Local Residents Empowerment in Post 3.11 Community Reconstruction-Creating Disaster Game"Crossroad:Oarai"

The devastating and lingering effects of the accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant have exacerbated the already complicated and difficult process of recovery from the 2011 Tôhoku Earthquake. Because even experts sometimes provide totally different views on the safety of radioactive contamination, the boundary between scientific truth and misconception has been blurred considerably. It caused that residents in affected areas avoid to face the problems of radioactive contamination and harmful rumors about nuclear crisis. For resolve this problem, we conducted to develop an Oarai version of the “Crossroad” Disaster Game called “Crossroad: Oarai”. The original “Crossroad” game is an educational risk communication tool that presents players with dilemmas faced by a diverse range of actors dealing with the aftermath of and responses to the Great Hanshin earthquake. Participants deepen their understanding of disaster prevention, reduction, reconstruction, and recovery by answering yes or no questions about these dilemmas. The new version we developed is based on the experiences of residents during and after the 2011 Tôhoku Earthquake in Oarai town Ibaraki prefecture Japan. This community suffered the tsunami and radioactive contamination and harmful rumors about nuclear crisis. The questions created by Oarai people including hotel operators, fishers, housewives, and town officials, starting during the earthquake and tsunami and continuing through the recovery. In this study, we held the “Crossroad :Oarai ”gaming workshops in Oarai and used narrative analysis to clarify the residents’ concern through this approach. We found out that local residents who concerned about the negative perspective from society rather than the real damage affects from disasters. Through this game, residents communicated to each other and shared the variety views in community. This study also showed an empowered communities approach for local communities to shape decision-making and set the agenda.