Japan: All Iwate Prefectural Assembly members seeking disaster prevention qualification in national first

In a national first, all 46 members of the Iwate Prefectural Assembly in northeast Japan are trying to acquire a special disaster prevention qualification, building on the lessons learned from the deadly Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that struck the prefecture in March 2011 and killed more than 6,000 people.

The assembly members hope to receive the "bousaisi" (disaster-prevention specialist) certification by the end of the current fiscal year ending in March 2019. If they do so, it will be the first time for all members of a prefectural assembly to obtain the qualification, according to the body offering it.

The qualification was established in 2003 by the private Japan Bousaisi Organization following the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 that devastated western Japan and killed 6,434. Applicants must take a course organized by a training institution certified by the organization, and score 70 percent of higher in a paper test. Those who pass the exam must complete lifesaving training at a fire department or other such facility. As of the end of October this year, over 157,000 people had received the qualification.

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