How disaster preparedness education builds the ability to protect lives

In Japan, where earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and other natural disasters are observed more frequently than other countries, children grow up learning to recognize and respond to disaster risks from an early age. Schools have long played a central role in this effort, implementing disaster preparedness education, including evacuation drills and a variety of other programs, over many years.

In Japanese schools, disaster preparedness education is considered a part of safety education and is highly valued as an interdisciplinary learning opportunity. Evacuation drills based on disaster scenarios are positioned as schoolwide educational activities, like school events such as sports festivals, under tokubetsu katsudo or student-led activities, specifically within the category of health, safety, and physical education events. (See “Undokai (“Sports Day”) Actively Directed by the Children Themselves,” HIGHLIGHTING Japan, December 2025 issue)

For example, in social studies, pupils learn about the features of their local geography and past natural disasters, while in science, they study the mechanisms and patterns of natural phenomena that can trigger such events. Drawing on the knowledge from different subjects, pupils gradually cultivate the skills and awareness needed to protect their own lives through hands-on training and practical drills.

We spoke with MORIMOTO Shinya, the current Director of the Iwate Prefectural Library and former Safety Education Research Officer at the Education Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). He was involved in disaster preparedness education as a junior high school teacher in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, and, following the Great East Japan Earthquake, has worked to promote safety education. He shares his insights on disaster preparedness education in Japan.

I believe the distinctive feature of disaster preparedness education in Japan lies in its ultimate goal. The objective set by the MEXT goes beyond simply teaching pupils to protect their own lives. It also emphasizes safeguarding the lives of those around them and, furthermore, aims to cultivate the competencies that enable pupils to contribute to the safety of society.

According to MORIMOTO, this philosophy is gradually cultivated in line with pupils’ development. It begins with learning to protect one’s own safety, then, in elementary school, extends to considering the safety of friends and family. As children progress through junior and senior high school, their focus broadens to the safety of the wider community and society, where they learn how they can actively contribute.

“For example, at Kamaishi-Higashi Junior High School in Kamaishi City, students took part in a volunteer initiative on disaster preparedness. Mixed-age groups were formed, led by third-year students, allowing them to put into practice what they could do for local disaster preparedness,” explains MORIMOTO. (See “Social Skills Nurtured Through a Culture of Autonomy and Collaboration in Japanese Schools,” HIGHLIGHTING Japan, December 2025 issue)

“Activities included training in transporting injured individuals, conducting emergency meal (takidashi) drills, and creating ‘safety cards’—an idea conceived by the students themselves. These cards, which indicate that all members of the household have already evacuated, were handmade by the students and distributed throughout the community.”

These activities help instill in children the awareness that they, too, can play a role in protecting society’s safety.

Education that nurtures this spirit of mutual support is a defining feature of disaster preparedness education in Japan. Nurturing a sense of individual responsibility for societal safety is considered essential for enhancing the disaster resilience of entire communities.

In addition, disaster preparedness education in Japan extends beyond schools, involving families, local communities, the police, fire departments, and NPOs in a coordinated effort. According to MORIMOTO, in recent years, the idea of ‘community schools or school management council system’ has been expanding nationwide as a mechanism to further strengthen this collaboration.

“Specifically, schools are working with local residents to conduct evacuation shelter management drills and create disaster preparedness maps.”

These activities help children develop the ability to think about how to protect themselves.

“In the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, reported cases highlighted the effectiveness of such collaboration with local communities. Centered on Ogi Junior High School in Noto Town, Ishikawa Prefecture, the school and community had been working together on disaster preparedness activities since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, aiming for ‘zero casualties.’

“Since local residents had repeatedly participated in evacuation drills with the students, they were able to evacuate to higher ground without hesitation when the earthquake struck on January 1. At the shelters, junior and senior high school students took the initiative in caring for younger children, putting their daily learning into practice,” says MORIMOTO.

Disaster preparedness education, which nurtures children’s ability to think, make decisions, and take action on their own, not only equips them with the skills to survive but also lays the foundation for building a society where people live together in safety. Guided by this philosophy, such education is practiced in schools across Japan and continues to be passed on to future generations.