Logic behind Life Reconstruction in the Mt. Unzen-Fugen Eruption Disaster

Areas that sustain damage in a natural disaster are forced to choose between restoring the original area and relocating to another area in order to reconstruct residents’ lives.  At the same time, SABO plan (erosion and sediment control) are undertaken in damaged areas in preparation for another disaster.  In the initial stage of minimization of disaster loss, people unite and undertake one direction in order to defend their life.  However, in the life reconstruction stage, individual issues emerge such as family structure, livelihood, economic conditions, and disparities in degree of damage, making it difficult for the whole community to keep in step.

      Following the establishment of the Basic Act on Disaster Control Measures, the Mt. Unzen-Fugen eruption disaster was the first disaster to establish a hazard area in a residential area. This report focuses on the villages that fell within the SABO dam site under the plan to prevent expansion of eruption damage to central city. People in these damaged area faces two major issues. One was that the village was divided up into areas included in the SABO dam and areas that were not. The other was that the villages included in the SABO dam had to make the difficult decision to dissolve their community and vacate their homes. People consented to these unacceptable terms at an early stage because people feared prolonging a decision would cause a delay in the construction and result in a man-made disaster.

Furthermore, villages were against moving to reclaimed land on the coast provided to them by the government.  Concerned with the reconstruction of their way of life, they found their own land for relocation. This report seeks to clarify requirements for life reconstruction in this area pertaining to the issue of having to relocate due to disaster prevention projects.