Date and Time: October 31, 2024 (Thursday), 4:20 PM – 5:50 PM
Format: Hybrid
Venue: Saitama University
Participants: 80 (43 attended online)
Note: Archive video available on Saitama University’s YouTube channel

Speaker:Ms.Asano Fumie
Former Professor of Family Sociology, Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University
Visiting Researcher, Institute of Living Environment Sciences, Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University

Alumnus of Saitama University, Faculty of Liberal Arts; completed graduate studies at Hosei University, Graduate School of Social Sciences
Author of several works, including:
“The Great Kanto Earthquake: The Trajectory of Women Who Took Action to Support Servivers” (Seikatsu Shiso-sha, 2023)
“Women Leading the ‘Human Recovery’ Post-3.11: Exploring the Roots in Postwar History” (Seikatsu Shiso-sha, 2016)
Co-editor of “Creating Disaster Women’s Studies” (with Mutsuko Tendo, 2021, Seikatsu Shiso-sha)
Contributor to “Women Take Action: Support Activities with a Gender Perspective After the Great East Japan Earthquake” (edited by the Miyagi Women’s Support Documentation Group, 2012, Seikatsu Shiso-sha)

On October 31, the seminar “Disaster × Diversity: 101 Years Since the Great Kanto Earthquake: Reading Records of Women Who Took Action to Support Servivers” was organized by the Resilient Society Division of the Social Change Research Center and the Diversity Promotion Center at Saitama University. The event was co-sponsored by the Kanto District Division of the Natural Disaster Research Council.

Seminar Overview:
At the beginning of the seminar, Ms. Asano discussed the state of evacuation shelters across different time periods, starting with those partitioned by paper screens during the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, shelters during the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake, shelters from the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake on New Year’s Day, and shelters from the offshore Taiwan earthquake in April 2024. She highlighted persistent issues in evacuation shelters and emphasized the importance of collaboration between government and private sectors in normal times.

Ms. Asano then provided an overview of the damage caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, focusing on the plight of women. She elaborated on how certain groups, such as women constrained in the Yoshiwara Pleasure District and the factory girls of spinning mills, suffered disproportionately. She also shared insights from detailed unemployment surveys conducted at the time, noting stark gender differences in unemployment rates and subsequent policy recommendations.

In addition, Ms. Asano analyzed newspaper articles from the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, pointing out the prevalence of reports on sexual violence. She also highlighted the widespread circulation of rumors based on discrimination against Koreans as one of the most frequently cited challenges survivors faced immediately after the disaster.

In the latter half of the seminar, Ms. Asano discussed the specific activities of women’s organizations and other groups that supported disaster servivers after the Great Kanto Earthquake. She emphasized the importance of “human recovery,” which entails rebuilding lives and livelihoods, as well as the significance of building connections and networks. She highlighted valuable lessons that modern society can learn from the actions of women during that time.

Participants:
The seminar attracted a diverse audience, including students who attended as part of their coursework, members of the general public, university faculty, representatives from NPOs, private companies, and local government officials.

Participant Feedback (Selected Comments):

“I was reminded of the importance of learning from history, uncovering and passing on local records, and the crucial role women’s organizations played in transcending differences to support victims immediately after the disaster. This was new knowledge for me.”
“Thank you for the rich and valuable presentation. I was deeply impressed by the strength of women during the Taisho era and the importance of learning from history.”
“Through this seminar, I gained a deeper appreciation for the importance of applying lessons from the past to the future. The problems we see during disasters often reflect underlying issues in daily life, making it essential to address these issues proactively.” (Student)
“This lecture provided deep insights into the interconnected nature of societal issues—spanning both horizontal and vertical time axes—such as how disaster lessons may be exploited in wartime, how hate crimes intersect with gender, and the commonalities between past and present disasters.” (Student)