TitleNatural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan: Minsei-iins' effortsto Establish Relationships with the Elderly in theirCommunities

Author(s) NISHIO, Atsushi

Citation 沖縄大学人文学部紀要 = Journal of the Faculty ofHumanities and Social Sciences(13): 49-63

Issue Date 2011-03-31

URL http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12001/9632

Rights 沖縄大学人文学部

M>*8*¥A£*SMag 3513^ 2011

Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan:Minsei-iins' efforts to Establish Relationships with

the Elderly in their Communities

Atsushi NISHIO

Keywords: PSND (persons with special needs in times of disaster), Minsei-iin(unpaid semi-public social workers), PIE (persons in environment),natural disaster, climate change

1 Introduction

The global population of the elderly is rising dramatically - especially in regionsthat experience higher risks of natural disasters. The occurrence of more natural disasters in an ageing world means that there would be the elderly in jeopardy (WHO,2008). This study examines how the elderly fare in natural disasters and promotes theparticipation and security of the elderly before, during, and after an emergency inJapan, especially during the emergency preparedness phase.

The Minsei-iin system was founded in 1917, and celebrated its 90th anniversary in2007. Minsei-iin are unpaid, semi-public social workers who play a crucial role in theprovision and distribution of social welfare services in their assigned districts, basedon the Minsei-iin law enacted in 1947. In 2007, over 227,000 Minsei-iin, generally retirees, who were mostly 60 or older (78.3%, 2006), helped to deal with social problemsthat were faced by the elderly, the poor, the disabled, and single-parent families.

In 2006 the National Federation of Minsei-iin launched a national campaign tomaintain daily contact with the elderly on a daily basis, as a preparatory step in caseof disasters. Minsei-iin conducted a campaign of widespread activities such as gettinginformation of living conditions of Persons with Special Needs in times of Disaster(PSND), securing personal information about the elderly, establishing a concrete systemto support evacuation of PSND, and confirming their whereabouts and safety.

(1) Background of this study - climate change and social structural changeThe Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred on January 17, 1995. This 7.3 mag

nitude quake caused tremendous damage in the southern part of Hyogo prefecture andneighboring areas. The death toll was about 6,400, and numbers injured were around44,000. Almost half of the dead were the elderly. Moreover, since 1995, the proportionof the elderly being injured in natural disasters has been gradually increasing.

Earthquakes hit some regions in which Minsei-iin conducted its campaign, and the

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Misei-iin's activities proved to be effective in decreasing casualties among the elderly.

Other natural disasters, such as torrential rainfall, typhoons, floods, and land-slides

have occurred frequently. In recent years, natural disasters have increased and have

taken a heavier toll on Japan than in the past.

Ten out of 11 victims who lost their lives as a result of Niigata-Chuetsu Offshore

Earthquake on July 16, 2007, were persons aged 65 or older. According to the damage

report of the heavy snow fall of 2006, 98 persons aged 65 or older were killed, whichaccounted for about two-thirds of the total snow-fall related deaths.

The Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan set up a task force of experts to

study how the government could help in the evacuation of PSND. In March 2005, thecommittee compiled and issued a "Guideline of Evacuation Support Procedures forPSND," a report that helped municipalities address evacuation support for PSND.

The damages caused by recent natural disasters have two distinctive characteristics.First, the frequency of torrential rainfall in the last 10 years has increased consid

erably, and according to data of the Japan Meteorological Agency, the amount of rainfall during torrential rains is increasing. In the last 10 years, Japan has received 100mm or more rain per hour, 2.3 times more often than the average rainfall in one hourover the past 30 years (chart 1.).

1977-1986 1987-1996 1997-2006

Chart 1. The 100 mm or over rainfall in one hour (Cabinet Office, 2007)

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a synthesis report based on the assessment carried out by the working groups. ThiB report provides an integrated view of climate change as the final part of the IPCC's FourthAssessment Eeport (AR4) and indicates that the climate system's warming is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of the increase in global average air and

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NISHIO : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and an increase in the global

average sea levels. The report also points out that the climate change could affect on

some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the world (IPCC, 2007).

Headlines of the plight of the elderly during the European heat wave of 2003 and

Hurricane Katrina in the USA in 2005 shocked the world. In developing countries,

however, their situation is generally less widely-known, and their needs and contribu

tions have been largely invisible. In order to respond to these situations, the World

Health Organization commissioned case studies in 2006-2007 to examine how the eld

erly fared in conflict-related and naturally caused emergencies in both developed and

developing countries — war, drought, heat wave, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsu

namis, ice storms, wild fires, and nuclear power plant explosions (WHO, 2008).

Actual Itgirts

Ithousnnd persons)

7000

IWIU IW? 1"W0 1W3 2000

Pmjev'lei! figures

010 2315 2020 202S

Chart 2. Trends of the Elderly Living Alone (Cabinet Office, 2005)

Second, social structural changes, including family and community change in an

aging society with a declining birthrate have also affected the impact that natural dis

asters have. In Japan, the number of the elderly living alone has doubled in the last

10 years. The number of the elderly living alone will continue to increase in the fu

ture, and so will the percentage of the elderly living alone. Today, one out of five older

women lives alone, and the number of older males living alone are expected to rise

tremendously in the future.

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ftm*&*.*&&«& asm 2011

(2) Purpose of the study

'The national campaign proposed and launched by the National Federation of Minsei-iin could be characterized as a eountermeasure against the damages that the elderlyexperience from natural disasters resulting from the global climate changes and localsocial structural changes in Japan.

This study attempts to classify the potentiality and tasks of Minsei-iin by analyzingthe survey conducted by the National Federation of Minsei-iin during the nationalcampaign in 2007. We examine the Minsei-iin's activities, such as home visits, mapping, and community development conducted in the national campaign. In addition,the study examines how the Minsei-iin's activities could contribute to the reconstruc

tion of human relationships in communities and enhance the lives of the elderly withrespect to their dignity and security.

2 An outline of Minsei-iin's national campaign

At the beginning of the national campaign by Minsei-iin in April 2005, the planningcommittee for the 90 th anniversary memorial projects of the National Federation of

Minsei-iin decided to tackle issues of preventing disaster damages. In August 2005, thecommittee decided on the catch phrase for the movements of "Don't miss one person,without exception" and compiled the campaign's guidelines. National Federation thenrequested that each prefectural or municipal association participate in this campaignmovement.

(1) The aim of campaign

Minsei-iin realized that during natural disasters it is critical for neighboring residents to assist with the evacuation of the elderly and the disabled who cannot moveby themselves in order to save their own lives. Therefore, Minsei-iin across the nation

decided that they should keep a careful watch over the elderly living alone, the disabled or families with little children, by maintaining contact with them on a dailybasis, establishing a concrete system to support their evacuation, and confirming theirwhereabouts and safety. In addition, by learning about the needs of people and establishing a total community system for inquiring about their health and safety, and aneducation system for preventing disaster damages, the Minsei-iin establish safety community development cooperation with a variety of community agencies and organizations.

(2) Promoter : National Federation of Minsei-iin

(3) Term of promotion: April 2006 to September 2007.

3 Analysis of the survey on the national campaign

(1) An outline of the survey

The survey on this national campaign was conducted on March 1, 2007 by the

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NISHO : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

National Federation of Minsei-iin. It targeted (l) the legal-based units of Minsei-iin associations, (2) the municipality-based associations, and (3) prefectural-based associations(National Federation of Minsei-iin, 2007).

We examined the outcome of this survey, focusing especially on the 9,935 legal-basedunits of associations all over Japan. The survey received 7,327 responses (73.6%).

1 Implementation of the campaign programsresponses number %

1. Carried out 4,460 60.9%.

2. Did not carry out 2,005 27.4%.

3. Other 862 11.8%

total 7,327 100.0%

The district units that carried out the implementation of the program make upabout 60 percent. This indicated the gaps among the units.

The following outcome of the survey totaled 5,322 answers including yes and other.

2 Groups or agencies with which Minsei-iin associations cooperated

responses number %

1. Municipality administrations 1,084 63.0%

2. Social welfare councils organized in each municipality 851 49.4%

3. Fire departments 505 29.3%

4. Fire prevention civil corps 438 25.4%

5. Autonomous organizations for the prevention ofdisaster

741 43.0%

6. Neighborhood associations 1,262 73.3%

7. Schools 322 18.7%

8. (Parents Teachers Association) PTA Federations 147 8.5%

9. Comprehensive community support centers for theelderly 330 19.2%

10. Home caring support centers 171 9.9%

11. Police departments 217 12.6%.

12. Volunteer groups 220 12.8%.

13. Non profit organizations 25 1.0%

14. Community centers 394 22.9%

15. Others 93 5.4%

total 1,722 100.0%

Most cooperative partners are neighborhood associations (73.3%), followed by municipalities (63.0%), social welfare councils (49.4%), and autonomous organizations for theprevention of disasters (43.0%).

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N'«A*A£¥8MaE mi3H 2011

3 Outcome of the activities

responses number %

1. Public Relations for community residents 1,593 34.6%

2. Deepening feeling of trust with community residents

1,020 22.1%

3. Helping community residents to have sense ofsecurity 1,779 38.6%

4. Enhancing community residents' consciousness ofthe need to prepare for natural disasters 1,183 25.7%

5. Establishing system for natural disasters 508 11.0%

6. Public Relations for community agencies and groups 934 20.3%

7. Enhancing relationships with community agencies and groups 1,372 29.8%

8. Enhancing bonds or ties with community agencies and groups 868 18.8%

9. Enhancing sense of solidarity among Minsei-iins 2,718 59.0%

10. Acquiring more information and knowledge onnatural disasters

3,678 79.8%

11. Strengthening the abilities for tackling withnatural disasters

1,642 35.6%

12. Strengthening the understanding of ways of treating or managing ways of personal information 2,047 44.4%

13. Knowing more about PSND 2,046 44.4%

14. Others 127 2.8%

total 4,607 100.0%

This survey revealed that 79.8% of Minsei-iin associations felt that they had ac

quired more information and knowledge on natural disasters. Moreover, 59.0% felt

they had enhanced sense of solidality among Minsei-iins, and 44.4% felt they were

strengthening the understanding of ways to handle personal information.

The attitude survey on Minsei-iin's activities that was conducted in 2006 shows that

most of the Minsei-iin's worries and difficulties involved dealing with the privacy of

residents. Comparing these results of two surveys, we found that preparing activities

for natural disasters was considerably effective during the daily Minsei-iin activities

(National Federation of Minsei-iin, 2006).

The same survey showed 47.8% of newly appointed Minsei-iin and 20.7% of experi

enced Minsei-iin felt that it was difficult to contact the PSND. The answers about the

outcomes of the activities such as knowing more about PSND (44.4%) and helpingcommunity residents to have a sense of security (38.6%) in the survey on nationalcampaign indicated that the national campaign made it easier for Minsei-iin to com

municate with PSND.

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NISHJO : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

4 Case studies on activities of the national campaign

The national survey collected the examples of activities which could be categorizedinto the following four types.

(1) Home visiting for learning about the living conditions of PSND(2) A Concrete system for sharing the personal information(3) Making and using maps(4) Self-help group activities - developing places where people feel like they belonging

(1) Home visiting for learning about the living conditions of PSND

Minsei-iin associations across Japan acquired this information in a variety of ways,

despite the difficulties inherent home-visiting activities. Three examples of differentprograms are noted below.

In Fukuda-kita district, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Minsei-iin distributed a

newspaper called "Good Health Mail" which was directed at the elderly who lived

alone or needed supports. This newspaper, issued four times a year, contained newssuch as information on long-term care services or warnings about unscrupulous business practices. These newspapers are delivered by post to resident's mailboxes. The

characteristics of these newspapers are that a Minsei-iin writes the names of the eld

erly and a message by hand. Via this personalized newspaper, Minsei-iin created

chances to visit home of the elderly. The newspapers also send the message that theMinsei-iin will always be with them.

Minsei-iin association in Kiyose City, Tokyo metropolitan, drew up a leaflet entitled"Preparing for a natural disaster-' Would you give us information about yours." This

brochure provided information on preparing for natural disasters, along with a map ofan evacuation route, the place of evacuation, and the profiles of each Minsei-iin indi

viduals. Minsei-iin mailed the leaflets to the houses of the elderly aged 65 to 74, butpersonally visited and handed the leaflet to the elderly aged 75 or over. It is interesting to note that although it is frequently pointed out that home visiting activities are

difficult in urban areas, in Kiyose, Minsei-iin seldom experienced rejection of theirhome visits.

In order to learn the living condition of PSND, the individual questionnaire surveycould be effective. The Minsei-iin association in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, conducted their questionnaire survey mainly focusing on the elderly who lived alone.

Minsei-iin personally visited each home of the elderly and interviewed 764 the elderly.This survey showed that 88% of the elderly contacted their kinships or relatives periodically, 56% have close friends in their community, and 32% exchange greetings withneighbors. It is noteworthy that 19% do not have people with whom they consult intheir neighborhood.

The fact that only 27% of respondents did not take preventive actions such as turning over the furniture and that only 55% knew their own evacuation places, indicatesthe necessity for improving preventative measures. Of the respondents, 81% knew the

55 —

WttA^AX^EieS S13*J 2011

name and contact address of Minsei-iin, and 63% wanted the help of Minsei-iin in anemergency. Almost all the elderly trust the Minsei-iin.

Some interviewees expressed anxiety by saying, "I know the evacuation place butit's too far." or "I have disabilities so I'm anxious about experiencing a naturaldisaster." They also stated other worries that were not related to natural disasterssuch as concerns about public assistance, the deterioration of houses, and requests toleave their apartments. In the free description columns of the survey, there was alsoa lot of gratitude expressed by the interviewees for Minsei-iin's daily activities. Othervoices expressed things such as "I have worries and want to consult someone," and"We need more home visiting." Although Minsei-iin started this survey intending tostudy on the elderly's preparedness for a natural disaster, the outcome of this surveyshowed a variety of the needs of the elderly.

(2) A concrete system for learning about the living conditions of PSND

It is difficult for Minsei-iin who do not have any authority, to acquire personal information about PSND with cooperation from other agencies and organizations so thatthey can make their lists.

In March 2006, the Cabinet Office compiled the task force committee's "Guideline forEvacuation of PSND." This guideline showed that collecting and sharing informationabout PSNDs on a daily basis, is crucial and inevitable for developing an evacuationsupport system. The methods of learning the information were classified into three

types: (l) sharing information with relevant agencies, (2) people's voluntary applicationfor the registration system, and (3) registration with people's informed consent(Cabinet Office, 2006).

The "Guideline for Evacuation of PSND" recommended that municipal governmentsshould use methods for the sharing information with relevant agencies combined withother methods.

In 2004, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, started a registration support system for PSNDwith people's informed consent. In Japan, the number of municipalities tackling thiskind of registration system for PSND is currently increasing. Anjo City is the leadingmunicipality that administers this system.

This system is running by some relevant agencies including municipalities, residentsassociations, Minsei-iin or welfare organizations. The process is as follows.

First, Anjo City sets registration targets for (l) people with physical disabilities,(2) people with intellectual disabilities, (3) the elderly living alone, (4) bedridden orsenile the elderly, and (5) the elderly who need care services in their homes.

Second, the city hands out lists of people who fall into categories (l)-(4) to Minsei-iin. Then Minsei-iin visit the homes of each person on the lists and urge them to register for this system that prepares for natural disasters. Although the consentingpercentage of people to whom Minsei-iin recommend this system reached 79%, the per

centage of consent for people in category 5 who learned about the system only from aletter sent by the city was only 22%.

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NISHIO : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

Third, for each registered PSND, the "evacuation supporters" were chosen among

neighborhood residents, Minsei-iin and volunteers. The PSND gave consent that then-

personal information could be shared among disaster prevention organizations, a few

neighborhood association boards, Minsei-iin, and the evacuation supporters with confi

dentiality.

In relation with this system, Minsei-iin initiated the home-visiting activities with the

leaders of neighborhood associations or senior citizen associations. Although the home

visiting is one of the basic activities of Minsei-iin, as for their daily activities, they or

dinarily hand over some documents to residents from the municipality at the front

door and they could not know the actual information about their living conditions. The

residents registered in this system are prepared for home-visit interviews and know

what it is for. Because they are prepared they will likely have set aside time so that

they can have an unrushed conversation in their living room in a relaxed atmosphere.

During these home visits, Minsei-iin can also check for items such as furniture that

would topple over during a natural disaster. Minsei-iin also hear about daily living

needs of the elderly and can be a confidant if the elderly would like to consult themregarding their problems.

The registration system in Anjo City is a public system coordinated by municipality.But this system does not need a building, nor is it accompanied by a financial burden.

What this system does need, however, is the indispensable cooperation of its residents.

This system is constructed within a public framework that will only be activated by

people's participation and Minsei-iin's coordination. The efforts of private and/or public

sector members of community social welfare councils developed these programs. It is

important to organize the people's wishes and voices and build concrete systems.

(3) Making and using the maps

The national survey showed that almost half of the district units of Minsei-iin asso

ciations made lists of PSND, and 27.4% of them made hazard maps.

The effectiveness of such an emergency map, which included PSND information, was

proven in Monzen district, Wajirna City, Ishikawa Prefecture when the Noto. Peninsula

Earthquake hit the area in March 2007. In the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, one per

son died, 27 were severely wounded, and 291 were slightly injured, and 609 houses

were totally destroyed, 1.368 were half destroyed, and 12,323 were partly destroyed.

The Monzen district in Wajima City was severely damaged by this earthquake. TheMinsei-iin unit in Monzen district helped the elderly evacuate and they confirmedwhereabouts and safety of PSNDs immediately after the earthquake. In this case,Minsei-iin could speed up the evacuation because they used the PSND safety map thatthey prepared before the earthquake during their daily home-visiting activities. Thesafety map included positional information about the elderly living alone, older couplehouseholds and people with disabilities. These categories were classified on the map bycolor and the map was periodically updated through home-visiting activities. Another

reason the evacuation went smoothly was because the evacuation drill including

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safety-inquiring activities had been practiced earlier and furthermore, the evacuationof people with disabilities to a safe place had been carried out in the year prior to theearthquake.

This case study shows that the process of mapping, including home-visiting, learningPSND information, and evacuation drills is very important during an emergency.These maps also helped organizations and agencies to share information. The ease of

sharing this information also increases the information's vulnerability to violation ofprivacy, A system that ensure that the private records are kept confidential and handled carefully must be developed. Rules must be in place to describe how informationcan be shared.

Mapping activities with mutual works and supports in communities were tackled inmany areas.. People willing to volunteer exist in all communities, but most residents

do not know what, how, and where they could participate in such activities. Mappingis one of the methods to find these willing people and to clarify their function and uncover the potential power of hidden human resources.

(4) Self-help group activities: developing places where people feel like they belongThe Minsei-iin association in Haito-Kasuga district, Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture,

practiced Haito safety and relief station activities. In July 2004 a prevention disasterorganization was established in Haito-Kasuga district.

This prevention for disaster council aimed to improve community safety developmentas well as the self-realization of community residents. The council organizes (1) selfprevention associations, (2) self-help group activities aiming at promoting self-realization,(3) small community networks, and (4) watch patrol.

Self-help group activities have a variety of programs including dining, health promotion activities and some recreation programs run by volunteers, the elderly, peoplewith disabilities, and community residents. The Minsei-iin association developed asmall community network which was able to quickly assess the PSNDs needs and

problems and support activities for PSND. The watching patrol was practiced in afterschool safety patrol.

These community activities not only proved that Minsei-iin could find community re

sources, such as talented people willing to coordinate community activities, but also

raised the people's consciousness regarding the prevention for natural disasters. One of

the participants in the self-help group said, "I could not meet you if the group didn't

exist." These disaster preventing activities strengthened resident's cohesion with oneanother within their community.

5 Lessons learned by national campaign movements

•

So far, we have examined the state of the national campaign movement and some

characteristic efforts by several local associations. We learned precious lessons from

Minsei-iins' efforts.

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N1SHJ.O : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

Although Minsei-iin have always had difficulties with their daily activities, such as

organizing home visits, and dealing with personal information, and sharing the anxiety

of natural disasters with the residents, their efforts are worthwhile because they have

the potential to open a gate of communication with their community residents. This

suggests, paradoxically, that in order to create a good relationship, it is important to

prepare for an emergency.

Respecting one's privacy and the protection of personal information is an important

human right to advocate, and yet, at the same time, this could force people into isola

tion and solitude. The survey's outcome indicates that we should respect not only the

individual, but also that person's relationship to his or her social environment. We

should respect a person's dignity and decisions and, at the same time, we should not

force people into isolation.

The national campaign movement has found that the aim of this movement's origi

nal concept emerged from activities 90 years ago as follows.

(1) Communication-centered home visiting activities

We found out from previous case studies that there were no sure-fire remedies or

completely new efforts. It is important for us to organize some practices and generalize

the some efforts. One of the important concepts based on these practices is a tradi

tional communication-centered home-visiting activity.

Ninety years ago, Shigejiro Ogawa proposed Homen-iin, or district commissioner, one

of the original Minsei-iin systems and stated, "The main purpose is communication. By

communication-based home visiting we could know and grasp the situation of people's

living conditions naturally." He also said, "It is not merely investigation. The by

products of home visiting are naturally changing to investigation." (Matsunohana, 1994)

The fact that the survey showed that the approval rate of the registration system

reached 79% because of Minsei-iin's home visits in Anjo City, proves the importance

and effectiveness of communication-centered home visiting.

(2) The "Persons In Environment" perception

Self-help group activities were founded in many areas across Japan in order to pre

pare for natural disasters. Despite its focus, these activities established new relation*

ships between members.

These community development activities, originated from the "Saisei-Komon" system

of a relief community that was founded in 1816 in Okayama Prefecture. The first ar

ticle of community relief system guideline states that the system's programs promote

the prevention of poverty with the aim of not to give aids to the poor, but to prevent

from poverty from the beginning. The system intended to do this by eliminating per

sonal and social causes of poverty among the mentally and physically disabled. The

founder of this system, Governor Shinichi Kasai, stated "Society is organized by per

sons. In order to help a person we should help the surrounding environment because

he/she is a person in the environment." This relief community system included many

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efforts, including daycare for children, and consultations with mothers regardingchildren's health. The aim of this system was to organize community actions in ruralareas.

The definition of social work in the International Federation of Social Worker (IFSW2000) is stated as follows. "Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems,social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments.Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex transactions betweenpeople and their environments." The definition represents the "Persons In Environment"(PIE) perception and are also similar to the original concept of the "Saisei-komon" system that was developed 90 years ago.

(3) Social action for actualization of Relief Act - offering opinion by Minsei-iinIn 1929 the Relief Act was enacted in Japan. It took three long years for the act,

which originated as a current public assistance law, to be processed from an enactment in the Diet to an enforceable law.

For this law's progress toward enforcement, "Homen-iin," the district commissioneracross the nation did the promotion movement for quickly enforcement of the reliefact.

The government's attitude at that time is represented by a comment made by theMinister of Finance, Junosuke Inoue. He stated, "If the government enforced such arelief act, we would have a shortage of our government's financial resources." So thedistrict commissioner communicated with poor households on a daily basis and organized the national organization for promotion of Relief Act and formed a gathering before the Imperial Palace and reported the situation of the poor and the immediateneed for the Relief Act.

These social actions were supported by public opinion and demonstrated through themass media. Eventually, public sentiment moved the government and, at last, the government actualized the act. This social action by Horaerriin was the origin of the national movement of the Minsei-iin.

In 2007, the 90th anniversary of the Minsei-iin's campaign movement moved thegovernment in a different way. On August 10, 2007, the welfare and labor ministry issued a written notice titled 'The smooth implementation of learning and sharing theinformation about PSND" to- the chief welfare manager of each prefecture and eachmunicipality. This notice explained the Minsei-iin's efforts for the movement in preparing natural disasters. It also stated that the Misei-iin's intended to carefully watchand support the lives of PSND and that the Misei-iin meant to build their network

with other agencies, organizations, and community residents. The notice further statedthe municipalities' responsibilities with regards to learning and sharing the information mentioned in the Cabinet Office guideline for PSND evacuation support. Then, thenotice mentioned the national government's request that the local government to cooperate with the Minsei-iin associations or other agencies and organizations.

The 90th anniversary national movement caused people to questions as to what

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NISHIO : Natural Disasters and the Elderly in Japan

extent the public sector should cooperate with community organizations at a time

when decentralization is promoted and policy making authority is often transferred to

local government.

6 Conclusion

The natural disasters that have occurred in recent, years due to climate change have

particularly affected the poor and seriously impacted the lives of the elderly. To mini

mize the damage that these disasters inflict, the Minsei-iin national campaign pro

posed some essential suggestions for important daily activities, such as community

development or communication-based home-visiting activities. To develop its plan,

Minsei-iin associations studied the origin of their community activities and discovered

that these activities were based on the perception that persons live in their environ

ment (PIE).

In Japanese society, people are having fewer children, and the bulk of the population is rapidly aging. The depopulated areas, called "limited communities" are spread

ing, not only in rural areas, but also in urban areas. These changing lifestyles of

people are introducing new problems into our society. The difficulties being faced by

Minsei-iin reflect those faced by Japanese society as a whole. The efforts to alleviate

these difficulties may provide many suggestions for solving the problems, not only ofour society, but also of the global community.

The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing points that the elderly can make

a positive contribution in coping with emergencies in promoting rehabilitation and re

construction (United Nation, 2002).

Lessons learned from this survey suggest that the activities by Minsei-iin who aremostly the elderly themselves, could contribute to the reconstruction of human rela

tionships in communities and enhance the lives of the elderly with respect to their dig

nity and security. Further studies should be done on the values of the social function

of Minsei-iin, which are still effective today.

References

Cabinet Office (2006), White Paper on Aging Society 2006,http://www8.cao.go.jp/kourei/whitepaper/index-w.html

Cabinet Office (2007), White Paper on Prevention for Disaster 2007,http://www.bousai.go.Jp/hakusho/h 19/index.htm

Cabinet Office (2006), Guideline for Evacuation of PSND,

http://www.bousai.go.jp/hinan_kentou/060328/index.html

International Federation of Social Workers (2000), Definition of Social Work,

httpV/www.ifsw.org/en/p 38000208.html, Adopted by the IFSW General Meeting inMontreal, Canada, July 2000

IPCC (2007), IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) , http://www.ipcc.ch/

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Matsunohana Katsufumi (1994), A study on the community care by area commissionerduring the Second World war in Osaka : Part I, The bulletin of Kyushu OtaniJunior College 21, pp. 135-172

National Federation of Minsei-iin (2007), The survey on this national campaignNational Federation of Minsei-iin (2006), The attitude survey on Minsei-iin's activitiesUnited Nation (2002), Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, Report of

the Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid, 8-12 April 2002 United Nations,New York

World HealthOrganization (2008), Older Persons in Emergencies: An Active Ageing Perspective,http://www.who.int/entity/ageing/publications/EmergenciesEnglish 13August.pdf

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NISHIO:NaturalDisastersandtheElderlyinJapan

日本における自然災害と高齢者

:地域社会における高齢者の把握の取り組みを通して

西 尾 敦 史

要 約

自然災膏によって多くの高齢者が犠牲となっている背紫には.気候変動などの自然

環境の彰管と同時に,家族の変容.社会関係の希薄化など社会構造の変化がその要因

として指摘されている｡

2007年には ｢民生春風 ･児東委員発 災害時一人も見逃さない･運動jが全国展開さ

れ 要支撰者の把握とその情報の共有化,安否碓線と避難支複の体制づ(りなど一定

の効果を発揮した｡それらの夷践事例の中から.1)ニーズ網丑.2)妨間活動の工

夫.3)情報共有のためのマップづくり,4)地域づくりのための居場所づくり.5)公私協働システムを実践知として抽出した｡

キーワー ド:PSND,民生委員.PIE,自然災害.気候変動

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