The High School Students Islands Summit for World Tsunami Awareness Day

By Yuki Matsuoka

13 November 2017: Students from 26 countries came together last week for a pioneering event to mark World Tsunami Awareness Day in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.

The spirit of “Yui Maaru” which means mutual support and bonds between people in the Okinawan dialect, was at the heart of the High School Students Islands Summit for World Tsunami Awareness Day (WTAD), that gathered 255 high school students from 26 countries around the world on November 7-8.

During the Summit, students participated in workshops on: learning from past disasters; disaster preparedness; and post-disaster response. They engaged in tsunami memorial activities, traditional folklore and evacuation drills, while attending disaster lectures, visiting a local disaster reduction centre, and conducting a commemorative tree planting ceremony.

Ms. Mitsuho Nakai (16) from the tsunami-exposed region of Wakayama Prefecture, and returning Youth Ambassador from the 2016 Youth Summit said: "Last year we presented our action plan at the Summit in Kuroshio and our action plan was to introduce disaster prevention in our school. It was not until I participated in the Summit that I realised the importance of education for disaster prevention. Now I want to be an international volunteer and I would like to advocate to people all over the world about disaster prevention."

Opening the summit, Mayor of Ginowan, Mr. Atsushi Sakima described the ocean as “a treasure and indispensable asset” and “a platform for daily life and tourism”.