scholarly journals Leadership and Factors Enabled the “Group Allocation” which Preserved Pre-existing Local Social Ties in Prefabricated Temporary Housing After Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE)

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s145-s145
Author(s):  
Kanako Masuno ◽  
Ken Osaka ◽  
Jun Aida ◽  
Yuichi Uchiumi ◽  
Tsuneaki Iguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Group Allocation

Introduction:Social isolation and death alone in the prefabricated temporary housing after a disaster has been a social concern. The importance of social ties among the community has been suggested and several reports pointed out the positive effect of “group allocation” which preserves pre-existing local social ties compared to the “lottery allocation”.Japan Red Cross Society recommended “group allocation” as a better option than “lottery allocation” on their guidelines. However, many municipalities carried out “lottery allocation” for temporary housing arrangement after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE).Aim:To collect the information about the accelerating factors and bottlenecks when practicing the “group allocation”.Method:In-depth interview was conducted between August and November 2013. Interviewees were the professionals of disaster management, individuals who were involved in arranging the prefabricated housing and the residents. This research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in Japan.Results:This study found the municipality which carried out “group allocation” had characteristics such as: (1.) the staff in charge of housing arrangement had the information about the positive effect of “group allocation”, and (2.) pre-existing community leaders were able to gather residents’ opinions, and citizens were involved in the decision making to some content.Discussion:Although this study is based on the experience of a limited number of key persons, it would be useful to give the insight about the possible bottleneck for the practitioners who will be in charge of housing arrangement under the disaster setting in future. Also, the relevancy and evidence about “group allocation” should be carefully examined in the context of preventing social isolation as well as various long-term effects. It would be essential that the knowledge and experience will be accumulated and shared between municipalities in a usable and comparable format.

scholarly journals Living Condition Relating to Social Isolation and Suicidal Thoughts Over 65 Years Old Living in Prefabricated Temporary Housing After the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE)

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s146-s147
Author(s):  
Kanako Masuno ◽  
Rika Ohtsuka ◽  
Kamada Nobuko
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Living Condition ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Suicidal Thoughts ◽  
Potential Factors

Introduction:The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and subsequent devastating tsunami struck the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. According to the previous studies about displaced evacuees, increases in suicide rates and social isolation (especially among older adults) have been reported. However, the living condition of residents at prefabricated temporary housing after GEJE is unclear.Aim:To explore potential factors which might relate to social isolation and suicidal thoughts among older adults by using a qualitative method.Methods:Inclusion criteria for this study were older adults over 65 years living in prefabricated temporary housing since the GEJE. Data were collected by face-to-face-interviews with semi-structured questionnaire between October and December 2014. The protocol of this study was approved by the Ethics Board of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology. This research was supported by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan (No.H25-iryou-shitei-003).Results:Twenty older adults participated in the study. Most of them had been engaged in agriculture or fishery and experienced the sudden loss of family members, friends, and property in the aftermath of the GEJE. Findings indicated that social connections formed through the collective construction of prefabricated temporary housing. The study found that individuals who had less emotional and financial support experienced a greater feeling of sadness, social isolation, and suicidal thoughts. The study also suggested that people who live in temporary housing are strongly affected by economic insecurity and that it aggravates the risks for social isolation and psychological distress.Discussion:Although there were limitations regarding standardization and compatibility, this research found that the qualitative method can obtain the data which the quantitative method cannot reach. Scale-up of universal guidelines including the knowledge from qualitative research and case report under the devastating disaster setting is anticipated for better evidence base for next coming disaster.

scholarly journals Offshore Outsourcing Teacher Inservice Education: The Long-Term Effects of a Four-Month Pedagogical Program on Japanese Teachers of English

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melodie Cook
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Offshore Outsourcing ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Education Culture

This longitudinal study tracked five public junior and senior high school Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) who were sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to study English and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) pedagogy at a host university in Canada. This qualitative case study found that teachers who were not bound by practical constraints such as grammar-based entrance examinations or external influences such as a perceived need to conform to the practices of colleagues were able to incorporate what they had learned in Canada. However, high school teachers facing these constraints tended to abandon new practices in favor of traditional teaching methods such as grammar translation. These findings suggest that JTEs do benefit from overseas study, but that the extent of what they can incorporate into their regular teaching practice depends on the context in which they teach. The findings imply that host program planners and instructors could benefit from a closer look at constraints faced by third-year public high school teachers in particular, as it is they who face the greater number of obstacles to incorporating CLT into their regular teaching practice.

scholarly journals Moving from prefabricated temporary housing to public reconstruction housing and social isolation after the Great East Japan Earthquake: a longitudinal study using propensity score matching

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e026354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Sekiguchi ◽  
Yoshihiro Hagiwara ◽  
Yumi Sugawara ◽  
Yasutake Tomata ◽  
Fumiya Tanji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Propensity Score Analysis ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Score Analysis ◽  
Socially Isolated

ObjectivesAfter the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) of 2011, many survivors have been forced to live in prefabricated temporary housing, which is uncomfortable and insufficiently durable for permanent living. Public reconstruction housing has been built to improve their living conditions; however, those moving have to rebuild personal relationships and adapt to a new environment. This study examined whether survivors moving to public reconstruction housing became more socially isolated than those remaining in prefabricated temporary housing.Design, setting and participantsSelf-report questionnaire data collected in 2015 (4 years after the GEJE) were used as the baseline for follow-up surveys in 2016 and 2017, as many survivors moved from prefabricated temporary housing to public reconstruction housing from 2015. We analysed longitudinal data from 393 survivors, distinguishing those who moved to public reconstruction housing during the 5th year after the disaster from those who remained in prefabricated temporary housing. Participants were assessed using the Lubben Social Network Scale-6 (LSNS-6) in all three surveys, with social isolation defined by a score of <12/30. To reduce the effect of selection bias, propensity score analysis was performed (178 of 393 participants were retained). We used a generalised estimated equation to evaluate the association between moving from prefabricated temporary housing to public reconstruction housing and changes in social isolation over 2 years.ResultsLSNS-6 scores of the reconstruction housing group were worse than those of the prefabricated housing group between 4 and 6 years after the GEJE (P=0.006). Over the same period, social isolation worsened in the reconstruction housing group but improved in the prefabricated housing group (P=0.002).ConclusionsSocial isolation should be monitored while supporting survivors who moved to public reconstruction housing, and further longitudinal research is needed to clarify the risk of social isolation.

Re-Increased Male Suicide Rates in the Recovery Phase Following the Great East Japan Earthquake

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatsugu Orui
Keyword(s):  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
Great East Japan Earthquake ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Period Analysis ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Male Suicide ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference

Abstract. Background: Monitoring of suicide rates in the recovery phase following a devastating disaster has been limited. Aim: We report on a 7-year follow-up of the suicide rates in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred in March 2011. Method: This descriptive study covered the period from March 2009 to February 2018. Period analysis was used to divide the 108-month study period into nine segments, in which suicide rates were compared with national averages using Poisson distribution. Results: Male suicide rates in the affected area from March 2013 to February 2014 increased to a level higher than the national average. After subsequently dropping, the male rates from March 2016 to February 2018 re-increased and showed a greater difference compared with the national averages. The difference became significant in the period from March 2017 to February 2018 ( p = .047). Limitations: Specific reasons for increasing the rates in the recovery phase were not determined. Conclusion: The termination of the provision of free temporary housing might be influential in this context. Provision of temporary housing was terminated from 2016, which increased economic hardship among needy evacuees. Furthermore, disruption of the social connectedness in the temporary housing may have had an influence. Our findings suggest the necessity of suicide rate monitoring even in the recovery phase.

Perspectives: Guilt, Missed Opportunities, and False Role Models: A Look at Perceptions and Use of the First Language in English Teaching in Japan

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Resource Teachers ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Creative Pedagogy ◽  
Necessary Evil

At the start of the 2013 academic year, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) implemented the guideline set forth in their latest Courses of Study, dictating that English classes “should be conducted principally in English in high school” (MEXT, 2009, p. 8). The new Courses of Study, although not imposing a strict target-language-only rule, are still reflective of the past dogma that takes what Macaro (2001) calls a maximal position wherein the L1 is a necessary evil rather than a pedagogical resource. Teachers and institutions espousing such a view undermine language learning progress by engendering undue guilt for responsive and responsible teaching decisions, inhibiting creative pedagogy, and discouraging teachers from acting as positive and realistic bi/multilingual role models. 日本の文部科学省は、現行版学習要領に記載された「高等学校の英語教育授業を原則として英語で教えること」（文部科学省, 2009, p. 8）という方針を2013学年度に施行した。対象言語のみの使用を徹底するという厳格な規則にはなっていないものの、新学習要領は、Macaro（2001）がmaximal positionと呼ぶ「母語（L1）の使用は教育上の必要悪である」とする考えを反映している。このような見解を広める教師及び教育機関は、柔軟かつ責任ある教育的決断に対して過剰な罪悪感を生み、独創的な教授法を抑制し、教師が積極的で現実的に対応できるバイリンガル・多言語が使いこなせる模範者として活躍することを阻害し、それによって外国語教育の進歩を妨害する。

Establishing a model to demonstrate physical and mathematical properties of chromatin fibres in fission yeast cells - Research in the Molecular Biophysics Lab at Hiroshima University

Impact ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-91
Author(s):  
Shin-ichi Tate
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Cellular Events ◽  
And Function ◽  
Education Culture ◽  
Open The Doors

The field of molecular biology has provided great insights into the structure and function of key molecules. Thanks to this area of research, we can now grasp the biological details of DNA and have characterised an enormous number of molecules in massive data bases. These 'biological periodic tables' have allowed scientists to connect molecules to particular cellular events, furthering scientific understanding of biological processes. However, molecular biology has yet to answer questions regarding 'higher-order' molecular architecture, such as that of chromatin. Chromatin is the molecular material that serves as the building block for chromosomes, the structures that carry an organism's genetic information inside of the cell's nucleus. Understanding the physical properties of chromatin is crucial in developing a more thorough picture of how chromatin's structure relate to its key cellular functions. Moreover, by establishing a physical model of chromatin, scientists will be able to open the doors into the true inner workings of the cell nucleus. Professor Shin-ichi Tate and his team of researchers at Hiroshima University's Research Center for the Mathematics on Chromatin Live Dynamics (RcMcD), are attempting to do just that. Through a five-year grant funded by the Platform for Dynamic Approaches to Living Systems from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Tate is aiming to gain a clearer understanding of the structure and dynamics of chromatin.

scholarly journals The institutional structure for decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

2021 ◽  
pp. 014664532110153
Author(s):  
Hajimu Yamana
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi ◽  
The Government

This paper does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. This article describes the institutional structure established for decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To deal with the aftermath of the unprecedented nuclear accident in Fukushima, several responsible institutions such as Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) have worked together at the initiative of the Government of Japan. In this structure, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) implements the decommissioning due to its legal responsibility, while the essential direction and milestones are set by the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters of the Government of Japan. Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation, a government-affiliated organisation, oversees and facilitates the decommissioning by TEPCO, and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority regulates safety from an independent standpoint. The main basic elements essential for the success of this long-term project have been developed, such as the technical strategy, financial system, and organisational capability. Decommissioning is making progress.

scholarly journals Effects of Organic Energy Crop Rotations and Fertilisation with the Liquid Digestate Phase on Organic Carbon in the Topsoil

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1393
Author(s):  
Karin S. Levin ◽  
Karl Auerswald ◽  
Hans Jürgen Reents ◽  
Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Energy Crop ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Liquid Digestate ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Positive Effect

Combining organic farming and biogas production from agricultural feedstocks has been suggested as a way of achieving carbon (C) neutrality in Europe. However, as the long-term effects of C removal for methane production on soil organic carbon (SOC) are unclear, organic farmers in particular have questioned whether farm biogas production will have a positive effect on soil fertility. Eight years of data from an organic long-term field trial involving digestate fertilisation and various crop rotations (CRs) with differing proportions of clover-grass leys were used to calculate C inputs based on the CANDY model, and these modelled changes compared with measured changes in SOC content (SOCc) over the same period. Measured SOCc increased by nearly 20% over the eight years. Digestate fertilisation significantly increased SOCc. Fertilised plots with the highest proportion of clover-grass in the CR had the highest SOCc. The C inputs from clover-grass leys, even if they only made up 25% of the CR, were high enough to increase SOCc, even with the removal of all aboveground biomass and without fertilisation. Our results show that biogas production based on clover-grass leys could be an important part of sustainable farming, improving or maintaining SOCc and improving nutrient flows, particularly in organic farming, while simultaneously providing renewable energy.

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