Disaster experience report from foreigners living in Japan

1. Foreigners living in Japan when the earthquake occurred.

80,000 foreigners from 98 countries live in the Hanshin area. They are Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, American, Brazilians and so on. Some foreigners can understand Japanese and others can't. So, imagine what happened to the foreigners who couldn't understand Japanese when the earthquake occurred? Where should they go to find refuge? Perhaps most of them did not know where the safe shelters were. This is because the essential information for refugees was conveyed in Japanese only.

2. Conditions of foreign refugees in shelters.

In the process of rescue operations at the Vietnamese shelter, I encountered many problems and difficulties between Japanese and foreigners. Firstly, there was an information shortage and there were misunderstandings due to language barriers. We began radio broadcasting in 8 languages to improve this situation. Secondly, there was mental and institutional discrimination at the shelters. Foreigners were unfairly treated when the rescue goods were distributed. I think the mental discrimination came from the misunderstanding of differences between both cultures.

3. To create such communities as foreigners can live in safely and cooperatively

In the future, Japan will welcome more and more foreign workers and become more international. We, Japanese, sometimes need to be tolerant and cooperative towards foreigners to some extent. We noticed how difficult and uneasy it was for foreigners to live in Japan from the experiences of the earthquake. We should create safer and more comfortable cities and communities for both Japanese and foreigners through the Kobe restoration projects.