Japan’s ‘ibasho’ sense of belonging helps disaster survivors heal, study finds

Ibasho is the Japanese concept of belonging and social connection, which scientists now believe helps support long-term mental health recovery after disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake by helping people to rebuild their routines, relationships and meaningful roles in society.

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“Amid all the anxiety, people helped one another by sharing blankets and the like,” she said. “In our case, a friend whose home had not been damaged heard that our family was at the evacuation centre, came to pick us up and invited us to stay at their home, where we were taken care of for a few days,”  said 66-year-old Saito.

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Hidetaka Tamune from the department of psychiatry and behavioural science at Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo has studied ibasho and was the lead author of a paper on the concept published in the medical journal The Lancet on April 11.“Disaster recovery is not only about reducing acute psychiatric symptoms,” he said. “It is also about restoring the social environments that give people stability, dignity and a sense of purpose.”

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Focusing on the aftermath of the 2011 disaster, Tamune and his colleagues identified an increase in dementia consultations and symptoms of the disease among older adults near the evacuation zones of affected areas.In contrast, communities where older residents received help from ibasho-style programmes reported stronger recovery and more stable routines with improved social and family relationships, according to the team’s research.