◆We are hosting the 8th Sukumo Bay University Public Online Roundtable (Mini-Symposium): "The Nankai Trough Earthquake and Community Disaster Preparedness"
Date:
We are pleased to announce that an online Zoom discussion (mini-symposium), held as part of Kochi University’s general education course “Environmental Studies of the Tosa Sea: Reflections on the Sea around Kashiwajima,” will be open to the public. Details are as follows:
Record
The 8th Sukumo Bay University Online Roundtable Discussion (Mini-Symposium)
"The Nankai Trough Earthquake and Community Disaster Preparedness"
Date and Time: Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (tentative)
Location: Online via Zoom
対象者：大学院生、その他学生・教員や、学外の方も興味をお持ちの方ならば、どなたでも歓迎です。
How to Participate: We will provide a Zoom ID to anyone who wishes to participate.
We will send this via email, so please enter the required information using the form at the URL (or QR code) below by 5:00 PM on Monday, September 29 (students enrolled in the "Environmental Studies of the Tosa Sea" course do not need to do this).
URL: https://forms.office.com/r/YALLqgZ4JM
*Please note that the personal information you provide in this form will not be used for any purpose other than contacting you or tracking participants in the roundtable discussion.
[Contents]
Presentation: "Challenges Facing Kashiwajima and Disaster Preparedness in Anticipation of the Nankai Trough Earthquake" (Yu Kanda)
Lecture 1: "Kuroshio Town’s Earthquake and Tsunami Countermeasures: Aiming for Zero Casualties" (Atsushi Murakoshi)
Lecture 2: “Preserving the Pride and Way of Life of the Satoumi: How to Bridge the ‘Everyday’ and the ‘What If’” (Tomofumi Otsuki)
Panel Discussion (Titles omitted)
コーディネーター：石筒覚（高知大学地域協働学部准教授）
Panelists (in alphabetical order):
大槻知史（高知大学地域協働学部教授）
Yu Kanda (Chairperson, Kuroshio Experience Center, NPO)
Atsushi Murakoshi (Chief of the Information and Disaster Prevention Division, Kuroshio Town Hall)
[Overview]
On August 8, 2024, following a major magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the Hyuga Sea off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special advisory regarding the Nankai Trough earthquake (warning of a massive earthquake), causing widespread concern throughout Kochi Prefecture.In particular, coastal areas are predicted to be struck by massive tsunamis in the event of a major Nankai Trough earthquake, raising critical questions about how to evacuate quickly, navigate the ensuing chaos, and minimize casualties.
Kashiwajima, where fieldwork in marine environmental studies in Tosa is conducted, is also predicted to be hit by a tsunami within a few minutes to about 20 minutes if a Nankai Trough earthquake occurs, making it necessary to evacuate quickly to higher ground. However, there are many elderly residents on Kashiwajima, and it is predicted that narrow alleys could become blocked by collapsed buildings, raising concerns about whether a swift evacuation will be possible.Furthermore, Kashiwajima attracts many tourists during the peak season who come to enjoy diving and swimming, making the question of how to guide tourists to safety a major challenge.
For this mini-symposium, we have invited Mr. Atsushi Murakoshi, who is in charge of disaster prevention at the Kuroshio Town Hall in Kochi Prefecture—where tsunami evacuation is also a major challenge—to speak about the town’s disaster prevention initiatives. In Kuroshio Town, the town has been divided into 14 districts, and 190 town employees have been assigned to serve as “district disaster prevention coordinators,” working alongside residents to develop disaster mitigation strategies.Since Kuroshio Town is projected to face tsunami waves reaching up to 34 meters, the town has implemented physical infrastructure measures, including the development of evacuation sites and 260 evacuation routes leading to them. Additionally, for areas where residents cannot evacuate to these sites within the estimated arrival time, the town has constructed six tsunami evacuation towers for vertical evacuation.As for soft measures, the town has created “household-specific tsunami evacuation records” for approximately 3,800 households in areas expected to flood, sharing risks with residents to prepare for disasters. Additionally, resident-led voluntary disaster prevention organizations are responsible for enhancing the community’s disaster resilience.
On Kashiwajima as well, voluntary community initiatives are becoming increasingly important in areas such as assisting the evacuation of the elderly during disasters and providing food and water in the event that the bridge connecting the island to the Shikoku mainland collapses.
In this roundtable discussion, we will use the case of Kuroshio Town—where disaster preparedness measures have drawn nationwide attention—as a starting point to discuss the role and challenges of local communities in responding to a Nankai Trough earthquake.