Teaching Japanese “BOSAI” in New York:

The Potential of Utilizing NHK’s Disaster-Preparedness Content

January 2019

Takanobu Tanaka (Media Research Department)

Column by Ayumi Takita (The Japan Foundation)

NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute

Summary With a series of major natural disasters occurring around the world, enhancing disaster preparedness has become an international agenda. Japan is notably a disaster-prone country and has technologies and knowledge accumulated through a number of disaster experiences in the past. An international cooperation is underway to make use of such Japan’s know-how in “BOSAI” (disaster preparedness) in overseas countries, too. In September 2018, the Japan Foundation held workshops on disaster education in a public elementary school in Brooklyn and Parsons School of Design in New York. Hirokazu Nagata, Japanese expert on disaster-preparedness education, was invited to hold workshops to give his lessons incorporating hands-on learning. As a teaching material, Mr. Nagata effectively used NHK’s content Tsukutte Mamoro (How to Craft Safety). The BOSAI-themed content introduces video clips of how to make useful items at times of disaster from daily goods, such as turning garbage bags to ponchos. Although there are different disaster-preparedness needs depending on countries and regions, Tsukutte Mamoro has a good reputation for visualizing the BOSAI know-how with videos in an easy-to-understand manner. Unlike visible cooperation activities such as emergency assistance right after a disaster or restoration and reconstruction assistance, it is not easy to share the idea of BOSAI—being well-prepared before a disaster occurs—with overseas people. This is because attitudes towards disasters and cultural or social backgrounds are different. This paper reports the effort to spread the idea of Japan’s BOSAI in New York that utilized NHK’s BOSAI content. 1. Introduction From Emergency Support to “BOSAI” Cooperation

It has been nearly fifty years since Japan started to provide international cooperation in times of disasters. The scope of activities has extended from emergency medical aids immediately following the occurrence of disasters to the support of recovery and reconstruction. On the other hand, Japan has always asserted the importance of “BOSAI (disaster-preparedness)” – being well-prepared before a disaster occurs. In 1994, the first United Nations (UN) World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction was held in Yokohama. The Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World, which was adopted at this conference, declared that in addition to ex-post measures after the disasters occur, “prevention” was necessary in advance in order to maintain sustainable development. Though the strategy called for the establishment of disaster prevention systems in participant countries, the reaction was not entirely positive.

A decade later, the Second UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Kobe in January, 2005, immediately after an earthquake occurred off the west coast of Northern Sumatra in Indonesia, causing massive tsunamis along the Indian Ocean and resulting in over 220,000 fatalities. The Hyogo Framework for Action adopted at this conference stated that “use of knowledge, innovation and education shall be used to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels.” In the Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction, which was adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015, the goal of attempting “to promote a culture of disaster prevention, … generate understanding of disaster risk, … and to encourage public and private stakeholders to actively engage in such (disaster prevention) initiatives” was incorporated into one of the items. As major natural disasters occur in succession across the globe, awareness of “BOSAI,” or making provisions for disasters in advance, is rising. Japan’s international cooperation has now extended to include the establishment of disaster-preparedness systems, and the promotion of disaster-preparedness education and culture. The target of these activities has also spread, from the people who are affected by disasters and officials in charge of disaster-preparedness at national and local governments to the general public. The Difficulty of International Cooperation in the Field of Disaster-Preparedness International cooperation in terms of disaster-preparedness education involves difficulty due to cultural barriers. The types of natural disasters and the extent of damages vary according to countries and regions, and there is a wide divergence of awareness levels among the people. The main purpose of disaster-preparedness education is to remember past disasters, to correctly understand the risks of disasters as well as the meaning of alerts and forecasts, and to prepare and be ready at all times to take appropriate measures in case of emergencies. Therefore, disaster-preparedness education will neither be embraced nor take root in the hearts of the residents as their own culture unless it is localized specifically for each country or region. Various international cooperation institutions and organizations in Japan are making continued efforts abroad, by holding disaster-preparedness training sessions, assisting in the development of disaster-preparedness education material suited to local needs, and providing games for learning to take appropriate measures at times of disasters. This report will introduce two cases of disaster-preparedness education which were provided in New York at the end of September in 2018. These projects were conducted by the Japan Foundation, and Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, the chief director of Plus Arts, an NPO which develops educational material on disaster prevention, was invited as the lecturer. To date, Japanese disaster-preparedness education has focused on so-called developing countries; areas frequently hit by natural disasters, such as Asia or Central and

South America. This time, however, disaster-preparedness education focuses on developed countries, and was held in mega city of a highly developed country. In both cases, the content used was Tsukutte Mamoro (How to Craft Safety), NHK’s disaster-preparedness content produced under the supervision of Mr. Nagata. A full description of Tsukutte Mamoro will be provided in Section 3. 2. Current Situation of Disaster-Preparedness Education Case 1: Disaster-Preparedness Workshop at Public School 147 (PS 147)

Photo 1 Public School 147

First, I would like to introduce the disaster-preparedness workshop that was held at Public School 147 (photo 1) in Brooklyn, New York, which is attended by approximately 300 children. It is the only public school in New York that offers Japanese language classes taught by Ms. Kayo Kudo, a Japanese teacher. Mr. Nagata, who was to conduct this disaster-preparedness workshop, is known for workshops geared to provide practical disaster-preparedness know-how in a game-like and fun atmosphere. The workshop conducted on this day was the second of its kind, the first having been held in February 2018 for the second-grade class supervised by Ms. Kudo. During the February workshop, children made plates out of newspapers in the manner of making origami. This was a method introduced in NHK’s Tsukutte Mamoro. The American teachers, who had been a little apprehensive about the workshop for lack of any concrete images on disaster-preparedness education, seemed relieved when they saw the children enjoy themselves as they worked. The second workshop was held at the auditorium for 1st to 5th graders, followed by sessions for 5th graders in their classrooms. At the workshop held at the auditorium, Mr. Nagata used photographs of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake to enable children to imagine what happens when disasters occur.

However, out of consideration for any negative effects the photos may have on the children, Mr. Nagata was careful to avoid selecting photographs that may inspire fear. The children then watched the videos of NHK’s Tsukutte Mamoro. They clapped in delight as they watched ponchos made out of garbage bags, beds from cardboard boxes, and soup bowls from newspaper covered with plastic bags. The children then tried making the ponchos themselves. They seem to have learned that they have no choice but to devise creative solutions when disasters occur and things that they usually take for granted become unavailable. Gap in “BOSAI” Awareness between Japan and the U.S. In the workshop for 5th graders, Mr. Nagata went further in teaching the children how to cope during disasters; he taught them how to deal with a broken arm. The method he introduced uses a folding umbrella or similar solid stick (if none is available, roll newspaper into a stick) to support the broken arm, then a plastic grocery bag is hung from the neck in place of a triangular bandage, through which the arm is slipped. Prior to the workshop, when Mr. Nagata and Ms. Kudo discussed whether or not to teach this method, there was a discrepancy in perception; Mr. Nagata claimed that in Japan, “self-help,” “mutual assistance,” and “public assistance” were considered important at times of disaster, and that Japanese disaster-preparedness education taught the importance of “mutual assistance” in the absence of public assistance. This is due to the fact that a great number of people were rescued by their neighbors during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake before the arrival of fire fighters and Self-Defense Forces. However, Ms. Kudo explained that rescue operations would be conducted by professionals in New York elementary schools, and voiced concern that teaching children how to deal with a broken bone may invite criticism from other teachers as going too far. This gap in perception is due to the difference in priority in terms of the form of danger the children need to prepare themselves for. In New York, where natural disasters are not as immediate a threat as in Japan, crime prevention is a higher priority. A manual for dealing with emergency situations is posted in all classrooms, which was made by the New York City Board of Education. The manual describes what to do in case a fire or crime occurs, such as intrusion by suspicious individuals, but does not include the occurrence of natural disasters. For example, children are taught what to do when the school is intruded by a gunman or receives a bomb threat, and drills to this end are conducted periodically. While crime is perceived as a familiar risk for the school, the positioning of disaster-preparedness for natural disasters was not clear. In crime prevention, it is important to “first protect oneself,” and then to “wait for professional help.”

In the end, Mr. Nagata explained that help should be left to professionals if there are any available. “But when natural disasters cause great damage, professional help is offered to the more heavily injured. Even if you suffer a broken bone, ambulances may not be available, and hospitals may not be functioning. In such cases, people need to cope on their own.” He then went on to teach the children how to deal with a broken arm. The local teachers looked on, but there was no criticism as feared. One of the children explained that what impressed him most about the workshop was the triangular bandage. “If a disaster occurs, I feel that I can help me and my family survive,” he said. Continuing the BOSAI Classes Another key move was made at this elementary school workshop; local American teachers took charge of the final session of the workshop. Mr. Nagata was originally scheduled to teach this session, but as there were two classes, he suggested that the homeroom teacher supervise both sessions. This was because Mr. Nagata believed that localization was critical for disaster-preparedness education to take root, and that in order to continue disaster-preparedness classes, local teachers need to develop the skills to conduct classes. Ms. Carmen Rosario, a 5th grade homeroom teacher, took the example of a hurricane and had the children imagine what it was like to evacuate from such a disaster. In addition, she discussed with the children what they should put in their evacuation bags, and where they should keep the bags. It was the first time for Ms. Rosario to teach a class on BOSAI, and she commented that it was a very enlightening experience for herself as well. After the session, Ms. Rosario gave homework to the children, which was to have a talk with their family about what items to put in the family evacuation bag. This is a movement that extends the idea of disaster-preparedness from the school to homes and local communities. Ms. Sandra Noyola, the principal of PS147 pointed out that it must have been a new experience for the children to see everyday items being used for other purposes, as in Tsukutte Mamoro, and praised Mr. Nagata’s workshop, saying, “Though the workshop is about disasters, it allows children to enjoy learning about disaster-preparedness without inspiring fear.” She also expressed her hope that the children will grow as human beings through disaster-preparedness education, stating that she wanted them to learn to help not only themselves but also to help each other out at times of disasters. This elementary school plans to continue holding BOSAI classes in the future.

Case 2: Disaster Education at Parsons School of Design

Photo 2 Parsons School of Design The second case concerns education geared for college students at the Parsons School of Design (photo 2）located in Manhattan, NY. Parsons School of Design is a school with a student body of approximately 4,300, and has produced a number of famous designers, winning the reputation of being one of the top art schools in the United States. In the autumn of 2017, a one-week intensive course was held at Parsons with Mr. Nagata as visiting lecturer, based on which students created designs on disaster-preparedness. Once again, Tsukutte Mamoro was used during this intensive session. Students assumed the extent of damages from floods and blackouts that may occur should a hurricane strike New York, and designed products that would be helpful in such situations. It is obvious that some of the items on exhibit have been inspired by Tsukutte Mamoro, as can be seen in the way the makeshift sweater bag is made. One student commented that Tsukutte Mamoro is exciting because it is creative and has similarities with DIY, which Americans love so much.

Photo 3 Students from across disciplines attending the disaster-preparedness design class

Now in its second year at Parsons, classes had come to be conducted entirely by the professors of the college while Mr. Nagata looked on. For example, since many people in New York have pets, students were assigned to create designs for pets at times of disaster. Ideas from students included items such as an easy-to-build pet-carrier box to be used during evacuation. It was interesting to note that a class on disaster-preparedness design was now being offered for the length of an entire semester (photo 3,) instead of a short-term intensive course. In this course, students spend one whole semester focusing intensely on disaster-preparedness design. Needless to say, it was the college professors who were conducting the class, not the visiting experts from Japan. Students taking part in this class came from across the bounds of discipline, such as architecture, lighting design, industrial design, and product design. What stood out was the fact that a large number of foreign students were participating in this class. Parsons has students from over 100 countries, with the largest non-American student proportion of 43 percent in the United States. In the disaster-preparedness design class, the agenda for the semester was to design disaster-preparedness items which will be useful when disaster occurs in a specific area. When I visited the school in September, the new semester had just started, and students were still in the process of checking out natural disasters that occurred in the areas of their interest. Many of the students were thinking of disasters outside the United States; a Vietnamese student was studying the flooding of the Mekong River, while students from India were looking into past disasters in their home country. This implies that the current effort by Parsons has the potential to spread, not only throughout the United States but across the globe. Robert Kirkbride, the Dean of Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments, explained that it was not merely a question of creating marketable designs or becoming famous designers; the aim of the school was to contribute to society through design. He earnestly commented that though disaster-preparedness education by visiting Japanese experts may come to an end, the school’s own classes on disaster-preparedness design will be continued next year and beyond.

3. NHK Video Being Used in Disaster-Preparedness Education

This report introduced 2 cases of disaster-preparedness education in New York, both of which were conducted as a part of school education. Unlike people concerned with disaster-preparedness and disaster-preparedness influencers, it is difficult to win the understanding of ordinary students and children on the importance of disaster-preparedness Against such a backdrop, Tsukutte Mamoro, a video clip on disaster-preparedness produced by NHK, had been used in both of the abovementioned cases. Tsukutte Mamoro was produced in the spring of 2017 for the smartphone app “NHK News BOSAI,” to introduce, in video format, knowhow that will come in useful at disaster sites. There are 25 short video clips in all, each lasting for less than 1 minute and introducing creative ideas for coping with disasters, such as making ponchos out of garbage bags and shining a flashlight from underneath a PET bottle filled with water to make a provisional lamp.

Photo 4 Plastic bottle lamp in Tsukutte Mamoro and its website. NHK developed the ideas for these videos with the contribution from experts on disaster-preparedness and the general public. Out of several dozen ideas that were scrutinized for safety by journalists experienced in covering natural disasters, as well as being supervised by Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, 25 video clips were produced. The videos have been translated into 5 languages to date, including English, Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian (photo 4). 4. Conclusion We have discovered that NHK’s disaster-preparedness content was being used

effectively in disaster-preparedness education overseas. NHK World JAPAN, NHK’s international broadcaster, has been producing a radio show on BOSAI once a month since April 2017. The program is available in 17 languages, and aims to give a better understanding of Japanese BOSAI knowhow to listeners overseas. In August 2018, a website introducing

BOSAI knowhow was launched (photo 5). This site contains radio reports on disaster-preparedness and BOSAI quizzes, as well as Tsukutte Mamoro video clips. In the past, NHK has cooperated with foreign broadcasters to build the capacity for emergency broadcasting geared to saving lives. However, the use of NHK’s contents in disaster-preparedness education for the general public is a new development. We hope that this trend will continue to spread in the future.

Photo 5 NHK World JAPAN’s BOSAI website Disaster-preparedness education is not something that yields immediate visible results.

The cases mentioned in this report have only just started, but we felt that the teachers at these schools were enthusiastic about continuing disaster-preparedness education. Will the elementary school in Brooklyn succeed in spreading disaster-preparedness education from children to their families, from families to the local communities, and then on to other schools? What kind of designs will the graduates of Parsons School of Design actually create and commercialize once they go out into the real world? Because a culture of disaster-preparedness is not something that can be fostered overnight, we will need to consider its ramifications in the long run. (Takanobu Tanaka)

（Column）International Contribution through Disaster-Preparedness and Design

Ayumi Takita, The Japan Foundation

Amidst a number of natural disasters occurring throughout the globe, the Japan Foundation has continued to support the cooperation and concerted efforts among countries in sharing their experiences. Some examples include interpersonal exchanges in support of the recovery of New Orleans after the striking of Hurricane Katrina, and the sharing of disaster-preparedness knowledge and expertise with countries in Southeast Asia, which have suffered from a number of natural disasters.

In Japan, frequent attempts are being made to disseminate knowledge on disaster-preparedness acquired from the experience of past disasters. Under the leadership of Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, who has long been involved in such activities, original and innovative disaster-preparedness activities that were formulated in Japan and Southeast Asia have been exhibited under the title, “Earth Manual Project” (Kobe, 2013)1).This project travelled to Thailand and the Philippines between 2014 and 2016 in cooperation with the Japan Foundation. Our primary concern in introducing Japanese disaster-preparedness efforts to other countries is to incorporate processes that match the disaster type and lifestyle of the area, so that the interpersonal exchange can be sustained over a long period of time. Finding local partners who are willing to work hand-in-hand is one of the biggest challenges we face. The fact that Parsons School of Design, one of the most renowned institutions of higher education in the field of design in the United States, took an interest in disaster-preparedness education was a major driving force in New York. Professors from Parsons, who happened to visit the EMP exhibition travelling through Thailand, regarded the exhibition highly for its social significance, and strongly insisted that they would like to introduce this concept in the United States as well. Upon receiving this proposal, we spent 3 years planning an exhibition with Parsons, and conducted classes with Mr. Hirokazu Nagata acting as lecturer. In addition, apart from our association with Parsons, we worked with local educational and government institutions to plan and implement exchange activities at various levels, such as panel exhibitions at the U.N. and disaster-preparedness education workshops at a local elementary school. It was during this process that NHK’s Tsukutte Mamoro came in extremely useful. These video clips introduce ways to protect oneself with everyday items in an easy-to-understand manner, providing an intuitive, rather than verbal, understanding. The intensive course on disaster-preparedness offered at Parsons, which was an interdisciplinary class, was the first of its kind to work on a single theme across the 10 design programs including architecture, product design, and lighting design. Therefore, at the planning session where the 10 program

directors come together, some expressed skepticism as to the question of whether, and how, an interdisciplinary topic should be taken up in the first place, and whether BOSAI is a suitable topic at that. However, after a viewing of Tsukutte Mamoro, the program directors praised the program as “very easy to understand, providing students with hints for consideration and inspiring creative motivation.” In the end, over 400 students addressed the question of “How should design face disasters?” over a period of 2 years. They designed items to be used at times of hurricanes and blackouts, based on methods used in Japan, and exhibited their final results. To sum up these efforts, the exhibition tour “Earth Manual Project: This Could Save Your Life” opened in New York in September, 20182). This exhibition shared ideas on disaster-preparedness developed in Japan, the U.S., and Southeast Asia. One visitor said, “The idea that you can be creative with everyday items and make use of them can be applied to various situations. I would like my family to see this exhibition, too.” Though this exhibition was only a waypoint, the power of its appeal and its ramifications were immeasurable. This was due to the fact that it was a collaborative effort with Parsons, where excellent students and experts come together from all over the world. With the help of these designs, people who previously had no interest in Japan or disaster-preparedness had the chance to learn and think about disaster situations. Natural disasters can strike anyone at any time, including myself, but people tend to look away from this reality. That is why eye-catching designs are significant as an intermediary in spreading the idea of disaster-preparedness. Disaster-preparedness in Japan, as represented in Tsukutte Mamoro and Mr. Nagata’s activities, is a compilation of lessons learned from the voices of disaster victims. Even though I myself am a victim of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, there is much that I wish I had known at the time. Many people overseas also related to this concept, which led to the spreading of a new network through this series of projects. Parsons is currently considering ways to continue disaster-preparedness education independently. This, however, is only the first step. Though it is unclear what these efforts will lead to, hopefully this project will take root and continue to grow. I hope that many people will get the chance to learn about Japanese disaster-preparedness through this exchange, so that they can contribute to the creation of a disaster-resistant society through further international cooperation. (Acknowledgments) We would like to thank the creators and architects, KIITO (Design Creative Center Kobe), the Permanent Mission of Japan to the U.N., and the Japan Society for their cooperation in this project.

1）http://www.earthmanual.org

2）https://www.newschool.edu/parsons/all-exhibitions/?id=17179878158