Escaping Is the Best Way

Commemorating the fourth anniversary of Great East Japan Earthquake, a decennial international conference for disaster prevention, United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, began in Sendai City, the capital of Tohoku area, on Saturday. Japan pledged ¥480 billion for next four years. It is an ordinary way for Japan to emphasize its role in international community through money. But, what Japanese people learned from the disaster was not the importance of how to prevent disaster, but how to escape it. With its inability in communication, the government of Japan is always not good at handing software over.

In the opening speeches, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced further contribution of Japan in disaster preventing, which was named “Sendai Cooperation Initiative for Disaster Risk Reduction.” “Japan will contribute to international society through knowledge and technology,” told Abe. The initiative proposed “mainstreaming” of disaster risk reduction, which included legislation to prepare for disaster or building infrastructure.

To make sure preventing tragedy stemming from disaster, the initiative urged countries investment with long-term vision, better reconstruction to prevent the same devastation and cooperation among private firms, local government and non-government organization. It also stressed the importance of participation of women, children, aged and disabled people in disaster preventive efforts.

Through bilateral meeting with state representatives, most of them were from developing countries in Asia-Pacific or Africa, Abe tried to show his leadership in disaster management in the world community. He recommended foreign leaders to invest for well-prepared disaster policy, to which Japan would financially contribute.

However, Abe did not referred to risk of nuclear power generation. The lessons of accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant were that hundreds of thousands people would need to evacuate losing their homes, there would be no way to contain radioactive materials once the reactors were broken, and the best way to prevent nuclear disaster would be not having nuclear reactors. Abe did not want to look at those truths.

The duty of Japan in Sendai conference is to let the world acknowledge what a nation would suffer from great nature. Even how tall the wall along coastline would be, tsunami will swallow the people not aware of power of the nature. The best way to deal with natural disaster is to secure enough space, to where people can escape, no matter what the disaster will be. Do not fight the mother nature.