Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Hotels as Shelters After a Landslide

Objectives: On July 3, 2021, a landslide occurred in part of Atami City, Shizuoka, Japan. Methods: The government of Shizuoka Prefecture requested the dispatch of Shizuoka Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (S-DMATs). Results: On day 2, the evacuees were evacuated into 2 hotels (A and B). Hotel A accommodated over 570 independent and dependent evacuees. Hotel B accommodated 44 dependent aged individuals, who lived in the same long-term health-care facility, together with their 11 caregivers. The evacuees in hotel B returned to the previous facility on day 10 without any specific medical problems. The evacuees in hotel A were managed in the guest rooms as family units. Individuals requiring care in guest rooms in hotel A became isolated because they could not call for help or walk. Furthermore, hotel guest rooms were not barrier-free. The S-DMATs supported the evacuees. Conclusions: Independent evacuees received the maximum benefits from the use of a hotel as a shelter. In contrast, it was difficult for dependent evacuees to benefit from the hotel as it is as a shelter when living alone in the hotel. Dependent evacuees required appropriate support to eat, walk, use the toilet, and keep themselves clean when using a hotel as a shelter.

Riptortus.

R. pedestris causes up to 54% reduction in lipid content in soybean seed (Bae et al., 2014) and 8% seed sterility in soybean in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (Ikeda and Fukazawa, 1983). In another study, Kadosawa (1981) estimated 6.2% soybean damage in Northern Honshu and 26% in Shikoku, Japan. R. pedestris also transmits yeast-spot disease (Eremothecium coryli) in up to 81.6% of immature soybean seeds in Kyoto, Japan (Kimura et al., 2008). R. linearis damage on soyabean in India is reported to be 30-40% (Kashyap and Adlakha, 1971). R. linearis is estimated to cause (along with two other pod feeders) 19-39% pod and seed damage on soyabean in Indonesia (Supriyatin, 1992). In Nigeria, R. dentipes and Anoplocnemis curvipes cause 20-39% pod damage on Vigna unguiculata (Khaemba, 1984).

A Fifty-Year Experience of Groundwater Governance: The Case Study of Gakunan Council for Coordinated Groundwater Pumping, Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Groundwater protection, which is effected by multiple actors at multiple levels using multiple instruments, is commonly termed “groundwater governance”. Although the concept has attracted increasing attention since the 1990s, several of its associated measures remain to be fully implemented. Most are still inchoate strategies and improvement is expected to be a gradual, long-term process. The Gakunan Council for Coordinated Groundwater Pumping (CCGP), which was established, in 1967, in Fuji City in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, is an exceptional case. The Gakunan CCCP was created to deal with a common-pool resource problem where massive groundwater pumping caused seawater intrusion in the city’s coastal area due to the low cost of extraction and incomplete groundwater ownership. The Gakunan CCCP succeeded in recovering elevation of groundwater tables by connecting efforts between the public and private sectors, including information sharing, legal authority to regulate groundwater, investment in alternative water supplies, internal subsidies between groundwater users, and charge for water disposal. Previous studies have iterated that the fostering of participation from various stakeholders and dividing labor between them appropriately are key elements of successful groundwater governance. This paper investigates these factors, explores the importance of the metagovernor as coordinator, and offers a fresh perspective on the significance of groundwater governance.