Ready for the worst: awaiting disaster in ageing rural Japan

Inami, a small seaside town in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, is getting ready for the next Nankai Trough earthquake, which is expected to involve multiple events of magnitude 7.0+ on the maximum seismic intensity scale, causing landslides and tsunamis. This paper is concerned with the capabilities and challenges of an elderly community in this highly prepared rural town. The results show that the continued mainstreaming of disaster preparedness practices has led to widespread awareness of evacuation sites and basic knowledge of disaster evacuation needs. Arguably, however, insufficient support is provided to the elderly as current procedures often do not consider how their reduced mobility, physical strength, and psychological discomfort might impact on evacuation itself and life at the shelters. This paper contributes to the literature on disaster and vulnerability by critically assessing and expanding on perceptions of ageing and disasters in rural areas vis-à-vis the traditional depiction of the elderly as ‘vulnerable and helpless’.