Japan is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. While many lives have been lost due to earthquakes, tsunamis, windstorms, and floods, Japan has learned lessons and accumulated and developed knowledge and technologies to protect people’s lives, society, and the economy. This report presents JICA’s activities 15 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Students at a Turkish junior high school earthquake-proofed with Japanese technology.
Japanese Technology Makes Turkish Junior High School Earthquake-Resistant
Let’s make our schools safe for everyone!”
On November 6, 2025, students read the slogan in unison at Ismet Inonu Middle School in Izmir Province, Turkey.
On that day, a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the seismic retrofitting of the school buildings. The ceremony was held before the completion of the earthquake-proofing of the school buildings. I am proud that Japanese technology can protect children’s lives. Ms. Riko Yamada of JICA’s Turkey Office, who attended the ceremony, expressed her deep emotion.
Ismet Inonu Middle School in Turkey, which has been earthquake-proofed.
Starting in 2023, Mr. Yamada is involved in a project to strengthen the earthquake disaster prevention capacity of the Turkish government. The seismic upgrading project of Ismet Inonu Junior High School, which is being carried out together with UNESCO and the Turkish government, is part of this project.
In this project, JICA introduced its diagnosis and design techniques to Turkish government officials, and the Turkish Ministry of Education adopted the “outer frame method,” which reinforces the building from the outside. Using this method, the facility can be earthquake-proofed while continuing to be used. This technology was developed in Japan, where the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake led to an increased need for earthquake-resistant public facilities such as schools.
Yamada-san says, “Both Turkey and Japan are located in earthquake-prone areas. Both Turkey and Japan are located in earthquake-prone areas. This earthquake-proofing initiative is very important. We will further deepen our cooperation and work together to create a project that will serve as a model for the rest of the world.
The Turkish government is highly appreciative of the results of this seismic retrofitting project. Compared to demolishing and reconstructing buildings, this project has significantly reduced both time and cost. The government intends to proceed with earthquake-resistant construction in schools across the country that are at high risk of collapsing.
JICA is pursuing similar initiatives in earthquake-prone countries such as Mongolia and El Salvador.
Ms. Riko Yamada (left) from JICA Turkey office
Reduced transmission of seismic intensity information from several tens of minutes to two minutes
In Indonesia, a project to strengthen the Indonesian Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics Agency (BMKG)’s earthquake and tsunami observations and dissemination of warnings and other information was implemented from 2022 to 2025.
The country experienced a series of tsunamis in 2018 following earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. JICA’s project aimed to solve this problem.
Akihiro Furuta, who served as project leader, said, “When we surveyed the site, we found that the seismographs were not properly installed and the observation data was not being used properly. In this project, we worked to improve the process of maintaining and managing the observation equipment, issuing earthquake information and tsunami prediction warnings, and disseminating the information,” he recalls.
Project members reviewing past observation data
Although the project was fraught with difficulties due to cultural and customary differences and coordination with many local agencies and departments within BMKG, as a result of the three-year effort, the transmission of seismic intensity information, which used to take several tens of minutes after an earthquake, was reduced to less than two minutes. In addition, to educate and enlighten local disaster management agency staff and residents, earthquake and tsunami information dissemination drills were conducted and educational materials on evacuation actions to be taken when a tsunami warning is issued were also prepared.
Japanese experts to provide guidance to local staff
Osamu Kamigakiuchi, who was in charge of technology, said.
How to prevent damage from earthquakes and tsunamis is a common challenge for people living in the Pacific Rim, and Japan is the country that has accumulated the most lessons. In this project, we have introduced a magnitude calculation program equivalent to the one developed by Japan’s Meteorological Agency and a countermeasure against large earthquakes, which have been made more accurate through reflection on and feedback from earthquake observations in Japan. These Japanese technologies will help protect the lives of many people.
Akihiro Furuta reporting on project activities in Indonesia = courtesy of the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics Osamu Kamigakiuchi = courtesy of the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climate and Geophysics
Communicating the Experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake
When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck in March 2011, JICA sent a support team to Tohoku and opened the Nihonmatsu JOCV Training Center as a shelter. JICA has also provided support to Higashimatsushima City in Miyagi Prefecture by dispatching a regional reconstruction promotion team. Based on our experience in the Tohoku region, we are also developing initiatives to convey the lessons of the earthquake to the rest of the world.
One such project is a grassroots technical cooperation project to understand the need for disaster reduction in the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The city was severely damaged by the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the local people have been facing issues of fading memories and declining awareness of disaster prevention.
Eri Hosoe of Nehama MIND (Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture), an organization that passes on memories of the disaster and was responsible for this project, said, “The Nehama area, which was severely damaged by the tsunami, is preparing for possible tsunamis in the future not only in terms of hardware, such as building seawalls, but also by raising disaster awareness through passing on memories. The people of Nehama are preparing for possible tsunamis in the future. We wanted to share our experience and know-how with the people of Aceh.
In this project, which started in 2022, two junior high schools in the area were designated as model schools. After learning about Kamaishi’s disaster prevention activities and recovery efforts, teachers prepared lesson plans and held workshops with students to develop tsunami disaster prevention programs. In the workshop, some students made a map of evacuation routes from a tsunami.
Mr. Hosoe recalls, “I was impressed by the words of one of the students who said, ‘If you are prepared for a tsunami, you can save yourself. It made me very happy.
Students writing out tsunami disaster prevention issues in a workshop (courtesy of Nehama MIND).
Yuji Sasaki, who lost relatives in the tsunami, shared his experiences as a training instructor. The lesson that Kamaishi City and the Nehama area have learned from the disaster is the importance of “thinking of the situation as one’s own,” whether it is disaster prevention or post-disaster recovery and reconstruction,” he said. Through this project, I believe that the people of Aceh have been able to develop an awareness of the need to carry out disaster prevention activities by themselves,” he said.
Eri Hosoe (second from left) and Yuji Sasaki (third from left) of Nehama MIND = courtesy of Nehama MIND
Contributing to economic development by solidifying the foundations of developing countries, and also to Japan
Kenichi Kobayashi, Manager of the Disaster Prevention Group, Global Environment Department of JICA, explains the significance of the disaster prevention-related projects being developed in various regions.
For developing countries, disaster reduction is not only about protecting people’s lives and livelihoods. By strengthening the foundation of a country, it can also help break the vicious cycle of poverty and ensure stable economic development. In addition, economic activities and manufacturing supply chains have become more internationalized in recent years. For example, when factories were submerged in the 2011 floods in Thailand, PC production around the world was halted and automobile plants in Japan were forced to shut down. In this day and age, it is important for Japan to reduce the risk of disasters in other countries.
Disaster experience to the world.
JICA’s efforts are also helping to reassure Japan.
© Source JICA