Abstract

Japan is a country known both for its devastating natural disasters and its high level of community preparedness. However, while demographic pressures stemming from an aging society have led to a growing foreign population, scholars have paid little attention to understanding the levels of disaster preparedness exhibited by this group. Using representative data from the 2015 Nagoya City Foreign Resident Survey, this article is the first to explore variations in household disaster preparedness among Japan’s foreign residents. Although numerous factors were found to affect preparedness, the most important appear to be national origin, experience with disaster training, and exposure to disaster information. Japanese language proficiency, perhaps surprisingly, was of minor importance. We thus argue that a person’s cultural background and their exposure to information about local hazards affect their ability to identify and assess risk, which increases the likelihood that they will prepare their household for emergencies. This study not only provides insight into what might drive preparedness activities within foreign populations but also helps explain how migrants obtain disaster information. Its main implication is that Japan’s disparate migrant populations require a strategically varied approach when considering interventions to address disaster vulnerability.

中文翻译：

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影响日本外国居民家庭防灾的因素

摘要

日本是一个以毁灭性自然灾害和高度社区准备而闻名的国家。然而，尽管由老龄化社会引起的人口压力导致外国人口的增长，但学者们很少注意了解这一群体所表现出的备灾水平。本文使用2015年名古屋市外国居民调查中的代表性数据，首次探讨了日本外国居民的家庭备灾情况。尽管发现影响备灾的因素很多，但最重要的似乎是国家血统，灾难培训的经验以及对灾害信息的了解。日语能力的重要性可能微乎其微，这也许令人惊讶。因此，我们认为一个人的文化背景以及他们对当地灾害信息的了解会影响他们识别和评估风险的能力，从而增加了他们为紧急情况做好家庭准备的可能性。这项研究不仅可以洞悉可能导致外国人口内的备灾活动，还可以帮助解释移民如何获得灾害信息。其主要含义是，在考虑采取干预措施来应对灾害脆弱性时，日本不同的移民人口需要采取战略上多样化的方法。这项研究不仅可以洞悉可能导致外国人口内的备灾活动，还可以帮助解释移民如何获得灾害信息。其主要含义是，在考虑采取干预措施来应对灾害脆弱性时，日本不同的移民人口需要采取战略上多样化的方法。这项研究不仅可以洞悉可能导致外国人口内的备灾活动，还可以帮助解释移民如何获得灾害信息。其主要含义是，在考虑采取干预措施来应对灾害脆弱性时，日本不同的移民人口需要采取战略上多样化的方法。