Recovering from flooding: Support materials from Japanese civil society
Heavy rains hit Western Japan 
Torrential rain has triggered floods and landslides in many parts of Japan since 11 August, 2021. Record-breaking rainfall has been causing severe damages to communities in the northern Kyushu and Chugoku regions. According to the meteorological agency, more rains are forecasted to continue in prefectures in western and northern Japan.
Not only in Japan, we have also been shocked to hear the news of devastating floods happening in different parts of the world recently too. Climate change has amplified the scale and frequency of such deadly disasters, but we believe that we can work together to minimize the damage.
Knowledge Sharing Efforts by Japanese NGOs to Minimize Damage and Help Recovery from Disasters
Since its foundation in 2011, Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV) has been engaged in diverse recovery programs from natural disasters, ranging from earthquake, tsunami, heavy snow, typhoons to torrential rains. Floods, in particular, have been the type of disaster which we respond to most frequently. We experience deadly floods almost every year in Japan, and have implemented recovery programs in the affected communities across the country with collaboration with local authorities and humanitarian organizations during the last ten years. Japanese civil society groups have thus gained the first-hand-experience on the ground, and have been publishing support materials to help out the residents and volunteers in the affected communities. Most of the materials were originally published in Japanese and some items may not be relevant to the cases outside Japan. However, we came up with the idea of sharing the translated materials on our website, considering the current situations in other countries. We hope the information provided in the materials would help those in the affected communities in Japan and also in other countries in some ways.
Recovering houses from a flood disaster
This four-page material provides information to assist the residents and volunteers who work on cleaning of the flooded houses. Some parts may only be relevant to cases in Japan, but others may serve as useful guidelines for safe and secure recovery work. The original document was created by a Japan-based disaster relief network called Shintsuna, and the English translation was provided by ASHOKA Japan.
Download “Recovering from a flood disaster”: https://blog.canpan.info/shintsuna/archive/1440
Recovering your memories from the flood disaster
You may find albums and photos of your memories, covered in mud and in disrepair. Those photos may be of your family in everyday life, in their favorite dresses, on birthdays and other special occasions. You may be tempted to throw them all away because they are so flood-damaged and dirty. But please think twice before giving up on your precious memories. If you follow the appropriate steps, you may be able to save the albums and photos, preventing deterioration caused by bacteria and fungus from the floods.
Reference video (in Japanese): https://youtu.be/rglgvf7ZCOA
A Disaster Prevention Handbook for Foreign Origins to Survive in Japan
Recently, Ibaraki NPO Center Commons has published handbooks to provide disaster-related information for foreign residents in Japan in multiple languages. Ibaraki prefecture experienced an extensive flood in 2015, and the hand book was created based on the residents’ first-hand experience of the disaster. They have published the “Disaster Prevention Handbook” and a handbook which explains” What Foreign Origins Should Do after the Disaster”. Both are available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The handbooks are downloadable on the following page of the Ibaraki NPO Center Commons: http://www.npocommons.org/topics/hassai-hisai.html