This special issue presents a study on atoll countries vulnerable to climate change. The average elevation of these countries is only approximately 2 m above sea level. Therefore, as sea levels rise, the only possible adaptation measures would be to build large-scale infrastructure, such as artificial islands, or to migrate to other countries. This study focuses on three of the world’s four atoll countries: the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. We analyzed residents’ attitudes toward and the costs associated with artificial island construction and land reclamation. In the Maldives, where the construction of artificial islands is already underway, we examined the motivations for migration to these islands and the satisfaction levels after migration. The findings revealed that those who migrated from Malé, the capital, and a densely populated area, were more satisfied with their lives after migration, whereas those who migrated from other atolls reported lower levels of satisfaction. In addition, high costs of living, rent, and housing were barriers to migration. In the Marshall Islands and Kiribati, which do not have artificial islands such as those in the Maldives, we conducted a causal analysis of religious, cultural, and educational factors affecting residents’ perceptions of climate change. In both countries, education has a universal impact on climate change awareness, however, the manner in which it affects people varies between the two. In the Marshall Islands, education-related variables are relatively isolated, whereas in Kiribati, variables related to education, religion, and culture form a complex network that influences each other. A survey of college students in the Marshall Islands revealed that young people were highly aware of climate change and strongly desired to migrate. However, many expressed a desire to preserve Marshallese culture and way of life, and opinions on the construction of artificial islands were divided. An analysis of the cost-effectiveness of adaptation measures, such as building protective infrastructure and raising land to address the vulnerability of coastal areas in the Marshall Islands, revealed that the amount of funding required to implement effective adaptation measures would far exceed the country’s economic strength. Moreover, the cost of major protective measures would be several to ten times the GDP. Despite assessing from a disaster risk reduction perspective, many adaptation measures were found to have a cost-benefit ratio of less than one.

This study examines the causal relationships between factors related to religion, culture, and education that influence perceptions about climate change in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and Kiribati. Building on previous research that identified these three domains as important, this study utilizes Bayesian networks to uncover deeper connections between specific variables. Questionnaire data were collected from university students in both countries and analyzed using the R package “bnlearn” to construct Bayesian networks. Key variables from each domain were selected based on prior structural equation modeling studies. The resulting networks revealed complex interconnections between religion, culture, and education in shaping climate change perceptions. While some similarities exist between the two countries, notable differences emerged in the relationships between variables. In the RMI, certain climate perception variables appeared more isolated, while in Kiribati they showed broader connections to religious and cultural factors. These findings suggest that the underlying structure of influences on climate change perceptions may differ between the two island nations, despite surface similarities. The Bayesian network approach provides new insights into the causal pathways between domains that were not apparent in previous analyses. This deeper understanding of how religion, culture, and education interact to shape climate perspectives can inform more targeted and effective climate change communication and education efforts in the Pacific island communities.

The voluntary migration to Hulhumalé, an artificial island in the Maldives, presents a unique context for studying the impacts of internal migration on life satisfaction. This study aims to identify measures that the Maldivian government could implement to mitigate migration impacts and enhance life satisfaction in Hulhumalé. A recent survey conducted in the four atolls with Maldives National University (MNU) campuses—Kulhudhuffushi, Gan, Hithadhoo, and Thinadhoo—yielded 398 responses, proportionate to their populations. The questionnaire, administered in person by MNU enumerators between December 2023 and January 2024, mirrored the 2022 Hulhumalé survey, focusing on demographics, migration attitudes, and expectations of Hulhumalé. A 2022 survey of Hulhumalé residents revealed disparities in life satisfaction between those who relocated from Malé and those from other atolls. The results from 2024 survey highlight the fact that good facilities, including dining, shopping, sports, and parks, are highly regarded factors driving migration, albeit with the trade-offs of high living expenses, rent, and other housing costs. High-quality primary and higher education, along with access to medical care, were also positively rated. However, aspects related to disaster resilience and safety against sea level rise due to climate change were rated lower.

The World BOSAI Forum 2023 (WBF2023), held in March 2023 in Sendai, Japan, was successfully convened as a global platform for practical discussion of disaster risk reduction issues in a free and dynamic manner, in contrast to the United Nations, where national interests collide, or academic conferences where experts gather. In particular, we aimed to disseminate the knowledge and lessons learned from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) to the world and share the knowledge and lessons with Japan. We would like to take this opportunity again to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who participated in the sessions, exhibitions, posters, and flash talk presentations, as well as to the many locals who attended the event. According to the World BOSAI Forum [1], the WBF2023 was attended by 5,412 people over 3 days, including 1,335 pre-registrants from 40 countries and regions, on-site registrants, and EXPO participants. It included 30 oral sessions, 7 conferences, 50 poster sessions, 33 flash talk presentations, and 33 exhibition booths, where tangible solutions for disaster risk reduction were discussed through dialogue among international organizations, governments, academia, the private sector, NGOs, and citizens. At the forum, Tohoku University hosted 4 sessions and co-hosted 10 sessions, which introduced the role of Tohoku University and the International Research Institute of Disaster Science as well as their contributions to the processes of recovery and reconstruction from the 2011 GEJET. Finally, the forum came up with recommendations for a Midterm Review of the Implementation of the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 (MTR SF). In May 2023, the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the MTR SF was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York [2]. The guest editors are pleased to publish this special issue in the Journal of Disaster Research, which comprises six articles sharing the research advancements presented at the WBF2023. We hope that this special issue on the WBF2023 will contribute to the literature on disaster science and further advance disaster risk reduction. References: [1] World BOSAI Forum, “WBF2023 Report,” 2023. https://worldBOSAIforum.com/2023/en/report/ [Accessed May 18, 2024] [2] UNDRR, “High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework,” 2023. https://sendaiframework-mtr.undrr.org/high-level-meeting-midterm-review-sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030 [Accessed May 18, 2024]

This report is summary of a panel discussion at the World BOSAI Forum held in Sendai in 2023. We invited panelists with diverse backgrounds from the inclusion and diversity frontlines and were able to document their experiences. The panel included a mental health specialist, an employee of a UN agency, working on sexual and reproductive health, a musical producer, persons with disabilities working for the independence of disabled people (a local NGO staff), and a young undergraduate student. First, it was shared that the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in times of disaster is already deemed a responsibility to be implemented by each country as per the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006. Second, to realize “no one will be left behind,” including women, sexual minorities, and children, three issues, i.e., who is assisting, the importance of human dignity, and the values of arts and culture, as well as two key approaches, i.e., mainstream and targeted actions, were presented. Additionally, the importance of reflecting on the above in national and regional planning during times of normalcy was clarified. All citizens, especially those engaged in the sector of disaster risk reduction, need to learn the frontline of discussions and initiatives on human rights and welfare as well as to reflect on policy and regional planning. This is essential for reducing vulnerability to disasters and building a resilient society.

The World BOSAI Forum (WBF) is a biennial conference on disaster risk reduction (DRR) that has been held in Sendai, Japan, since 2017. The WBF aims to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), which advocates for diverse participation of stakeholders in DRR. This study examines the efforts and outcomes of the WBF in fostering diverse participation, especially from civil society, in DRR. This study analyzes the transitions in attitude toward diverse participation, participant attributes, and externally dispatched issues over the past three WBFs. It adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data from various sources, such as official documents, in-depth interviews, and text mining. The study finds that the WBF has three main objectives: to disseminate the concept of BOSAI, promote the SFDRR, and encourage the diverse participation of stakeholders, especially civil society, in DRR. The results show that the WBF is gradually increasing its commitment to diverse participation and achieving positive results in encouraging non-expert citizen participation. It is suggested that a detailed analysis of the WBF would contribute to forming a platform with diverse participation, including the participation of non-expert citizens. Conversely, challenges remain in women’s participation, and content analysis is required to choose a platform that promotes diverse forms of participation.

The vulnerability of atoll countries to sea level rise underscores the pivotal connection between climate change and migration. This study examines the multifaceted challenges faced by such countries, including land loss, economic disruption, water contamination, and increased vulnerability to extreme weather events, and potential adaptation strategies, such as migration to developed countries and other islands, land reclamation, and floating platform development. The situation of the Maldives, particularly the creation of the artificial island of Hulhumalé, is explored as a case study. Hulhumalé is designed to alleviate congestion while addressing concerns about rising sea levels. This study employed a questionnaire survey and analyzed the data using importance analysis of permutation features and structural equation modeling following the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney tests. The results revealed that the key factors influencing resident satisfaction after migration were clean housing, resilience to natural disasters, sports facilities, and environmental quality. Adaptation strategies must be tailored to each country’s unique circumstances, considering the interconnectedness of environmental and socioeconomic factors in addressing climate-induced migration. Considering Hulhumalé as a model for climate change adaptation, concerted global action is necessary to mitigate the impacts of climate change and ensure the security and well-being of vulnerable populations.

This study aims to clarify the attitudes of each member state on disaster risk reduction (DRR), and the issues that need to be addressed in the international arena of DRR, to move forward with the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). To this end, we focused on the last three United Nations meetings of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) after the agreement on the SFDRR and analyzed the frequency of publication of official statements by each member state. In addition, the status of these official statements was analyzed in terms of the actual geographical distribution of disaster risk. We clarified that (1) the GPDRR is not necessarily aware of the situation and opinions of all member states; (2) the trends between the frequency of official statement publication and the actual amount of risk are not always closely related; (3) the member states in the Asian and Pacific Ocean region were more active in presenting official statements than those of other continents; in other words, the attitudes of Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and some African member states, which also have high disaster risks, were shared less frequently in the international arena; (4) some least-developed member states are actively making official statements and expressing their intentions despite the limited human and financial resources. The results of this study would be helpful for member states that have not yet made official statements in the past GPDRR to advance their official statement publication and situations in the international arena.

Whether national and local governments should assume larger financial responsibility for reducing disaster risk remains a controversial issue. Local governments lack resources to cover the full cost of managing mega-disasters and need assistance from higher level governments. However, national governments covering all costs may create moral hazards, discouraging local governments from investing in ex-ante measures. This study identifies national and local governments’ fiscal responsibility determinants for disaster management. Despite the differences between the federal system in the US and the centralized system in Japan, the two countries’ national governments share common practices. Both have continuously developed legislation to expand their financial responsibilities for relief and recovery efforts as disaster consequences have increased. We argue that despite major institutional differences in Japan’s unitary and the US federal government systems, both have expanded the areas covered by national assistance along with the amount over time. These findings bring with them recommendations for governments in an era of increasing extreme weather events due to climate change.

A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Marshall Islands among 308 citizens of Majuro in order to analyze the factors that led them to immigrate. Using the results from the questionnaire items that indicate the motivations for emigration as independent variables, we extracted the factors with significantly high correlation coefficients; they suggest that the desire to escape from the many obligations within the family and regional community are predominant push factors for migrating overseas while the economic disparity between the United State and their home countries are predominant pull factors. Independently, the Permutation Feature Importance was used to extract the salient factors motivating migration, which provides similar results. Furthermore, the result of structural equation modeling verified the hypothesis that an escape from many obligations and economic disparity is a major motivation for migration at a significance level of 0.1%.

The UN member states adopted three international agreements for the post-2015 agenda: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [...]

This study aims to understand people’s perceptions of COVID-19 risk in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian government enacted a health protocol campaign and highlighted the community as an important unit of protocol compliance. We hypothesized that people’s perception of the likelihood of being infected with COVID-19 is associated with health protocol compliance at the community level and their perception of community resilience. As the number of infected persons drastically increased, the “family cluster” also became a significant issue in the pandemic response, especially in Indonesia. In this study, we explored both community and family aspects that influence people’s perceptions. We conducted an online survey in March 2021 with 370 respondents residing in the Greater Jakarta area. The respondents were classified into four age groups (20s, 30s, 40s, and 50-and-over), with gender-balanced samples allocated to each group. We used a questionnaire to measure the perception of COVID-19 risk along with the Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measure (CCRAM). Multiple regression analysis revealed that family factors have a much larger influence on the individual perception of the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 than community factors. The results suggest that the link between family-level efforts against COVID-19 and individual-level perceptions cannot be separated in response to the pandemic.

This study aims to examine people’s perception of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and quantitatively clarify key factors towards realizing evidence-based policymaking. In March 2022, 400 participants responded to a survey conducted through Rakuten Insight. The authors applied an ordinal logistic regression (OLR), followed by principal component analysis (PCA), to create a new compound indicator (CI) to represent people’s perception of well-being during the pandemic in addition to ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with a forward-backward stepwise selection method, where the dependent variable is the principal component score of the first principal component (PC1), while the independent variables are the same as the abovementioned OLR. Consequently, while analyzing OLR, some independent variables showed statistical significance, while the CI provided an option to grasp people’s perception of well-being. Furthermore, family structure was statistically significant in all cases of OLR and OLS. Moreover, in terms of the standardized coefficients (beta) of OLS, the family structure had the greatest impact on the CI. Based on the study results, the authors advocate that the Japanese government should pay more attention to single-person households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 induced massive temporary relocation of the people in the Maldives, from the small atolls they lived in to nearby larger atolls. Once they were permitted to return home, some evacuees proved reluctant to leave temporary housing due to a better livelihood. On the occasion of the accident at the nuclear power plant caused by the tsunami brought by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, all the residents of Hirono Town in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, were forced to evacuate over a long period. Many of them lived in temporary housing built in Iwaki City in the same prefecture. Some of the evacuees, as was the case in the Maldives, showed reluctance to return home, on the ground that livelihood in the temporary housing was both convenient and enjoyable. It was a surprise for national and local governments because they assumed that those in temporary housing were uncomfortable and that the evacuees were keen to leave to return home. Differences in information existed between the evacuees and the government. This study aims to determine why such a disparity emerged and was left unrevealed. It also tries to reveal what the observed differences led to after the evacuees returned home. Furthermore, it examines the impact of mass media on the minds of the general public. It finds that the evacuees’ minds changed over time as they initially found themselves away from home, living in temporary housing and unhappy. Mass media conveyed unupdated and confusing messages to society, as if evacuees were actually unhappy. Society thus tended to regard the displaced as unhappy forever, while the evacuees found their livelihood in temporary housing comfortable or even enjoyable to the extent that some decided not to return home by becoming residents of Iwaki City. Society should be aware that evacuees’ idea and behavior may drastically change over time – even beyond their imagination.

This special issue presents the findings of an international collaborative research project conducted between 2019 and 2021. This study is a follow-up of a previous study conducted between 2016 and 2019. In both studies, we examined the livelihoods of future climate migrants, who may relocate from Pacific atoll countries to developed countries. The Maldives was also included in this study, as it developed a unique strategy to cope with anticipated sea-level rise. They have developed a new city on reclaimed land and elevated it, intending to move the majority of its population there. In our first research project, we learned of the challenges faced by Pacific Islanders when transitioning to their new lives in a foreign country. This included inter alia unemployment or lack of opportunities for upward mobility, limited access to healthcare and legal services, and discrimination. We thus developed a formal policy and legal framework for the concept of “Migration with Dignity,” built upon the phrase first coined by then-Kiribati President Anote Tong. Our framework represents the opportunity for migrants to live a life equal to or better than the one they left behind. We then applied our concept of the Migration with Dignity framework to the challenges faced by climate migrants in the real world. The global outbreak of COVID-19 occurred during the implementation of our new research project. This made field research almost impossible in both atoll and developed countries and led us to modify our survey methods to include tele-interviews and remote surveys through the Internet. The pandemic also revealed the exacerbated vulnerabilities of the people who migrated to developed countries, such as discrimination, poor or no translation of medical documents, and challenging healthcare processes. We decided to address these issues within the framework of our research. We leave it to the readers of this special issue to decide how far we were able to maintain the quality of our research despite the difficulties we faced due to the sudden pandemic. As we felt at the end of our last collaboration, we now know what we need to do in our next endeavor.

Migration is dynamic and varies greatly across the globe due to myriad factors, including demography, economy, geography, and environment. As people move, a number of challenges exist that can leave human rights and human dignity as an afterthought to the migration process. This special issue provides a legal and policy framework for supporting “migration with dignity,” providing examples of how to apply this framework across a number of contexts, including climate change, the migration cycle, and pandemics. COVID-19 has drastically changed mobility and migration in key spheres, such as transportation, travel, construction, and hospitality. Our research for this special issue was conducted between 2020 and 2021; therefore, we had the opportunity to witness a once-in-a-century global pandemic with direct impacts on migration inflows and outflows. Consequently, we have included pandemics as a key theme for consideration in this issue, believing that the research agenda should be informed by the assessment of impacts in both the atoll countries and in the United States – the most common “destination” of Pacific Islanders. This additional research revealed the vulnerabilities of migrants in the destination countries and in their home countries, vulnerabilities that would not otherwise have been apparent. Our research was also directly impacted by the pandemic. We intended to conduct field research in countries such as the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and the Republic of Maldives, with the RMI and FSM serving as countries of “origin” for migration to the United States. In the Maldives, there is a large domestic migration from the atolls to the newly constructed man-made islands. We experienced research and travel limitations due to COVID-19, where many countries have adopted strict isolation policies to prevent the spread of disease. Therefore, we had to conduct our surveys remotely using the Internet or by asking collaborators living in the area to conduct surveys on our behalf. Our special issue also touches on the issue of the intergenerationality of immigrants in terms of how migrants adapt or assimilate into the receiving society, and how the mass media plays a role in the perceptions of migrants and the perceived problems associated with immigration by host countries. Many opportunities remain for further exploration and research, including how migration has changed in the post-pandemic world. We intend to pursue these opportunities in 2022 and beyond.

Coastal communities are exposed to various environmental risks, including natural hazards such as storm surges and flooding. As climate change has escalated, the management of such dangers has grown in importance and urgency, particularly among states with long coast lines. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction have attracted attention from policymakers in Southeast Asia, which is one of the most disaster-prone regions. Coastal community resilience, however, is not determined by climate and disaster risks alone, but by other factors as well. Waste pollution is an environmental threat that may affect those who are dependent on marine resources. These multiple factors contribute to coastal resilience and are, in fact, addressed separately as different issues; therefore, conflicts or synergies in respective countermeasures often become oversights in the policy-making processes. Through a case study of key Philippine stakeholders, including fishing communities, we identified impacts of climate change, natural hazards, and waste on the livelihoods of community residents and the interplay among these factors. We aim to better understand the situation on the ground and contribute by improving policy recommendations for coastal communities. An integrated approach to enhance coastal adaptation is critical for maximising the effectiveness of the limited resources of communities.

This paper shares key findings from past studies on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) in Indonesia, to be used as inputs for future research. We used Google Scholar to identify the relevant articles for analysis. From the 297 results obtained, we selected 25 materials, which are reviewed in detail. We classified the findings in the selected literature into 4 topics. (1) Cases of PDNA implementation in Indonesia: many studies deal with the Indian Ocean Tsunami and the Central Java Earthquake. (2) Policy aspects: the previous literature demonstrated PDNA policies and regulations, on which not only the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) but also others (e.g., Ministry of Home Affairs) have primary jurisdiction. (3) Coordination of implementation: coordination by the local disaster management agencies (BPBD) when facing challenges. (4) Methodological issues: the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) methodology does not perfectly fit in practice. One of the most significant implications drawn from the review is that more research is needed to examine policy aspects. The existing studies tend to focus mainly on BNPB, and such BNPB-centric perspectives prevented a comprehensive identification of the relevant actors, leading to a narrow range of analysis on PDNA. Our review suggests that changing viewpoints, being mindful of the BNPB function, is beneficial for further understanding PDNA implementation in Indonesia.

This study aims to clarify the recent progress made by the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) as presented at the GCDS session of the World Bosai Forum/International Disaster Risk Conference 2019 (WBF2019) and the subsequent expert meeting and to discuss the next step for the GCDS. The authors also attempt to grasp the position of the GCDS among the disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities worldwide to find a clue for evaluating the recent progress made by the GCDS so far. First, the authors describe a fact regarding the session and the expert meeting followed by an observation focusing on their output in a qualitative manner. Second, the authors adopt a text mining technique to position the GCDS in relation to the other global DRR activities. The results suggest that the GCDS has steadily progressed in its activities, which were evaluated positively by the stakeholders at the GCDS session of the WBF2019 and the subsequent expert meeting. At the same time, some new challenges that the GCDS should cope with in the coming years were pointed out. Furthermore, the results of text mining that examined the corpora composed of the descriptions regarding the Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVCs) of the global DRR activities support the notion that the GCDS has been conducting its activities in a relatively common and less biased manner, which are also aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR). Thus, it can be concluded that the GCDS should keep moving forward with the current momentum that has contributed to the achievement of the recent progress.

We aimed to investigate how evacuation measures could be effectively implemented in the event of multiple disasters caused by natural hazards under conditions of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic, which is rapidly spreading worldwide. We conducted a review of literature focusing on complex disasters, entailing natural disasters in combination of outbreaks or endemics of infectious diseases. Using the Google Scholar search engine, we identified and reviewed 24 papers sourced from academia, governments, and concerned organizations, and associated data on such disasters, commencing with the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which occurred in 1995. In light of our review, we developed a summary of correspondences and problems linked to compound disasters involving conjunctions of outbreaks/endemics and natural disasters that could offer insights for developing measures to deal with natural disasters that occur in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We subsequently attempted to differentiate the characteristics of evacuation measures relating to COVID-19 from those relating to other infectious diseases using three sets of extracted keywords: (1) surveillance and information sharing, (2) evacuation center environment and stockpiled supplies, and (3) community disaster risk reduction and community leadership. We identified issues relating to evacuation measures that would need to be explored further to improve disaster management and preparedness in the future.

The Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) in Tohoku University was established in April 2015. One of its main missions is to support the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) in the monitoring and evaluation of progress by providing support at a national level for building the capacity to develop nationwide statistics on disaster damage and by establishing an improved global database for such statistics. The objective of this study was to find clues for the effective measurement of disaster damage utilizing disaster statistics. In disaster loss databases, we often encounter so many observed variables that it is difficult to establish how severe each disaster was in total. Thus, it was considered that introducing a whole new compound indicator to estimate the scale of each disaster properly would be beneficial. In this context, the authors conducted a principal component analysis (PCA) to introduce new compound indicators. The material data for the analysis were retrieved via the global disaster-related database (GDB) provided by the GCDS. Consequently, it was posited that the score of the first principal component, calculated by a PCA, could be an effective indicator to estimate the specific impact of a disaster. We believe that the findings and proposal of a new indicator in this study will contribute to the literature in that new clues to establish an evidence-based criteria and threshold of disaster data collection are provided.

Currently, structural equation modeling (SEM) is widely used in the discipline of social sciences because of its capability in exploring causal relationships among variables. By applying SEM, this study aims to verify the hypothesis that there exist three fundamental factors (religion, culture, education) that influence the perception of climate change. The researchers took advantages of the output results of the questionnaire survey that had been conducted both in Majuro, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and in Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, in an international collaborative research project titled “How Religion, Culture and Education Influence the Perception of People about Climate Change.” The results indicated that the two cases, namely RMI and Kiribati, were similar; that is the basic structure of both cases in the background of climate change bears some resemblance. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the path coefficient from education to the perception of climate change in the case of Kiribati (0.86) is much higher than that in the case of RMI (0.47). Thus, it is implied that education may significantly influence the perception of people about climate change and its implications, both in RMI and Kiribati. Based on this finding, it is advocated that further efforts should be devoted to education so that the perception of people about climate change and its implications can get much clearer.

Atoll countries in the Pacific, namely Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu, will become sources of climate migrants in the foreseeable future. This study aimed to examine if people in these atoll countries were, are, or will be ready to successfully relocate to foreign countries by re-establishing their lives and livelihoods in a new environment. An international collaborative research project was launched and implemented from 2017 to 2019. Case studies were conducted in Micronesia, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands as the origin of climate migrants and in Fiji and the USA as their destination. It was found that a number of legal tools and practical policy measures are available for countries to alleviate the struggles of environmental migrants, despite the lack of a comprehensive legal framework that protects environmental migrants by allowing them to move to other countries. In addition, 65% of the college and university students in the Marshall Islands indicated education as their primary reason to migrate abroad, followed by work (15%), health (8%), family (7%), climate change (3%), and natural disasters (2%). The ratios of students who wished to migrate because of climate change were similar between the Marshall Islands (3%) and Micronesia (4%), despite the fact that the former is an atoll country and the latter is mostly composed of “high-lying islands.” As for the migrants from the Marshall Islands and Micronesia to the USA, climate change was revealed to be a contributing factor for some in their decision to migrate, and more so as a factor for not returning home. It was also found that education had more influence than religion or culture on people’s perception of climate change and its implications in the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. The policy implemented in Vienna, Austria was proved to be effective in avoiding the emergence of society and culture-bound mental illness, which is inherent to large, isolated ethnic communities.

This study aims to investigate the attitude within Asia-Pacific countries towards disaster risk reduction (DRR) through text mining of the official statements of the 2018 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. The official statements can be considered as a proxy of the participating countries’ stances on DRR. As methodology, four different kinds of text mining techniques were adopted; namely, word frequency list, hierarchical cluster analysis, co-occurrence network, and correspondence analysis for the sake of quantitative content analysis. Consequently, the word frequency list showed that words such as “development (develop)” and “climate change” seemed to be distinctive of the conference focusing on DRR issues. The result of hierarchical cluster analysis seemed to imply that the participating countries, namely their governments, had appeared to be keen to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) along with their national DRR policies and to connect DRR with their development, while climate change had not been directly linked to the SFDRR and was stated as another global issue closely related to DRR. Considering that the SFDRR is closely related to the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, the observation of these contrasting results of the text mining analysis is a noteworthy finding. The result is also consistent with that of the co-occurrence network. The result of the correspondence analysis implied that the statement announced by Japan had appeared to have a characteristic feature in comparison to other statements. One possible reason for this is that there was no explicit reference to climate change, while the countries faced with disasters caused by climate change, such as those in the Pacific Islands, tended to focus on it.

A year has passed since the first special issue on the development of disaster statistics was published in the Journal of Disaster Research. The attempt to improve and utilize disaster statistics throughout the world is still in progress, although it is steadily moving forward. Under such circumstances, the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) at Tohoku University has also made advances in this area. The Centre participates in the Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) launched by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). This second special issue on the development of disaster statistics aims to publish the research results from the latest studies related to this topic. For the SFVC, the GCDS has committed to publishing this special issue of the Journal of Disaster Research towards the development of disaster statistics as for academic contributions. In addition, the publication of the special issue itself has a positive impact on the acceleration of research activity at the GCDS. In this issue, there seems to be two main categories of research questions; namely “development of the existing disciplined-based research,” and “analyzing various issues by means of questionnaire surveys.” Under the umbrella of the development of the existing disciplined-based research by means of disaster statistics, two disciplines are covered: river engineering, and international studies. The large number of studies based on questionnaire surveys acts as an excellent reminder of the effectiveness of a questionnaire survey when adopted as a methodology of disaster statistics. The guest editors hope that this second special issue on the development of disaster statistics would also contribute to the literature of disaster statistics and accelerate their development.

The World Bosai Forum was held at the Sendai International Center and Kawauchi Hagi Hall, Tohoku University, bringing together 947 participants from over 42 countries. This was nearly double the number of participants that we had initially expected. Proactive and meaningful discussions were held by a wide range of officials and experts from domestic and overseas industries, governments, academia, and private sectors, as well as by local citizens. From our partnership with the Asian Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction (ACUDR) and International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (USMCA), we had a total of 126 participants. We successfully created a platform for building international cooperation to share and resolve the current situation and handle various challenges for Bosai or disaster risk reduction. Practical and effective discussions have contributed to raising and promoting awareness of Bosai and the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 to the world from Sendai. Our first World Bosai Forum was concluded with productive outcomes, and its future meetings will be held every 2 years. The guest editors of this special issue are pleased to publish valuable academic papers presented at the first World Bosai Forum. As you may notice, this research stems from a wide variety of current issues. The nature of interdisciplinary approaches may be unique to the World Bosai Forum, and the guest editors hope that this special issue will contribute to enhanced recognition of the Forum.

A healthy community is a community resilient to disaster. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction considers disaster impacts on health and encourages the implementation of disaster medicine and access to mental health services. Life expectancy (LE) is a basic statistic that indicates public health achievements and social development, including the health system, infrastructure, and accurate vital statistics. Thus, we hypothesized that LE corelates with disaster risk and strategies to achieve long LE can help achieving disaster risk reduction. We compared the disaster risk obtained from Index for Risk Management (INFORM) with the LE of both genders at birth to identify which component of INFORM risk correlates with LE. A correlation analysis revealed that overall INFORM risk negatively correlated with LE. The natural hazard category did not correlate with LE, but the human hazard category, vulnerability, and lack of coping capacity negatively correlated with LE. In the vulnerability dimension, indicators of socioeconomic vulnerability, health conditions, and children U5 negatively correlated with LE. In the lack of coping capacity dimension, indicators of communication, physical infrastructure, and access to health care negatively correlated with LE. Japan has achieved the longest LE and a low INFORM risk because of its lower vulnerability and reduced lack of coping capacity, including healthrelated indicators. In a cluster analysis of LE and INFORM categories of risk, we divided countries into four clusters and found categories that could be improved. Compared with another global disaster risk index, the Word Risk Index (WRI), the INFORM risk index seems to represent the overall disaster risk better, though they have different aspects of risk evaluation. The WRI is also negatively correlated with LE, supporting our hypothesis. In conclusion, LE is an important indicator of disaster risk and strategies to achieve long LE can be effective and important strategies in disaster risk reduction.

Even typical system development models considered to be optimal for individual conditions are not always flawless. It is preferable to have clearly defined requirements of the end users when constructing a system. However, to construct the present Global Database (GDB) system, it was necessary to identify these requirements while conducting a status survey and analysis of the country that provided the data and drawing up suitable response guidelines, and to carry out system development at the same time. In this environment of continually changing system requirements, we selected the spiral model, which is used for system development, and applied it to the present construction task. We recognized various issues during the construction of the GDB, including the granularity of the collected data, the validity of the computed results, and the need for data other than disaster data. It was thus necessary to adopt an approach, based on the spiral model, in which the requirements were identified from the prototype. To follow up this study, it will be necessary to consider matters such as securing more flexibility, storing various data types (realizing an “iron stomach”), examining the issue of data access rights, examining the contents of the GDB’s automatic computation function, and creating added value to personnel charged with disaster response in each country. It will also be necessary to verify the validity of the approach of digging up unknown requirements from collected data.

After the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is adopted, a global database as a tool to monitor disaster loss and damage databases is required. Several disaster loss and damage databases are in use globally. This paper aims to explore how the existing databases vary in three aspects of threshold, spatial resolution, and data quality control, as well as the limitations of the existing databases. We review previous studies comparing the existing global databases and extract the differences and limitations. The threshold of EM-DAT is clear, but its threshold results in ignoring small-scale disasters that DesInventar captures. The differences in disaster threshold create different pictures of disaster losses and/or risks. Regarding spatial resolution, only DesInventar provides disaster impact data at a municipal level, while others provide information at a country level. The limitations of the existing global database are categorized into four aspects, as follows: lack of disaggregated data, limited spatial coverage and resolution, insufficiency of completeness and reliability of data, and insufficient information on indirect loss. The implication from our findings is that, in order to complement the limitations of the existing disaster loss databases to use for decision making on disaster risk reduction, the following are required: cross-checking of data across different databases; complementary disaster loss data; and collection of an exhaustive and firsthand dataset with a transparent and internationally consistent methodology by policy makers.

At the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNWCDRR) held in March 2015 in Sendai City, Japan, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), containing seven global targets, was adopted by 187 UN member states. With its outcome-oriented but non-numerical targets, quantitative approaches for monitoring disaster damage and loss by national governments became mandatory. The Global Centre for Disaster Statistics (GCDS) in Tohoku University was established in April 2015. The GCDS is expected to contribute to the evidence-based policy making by national and/or local governments. In addition, the GCDS aims at creating a synergy effect among academia, the UN organizations, and private companies in order to provide unprecedented values to all stakeholders worldwide. Under such circumstances, the special issue aims at publishing the research results obtained so far from the relevant studies that have been mainly conducted at the GCDS. The guest editors of the special issue are pleased to publish 13 valuable academic articles closely related to the activities of the GCDS, contributing to the development of disaster statistics. Based on the features of the 13 articles contained in the special issue, there seems to be three major categories of research questions. The first one is to investigate disaster statistics and/or global disaster-related databases. The articles of the first category contribute to the clarification of the characteristics specific to disaster statistics. The second one is to utilize disaster statistics in order to develop the existing discipline-based research. The articles of the second category are quite beneficial for establishing a new possibility of applying disaster statistics for the research so far. The third one is to analyze a variety of issues by means of questionnaire surveys. The articles of the third category are issue-oriented and interdisciplinary. Last but not least, the guest editors hope that the special issue would certainly contribute to the literature of disaster statistics and accelerate their development.

This study aims to examine common hidden factors in disaster loss statistics and identify clues for verifying the fitness of the global targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) to rule countries’ effort in reducing disaster risks. In this study, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modeling (SEM). As a result of the EFA, we were able to extract three factors, namely Housing, Casualties or Education, and Relocation. In the analysis of SEM, we assumed three latent variables based on the results of the EFA. The relationship between the latent and observed variables was established in a manner that conformed to the implications of the EFA. According to the SEM results, we eventually identified three latent variables, namely Housing, Education and Relocation, as hidden common factors. Based on this identification, our judgment indicates that the latent variables appeared to be related to the following global targets of SFDRR: (b) those concerning the number of affected people and (d) those concerning damages to infrastructure and disruptions to basic services. It was found that relationships between variables could be clearly illustrated by using the path diagram. This study can be considered as a good example of introducing SEM to visualize hidden common factors and their relationships in an intelligible manner. Based on the results, we propose a starting point for discussing the fitness of SFDRR’s global targets by utilizing EFA and CFA (SEM) techniques. The path diagram can indicate the extent to which the indicators contribute to global targets that will be represented as latent variables. In the end, explicit reference should be made to the material data’s limitations in the disaster loss statistics. An effort to elaborate the input data themselves must be made in the near future.

This study was conducted to characterize domestic and diplomatic difficulties of countries planning to commence trading of electricity. Iceland and Tajikistan are examined to highlight particular difficulties. Regarding Iceland, suspicion of public and private aluminum smelting industries and possible hikes of electricity rates constitute a major domestic issue, along with fear of foreign intervention. Tajikistan intends to boost national prestige by construction of the Rogun Dam, slated to be the tallest dam in the world. That plan irritates Uzbekistan, which assumes hegemony in the region. Iceland should assure that electricity trade with foreign countries should not engender hikes of domestic electricity prices. Transparency of information should also be assured for the conduct of the national power company. The Iceland government should avoid "politicizing" the issue: trade should be dealt with genuinely as a business matter. Tajikistan should assign priority to increased national income by selling electricity, not in boosting national prestige by the construction of a huge dam. Findings from this study suggest that governments should (a) clarify to the public what benefits might be secured by electricity trade, (b) not politicize electricity trade with foreign countries, and (c) not victimize any country in the region.