—with the residents of temporary housing. In this article, the signifi cance of the students’ volunteer activities was examined based on a philosophical discussion about waiting and listening. Furthermore, the importance of liberation from the rigid relationship of aid provider and aid receiver is discussed.
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