Rebuilding lives in Nagaya, a public housing for older victims of the great East Japan earthquake: An interview survey

After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture, sustained extensive damage, and subsequently developed public housing for older victims, namely ‘Soma Idobata Nagaya’. The current interview survey aimed to report the living conditions of such older victims in Nagaya and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Naomi Ito, Yurie Kobashi, Yuri Kinoshita, Nobuaki Moriyama, Toshiki Abe, Hiroaki Saito, Isamu Amir, Chika Yamamoto, Mika Sato, Masaharu Tsubokura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-10-01
Series:Progress in Disaster Science
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590061725000432
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Summary:After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture, sustained extensive damage, and subsequently developed public housing for older victims, namely ‘Soma Idobata Nagaya’. The current interview survey aimed to report the living conditions of such older victims in Nagaya and accordingly suggest strategies for supporting the older population who experience disasters. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 Nagaya residents, who relocated there due to the earthquake, and performed a thematic analysis of the data. The development of Nagaya in Soma City after the earthquake enabled older residents to return to their familiar neighbourhoods and provided social security for those vulnerable to disasters. Beyond housing, Nagaya offered psychological stability and supported their independent living in a way they desired. It played a substantial role in rebuilding their lives, allowing them to overcome the hardships of the disaster and reintegrate into the local community. In summary, this study emphasizes the critical role of communities in post-disaster recovery and proposes new perspectives for supporting older adults in such contexts.
ISSN:2590-0617