Twenty-six years have passed since the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated Kobe and caused serious damage in wide areas around the port city in western Japan on Jan. 17, 1995.

The disaster engendered a new culture of volunteering in Japan. The quake is known as the first major disaster in this nation in which a large number of volunteers engaged in such work as helping clean up debris and distributing food to the victims.

It also catalyzed the establishment and development of a system for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to support the operations of evacuation centers and coordinate volunteer work by registering volunteers from across the nation and deploying them to places where their help is needed.

But the new coronavirus pandemic is threatening to undermine this system by forcing nationwide restrictions on travel and other human activities. The situation demands a major review of the approach to volunteer work to support disaster relief.

Huge natural disasters that affect a wide swath of Japan, such as the predicted mega-quake along the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast, would leave many areas battered but without immediate access to aid from other parts of the country. In response to the changing circumstances, it is vital to devise new ways to tap local resources more effectively.

Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV), an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) devoted to disaster relief support, is rising to the challenge. In addition to its traditional mission of deploying staff members to disaster-stricken areas, PBV has also started stepping up its efforts to help regions beef up their recovery and reconstruction capabilities by training more regional volunteers.

After the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, suffered serious damage from Typhoon No. 19 in 2019, PBV helped set up and operate an “information sharing council” involving both public- and private-sector organizations, including the local Social Welfare Council, the municipal government, NPOs and temples.

Since PBV staff left the city last spring, leading members of the council have been working with the new disaster relief support network, which is in the making.

In Chiba Prefecture, which in 2019 was also hit by two major typhoons including No. 19, work is still ongoing to cover the roofs of damaged houses with blue tarps and replace damaged tarps.

A PBV member living in Tateyama, a city in the prefecture, is working to secure local volunteers to assist in the effort by offering opportunities to experience it with the help of local fire-fighting authorities, as preparation for another disaster. 

There are various ways for residents in disaster-hit areas to support others in the areas.

Kumamoto Prefecture faced a manpower shortage after it was deluged by torrential rain last summer as the pandemic prevented it from accepting volunteer workers for disaster relief assistance from outside the prefecture.

Local volunteer groups decided to recruit paid workers locally for such tasks as removing mud. The recruitment was carried out jointly by a special program involving NPOs working together to support reconstruction of the region by providing people who work on the side and a team of local architects and other experts to assist Kumamoto.

The NPO program, which mainly targeted people who were jobless or on temporary leave from work, paid 5,000 yen ($48) for a day’s work. The team of experts recruited students who could work during daytime hours when manpower was in especially strong demand by offering 5,000 yen in cash plus 1,000 yen worth of meal coupons that could be used at local restaurants.

These programs were designed to support both people affected by the torrential rain disaster and workers and local businesses that had been hit hard by the pandemic. A total of 1,400 people worked under these programs, which were partly funded by more than 25 million yen in donations from around the nation.

There is no reason to stick to the principle that volunteers who work for disaster relief should not receive any money for their work. A growing number of people involved in such activities are becoming open to the idea of paying compensation to volunteer workers. Plans to provide public funds for such activities should be considered.

The realities of disaster-hit areas and social circumstances of volunteer work change over time. New ideas and practices are constantly required to respond to these changes.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 17