March 17, 2026, 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. MDT / March 18, 2026, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. JST
The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami at 15
A response worker stands amidst damage from the Great Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011. Muralonga / Shutterstock.com.
Webinar Description
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan. The event caused powerful shaking and triggered a series of destructive tsunami waves. Ultimately, more than 18,000 people perished, and thousands more were injured. Total economic losses were estimated between $235 billion and $468 billion, making it one of the costliest disasters in history. Further, widespread damage was recorded, including a historic nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami was a turning point disaster in Japan’s history, spurring profound changes in the nation’s approach to disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience.
This webinar will bring together some of Japan’s leading disaster research and resilience experts to mark the 15th anniversary of this triple disaster with a reflective and wide-ranging discussion of how it shaped research, policy, and practice. They’ll share insights from their own work, which ranges from social remembrance of tsunami victims and transformations in national disaster policy to new approaches for urban planning and housing reconstruction. They'll also discuss lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami that have been overlooked and opportunities to strengthen multi-hazard resilience in the future.
Moderator:
Shigeo Tatsuki, Doshisha University
Speakers:
Fuminori Kawami, Doshisha University
Kanako Iuchi, Tohoku University
Miwako Kitamura, Tohoku University
Taku Sugano, Osaka Metropolitan University
Tamiyo Kondo, Kobe University
Shigeo Tatsuki is a professor in the sociology department at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Tatsuki teaches disaster sociology, and served as the president of the Institute of Social Safety Science in Japan in 2014 and 2015. He has conducted community-based participatory disaster research on long-term individual recovery and societal and community responses to people with functional needs after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake, 2001 Geiyo Earthquake in Hiroshima, 2004 Typhoon Tokage in Northern Hyogo, 2004 Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake, 2007 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.
Fuminori Kawami is a sociological researcher focusing on disaster recovery and social support in Japan. His research investigates long-term recovery after major disasters, including housing and livelihood outcomes, disaster assistance, and life-course impacts of displacement and rebuilding. He has a strong interest in statistical causal inference and quantitative research design, and uses these approaches to examine how post-disaster policies and support mechanisms relate to recovery outcomes and inequality.
Kanako Iuchi PhD, is an associate professor at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science at Tohoku University, with over 25 years of experience in international development and planning research. She collaborates with agencies such as the World Bank to bridge the gap between planning theory and practical implementation. Her research explores long-term recovery and community adaptations in Japan, Indonesia, the U.S., and the Philippines, focusing on relocation/resettlement, land use decisions, and governance. She anchors her work around the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake as a central case study.
Miwako Kitamura is a specially appointed associate professor at Tohoku University’s Startup Incubation Center, a senior fellow (non-resident) at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and an honorary research fellow at the Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, University College London. Her research focuses on gender, social vulnerability, and community-based disaster risk reduction. Her work has been shaped by her volunteer experience during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and she continues to support disaster-affected communities in Japan, including after the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
Taku Sugano is an associate professor in the Department of Geography, Graduate School and Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka Metropolitan University. He is a human geographer and a clinical social scientist. Solving “wicked problems” like social issues has been his consistent theme, and he continues research and practice in the field supporting the impoverished and responding to disasters. He is an expert member of the Cabinet Secretariat's 'Advisory Council for the Preparation of the Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency', a member of the Cabinet Office's 'Study Group on the Support for Disaster Victims' and the special advisor to the Governor of Ishikawa Prefecture for the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
Tamiyo Kondo is a professor at the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University. She studies how multi-habitation dynamics as well as housing recovery and mitigation, post-disaster placemaking, and adaptive planning approaches influence residents' wellbeing and urban dynamics in the age of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.