January 14, 2026 News

[Notice] "21st Century Disaster Mitigation Society Symposium"

Our special advisor, Jin Sato, will be participating as a panelist at the "21st Century Disaster Mitigation Society Symposium" to be held in Sendai on Friday, January 23rd, entitled "Protecting Lives from Tsunamis: 15 Years Since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Lessons Learned for the Next Mega-Earthquake ."

Date and Time	Friday, January 23, 2026 (Reiwa 8) 13:00-16:30
venue	Sendai City War Damage Reconstruction Memorial Hall (Aoba Ward, Sendai City) (Map: PDF)
How to participate	Application to attend : Apply using the button below [ Registration required . Limited to the first 150 people. Participation is free ] Visitor participation application Apply for online viewing : Apply using the button below ( registration required . A viewing URL will be sent to registrants). (Viewing period: from the day of the event until January 30th (Friday)) Online viewing application
Content	○Keynote speech : "Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake: Protecting Yourself from the Threat of Tsunamis" Lecturer Fumihiko Imamura (Vice President of Tohoku University and Professor of Tsunami Engineering at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science) ○Reading : (Sendai City officials and citizens' experiences of the earthquake) Reader ：Team Sendai (a group formed by volunteer Sendai city employees) Panel discussion coordinator Takashi Mikuriya (Director of the Research Strategy Center, Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute / Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo) Panelists : Katsuya Yamori (Vice Director and Professor of Disaster Prevention Psychology at Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute) Jin Sato (Former Mayor of Minamisanriku Town) Yuko Tanno (Director of the Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Museum "Memories of Yuriage") Ikuko Ecchuya (Reporter at the Kahoku Shimpo Newspaper)
Organizer	Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute, Asahi Shimbun
Co-hosted by	Kahoku Shimpo Newspaper
Sponsor	Cabinet Office Director-General for Disaster Prevention, Reconstruction Agency, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Sendai City, Union of Kansai Governments
Contact	Hyogo Earthquake Memorial 21st Century Research Institute (Public Interest Foundation) Research Strategy Center 6F East Building, Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, 1-5-2 Wakinohama Kaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0073, Japan TEL: 078-262-5713 E-mail: gakujutsu@dri.ne.jp
Recruitment flyer	Click to view the PDF flyer
Program of the day	Symposium Program ⇐You can download it here
keynote speech	Lecturer Fumihiko Imamura ⇐You can download it here
Panel discussion activity report	Jin Sato Panelist ⇐You can download it here
Panel discussion activity report	Ikuko Echizentani Panelist ⇐You can download it here

General participation is also possible. Application for attendance [ Registration required . Limited to the first 150 people. Participation is free .]

Even if you are unable to attend in person, you can watch online.

The deadline for online viewing is Sunday the 18th, so please apply early.

Apply to watch online [ Registration required . A viewing URL will be sent to registrants] (Viewing period: from the day of the event until January 30th (Friday))