Toshizo Ido Hyogo Prefecture Governor

10 years have passed since the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake took the precious lives of over 6,400 people and left deep scars in our home, Hyogo

During that time we, with support and encouragement from home and abroad, have worked hard with the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Recovery Plan as the foundation for a" Creative Recovery" worthy of a mature society.

As a result, the streets of our cities and towns have been reborn anew, the population is now larger than before the earthquake and the road to recovery is on course. For this I wish to offer my sincerest gratitude to you all.

I believe the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the measures taken in the following 10 years have provided 3 significant points for the creation of a society for the 21st century. The first, a "Disaster Reduction Cultureﾓ has been born which sees disasters from an overall standpoint, considers and disaster-reduction measures in normal times and promotes their implementation.
The second, since the earthquake was a major disaster that struck an urban area with an aging population, measures to promote the recovery of the lives and homes of the elderly and create a model ageing society have advanced. The third, to match the change from a growing society to a mature society, while learning the importance of "mutual human support", volunteer activities and community businesses have been born and support for them expanding.

It can be said that it is our, the disaster-stricken area's, responsibility to pass on to as many people as possible within the country and abroad the experiences and lessons we have learned from the disaster and play our role in creating a safer and more secure society.

What have we achieved, what have we not achieved in these 10 years? From the overall review of the 10 years of recovery, we have received 559 proposals to achieve our goal of "Creating a Safe and Secure Society" and "The Realization of a Coexisting Society". Using the findings of the overall review, we must work to solve the problems that remain, and cultivate the new measures which have been born in the disaster-stricken area.

From the lesson that the foundation of recovery of the people's lives begins with the reconstruction of housing, Hyogo Prefecture's original Housing Reconstruction Mutual Aid System will begin in September 2005. We are encouraging as many prefecture residents as possible to join the system and are working to make it a nationwide system. Also, January 17 has also been designated as "Hyogo Safety Day". Through this and walks and gatherings in the disaster-stricken area, disaster-deduction drills and disasteprevention education activities we hope to never the disaster and work towards creating a safer and more secure society.

At the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in January, the "Hyogo Declaration" and "Hyogo Plan of Action" were established to promote international disaster-reduction cooperation, and it was decided that the "International Disaster Reduction and Recovery Cooperation Center" which was advocated by the prefecture will be set up in Kobe City.

The earthquake and tsunami which occurred off the coast of Sumatra at the end of last year, and the damage caused by natural disasters around the world show us that disaster reduction is a common problem for the world in the 21st century and a problem we must make every effort to tackle.

From Hyogo to the world. I sincerely hope that the experiences and lessons we have learned will in some way help reduce the damage caused by future natural disasters.