On March 16, 2025, Associate Professor Hiroshi Kainuma’s research lab presented the results of the “Arakawa Ward Junior High School Survey” at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Disaster Information Studies.

The survey aimed to shed light on the information behavior and disaster awareness of the junior high school generation. It was conducted as a joint research project involving students from all 10 public junior high schools in Arakawa Ward, the Arakawa Board of Education, and Onisi Foods Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading manufacturer of emergency food supplies such as alpha rice.

In flood-prone Arakawa Ward, every junior high school has a designated “Disaster Preparedness Club,” which regularly engages in activities such as disaster prevention workshops and visits to areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. During the 2024 academic year, the Disaster Preparedness Clubs from all schools gathered twice for a “Disaster Preparedness Conference,” co-organized by Onisi Foods and the Kainuma Lab. In these workshop-style meetings, students identified key issues and subsequently created and distributed a survey. A total of 786 responses were collected from 9 schools (out of 3,305 total students enrolled in Arakawa junior high schools as of May 2024).

The research findings were presented by two second-year students from Oguhachiman Junior High School, Hiroto Tanaka and Rie Endo. They posed the research question: How can junior high school students contribute to local disaster preparedness? Their presentation included proposals for leveraging disaster information infrastructure based on the actual media usage of the “SNS-native generation,” as well as the necessity of promoting awareness around stockpiling emergency supplies, especially in light of potential large-scale disruptions that may leave many people unable to return home.

Their proposals challenged conventional wisdom—such as the common advice that “in a disaster, rely on radio or use public payphones if mobile phones are down.” The students argued, based on their generation’s experience, “We’ve never actually seen a physical radio, and we’re not sure how to use a payphone.” This sparked a lively discussion with the audience, highlighting the generational gap in disaster preparedness assumptions.

The joint research drew considerable public attention and was covered by NHK’s Metropolitan News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Kyoiku Shimbun, and Kyodo News, among others. It served as a pioneering example of cross-sector collaboration in disaster education—bringing together local government, corporations, boards of education, schools, and research institutions. The Kainuma Lab aims to continue serving as a hub for such innovative partnerships, driving further progress in both research and education.

Text：Hiroshi Kainuma (Associate Professor)
English proofreading: David Buist (Project Senior Specialist)