No abstract

Community engagement and involvement is an essential component of managing and responding to disasters. In Japan, greater community involvement and increased participation of its citizens has been encouraged through the machizukuri initiative. The machizukuri are local community councils that played a pivotal role in the recovery efforts following the Tōhoku Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GETET) that devastated much of northern Japan in 2011. However, their role in those efforts is not well understood.Thus, the aim of this study was to better understand the role and impact of local communities in responding to and recovering from disasters through examining the role of the machizukuri following the GEJET. An exploratory approach was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eight key decision-makers involved in recovery efforts. Key themes were identified including the overwhelming nature of the GEJET for which Japan was unprepared, and while the central government enacted their disaster management plans, responses were slow and failed to address local priorities. To compensate, the local community and machizukuri assisted and successfully united the local community to fill a gap left by the centralized governments’ approach. It is an example of an effective bottom-up approach to address a critical issue. However, the efforts were hindered by a lack of coordination between the various government bodies and aid organisations as well as communication failures that prevented a more coherent response. Recommendations were made to assist countries to remediate these shortcomings and respond more effectively to disasters.

This paper investigates experiences of how local cultural norms and social capital influenced the disaster relief process following the 2011 GEJET disaster. To underline social capital’s multiple‐influence aspects, this paper draws from field research that focuses on collective and individual social capital in disaster relief to systematise the findings according to the social capital framework. The paper uncovers new effects of individual social capital and collective capital in a mega-disaster context, thus contributing to pushing the research agenda toward a more critical appraisal of individual social capital and collective capital. We contribute to the nascent but growing literature that clarifies the relationship between social capital and disaster resilience. A qualitative study was conducted to capture the essence of their shared experiences. Findings revealed three main themes capturing the essence of the research participants’ disaster experiences. First, disaster response relied mostly on locally driven relief due to a clear understanding of the local culture. Second, there was an urgency to establish a sense of normalcy by providing quality supplies that would help survivors. Third, Japanese gender roles and expectations were reflected in the disaster relief process. The themes establish a wide array of lived experiences that are important to reflect on the role social capital plays in the policy-making and needs assessment processes in post-disaster relief and response efforts. The findings provide insights for integrating social dimensions into a humanitarian aid culture as citizens work towards a sense of normalcy.

In crisis and disaster management research, social capital is often examined to understand the impacts of disasters and crises on society. This paper investigates experiences of how local cultural norms and social capital influenced the disaster relief process following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) disaster. To underline social capital’s multiple‐influence aspects, this paper draws from field research that focuses on collective and individual social capital in disaster relief to systematise the findings according to the social capital framework. The paper analyses the 2011 GEJET to uncover new effects of individual social capital and collective capital in a mega-disaster context, thus contributing to pushing the research agenda toward a more critical appraisal of individual social capital and collective capital. This research contributes to the nascent but growing literature that clarifies the relationship between social capital and disaster resilience. A qualitative study using in-depth interviews with eight humanitarian professionals was conducted to capture the essence of their shared experiences. Using a thematic analysis, findings from the study revealed three main themes capturing the essence of the research participants’ disaster experiences. First, disaster response relied mostly on locally driven relief due to a clear understanding of the local culture. Second, there was an urgency to establish a sense of normalcy by providing quality supplies that would help survivors. Third, Japanese gender roles and expectations were reflected in the disaster relief process. The three themes establish a wide array of lived experiences that are important to reflect on the role social capital plays in the policy-making and needs assessment processes in post-disaster relief and response efforts. The findings provide insights for integrating social dimensions into a humanitarian aid culture as citizens work towards a sense of normalcy. The findings present new knowledge on humanitarian workers’ experiences concerning social capital influence and disaster relief. Comparing the emerging themes of the research to the framework of social capital, the study provides a broader and deeper understanding of the application of culture and social capital to disaster relief in the aftermath of a major disaster