Geography Education Challenges Regarding Disaster Mitigation in Japan

Year 2013, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 230 - 240, 01.09.2013

Koji Ohnıshı Hiroshi Mıtsuhashı

Abstract

After the March 2011 great East Japan earthquake, school teachers became much more interested in education for disaster prevention. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the extent education for disaster prevention is present in the Japanese National Curriculum. Before March 2011, some elements of disaster prevention education were added to the new curriculum on Social Studies and geography. Disaster education’s role becomes much more important for saving children’s lives. The roles of geographic education for disaster education emphasize the skills of map and regional characteristic reading and interpretation. The goal of geography education for disaster prevention is that people are better able to find safety with these skills.

Keywords

Disaster prevention, national curriculum, hazard map, land use, Social Studies

Geography Education Challenges Regarding Disaster Mitigation in Japan

Abstract

Keywords

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References

• Mitsuhashi, H. (2013). Relationship between disaster education and social studies. Secondary social studies, 31, 3-10 (written in Japanese).
• Ohnishi, K (2012). Disaster prevention education through maps. The new geography, 60(1), 3036(written in Japanese).
• Ohnishi, K., Hirouchi, D., Tomita, K. (2007). Disaster prevention education on geography for life long learning. In Kobayashi, K. eds. Practical Themes in Geography Education: Toward an Attractive Teaching of Geography. Nakanishuya Press, 208-221(written in Japanese).
• Shimura, T. & Yamagata, K.(2014). The Great East Japan Disaster and Geography Education School damage, associations’ support project, and trends in geography teaching practices. Ida, Y. etal. eds. Geography Education in Japan. Tokyo, ELSEVIER. (in press)
• Tsunami Damage Mapping Team, Association of Japanese Geographers(2011). Maps of the Area hit by the Tsunami of 11 March 2011, Northeast Japan. http://danso.env.nagoyau.ac.jp/20110311/map/index_e.html. Accessed 20 Jan.2013
• Biographical statements Koji OHNISHI is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Humanities, University of Toyama, Japan. His current research interests are in disaster learning and map education for children, children’s geographies. Hiroshi Mitsuhashi is Senior Specialist for Textbooks at Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. His current research interests are in Social Studies education and geography education. He also engage in the research of regional innovation policy on economic geographical aspect.