We want to protect people’s lives – Let’s do what we can now upon learning and preparing for the threat of tsunami.
～Send the message of “Yui Maaru” *1 spirit from the island of Bankoku Shinryo*2～
*1 : ”Yui” means cooperation, while “maaru” means ”order” or “sequence.” It is a word in the Okinawan language meaning “mutual aid” or “mutual support.”
*2: “Bankoku Shinryo,” meaning "Bridge between Nations," is the phrase symbolizing Okinawa. The phrase is a part of the description carved on the large bell at Shuri-jo Castle, one of the world heritage sites on the island. From the Ryukyu Dynasty era, Okinawa has been accepting people from overseas with their warm hospitality mind thinking “once we meet, we all become brothers and sisters,” and has been deepening and expanding the bonds among people in its long history.
The World Tsunami Awareness Day on November 5th is an international day, which was proposed by Japan and co-tabled by 141 countries at the United Nations (UN) General assembly in December 2015. It was adopted by consensus for the purpose of raising international awareness of the threat of tsunami and precautionary measures against it.
In June 2011, Japan designated November 5th as Tsunami Disaster Prevention Day, based on the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. This date originates from Japan’s famous anecdote of “Inamura-no-hi (burning of harvested rice sheaves)”. On the 5th of November 1854, Goryo Hamaguchi, a leader of a Hiro-mura village, (currently Hirogawa-cho, in Wakayama Prefecture) saved the lives of other villagers from a large tsunami by setting fire to his sheaves of rice as an early warning and thus helped them evacuate to a higher ground.
In November 2016, the first year after the establishment of the World Tsunami Awareness Day, the High School Students Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day in Kuroshio was held in Kuroshio-town, Kochi Prefecture from November 25th to 26th, to give opportunities for youth around the world, who bear responsibility for the next generation, to learn the threat of tsunami and precautionary measures against it.
High school students from 30 countries (110 students from high schools in Japan and 246 students from overseas) participated in the last Summit and learned the history of tsunami in Japan and measures on disaster risk reduction (DRR) through field works and discussions. As an outcome document, “Kuroshio Declaration” was adopted at the Summit. Following last year, we will hold this year the High School Students Islands Summit in Okinawa on World Tsunami Awareness Day 2017 in Okinawa Prefecture.
In Okinawa, Yaeyama earthquake accompanied by “Meiwa Giant Tsunami” in 1771 caused many casualties. This giant tsunami is considered to be one of the world largest and there remain the historical heritages called tsunami stones in various parts of Okinawa.
In addition, Okinawa is the sole island prefecture in Japan with many inhabited remote islands. We will hold the Summit this year for the purpose of training future leaders who will undertake national resilience measures by protecting people’s lives, bodies and properties from earthquakes and tsunamis, and thus minimizing the impacts of damages to people’s lives and economy. To this end, we will invite high school students from islands countries which have similar natural environments to Okinawa and provide them with opportunities to acquire knowledge on disaster risk reduction and understand the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis for them to pass on to next generations. We will also provide them with opportunities to learn how to save people’s lives and properties from tsunamis through implementing policies on disaster mitigation and risk reduction, rapid rehabilitation and reconstruction as well as international cooperation comprehensively and in a systematic manner.
Overseas: Approximately 150 high school students invited from 25 countries, About 25 leaders
Japan: 102 high school students invited from 42 schools (including 7 Okinawan schools), 43 leaders