Toshizo Ido has been Governor of Hyogo Prefecture since 2001, site of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. Mr. Ido says the hard work of local residents, with support from both home and abroad, have allowed the area’s cities and towns to recover from destruction. However, Mr. Ido believes that, while the passage of time has healed people's pain, their memories have also faded. “We are apprehensive about the future since one third of our residents have no experience of the earthquake as they either moved to Hyogo or were born after the earthquake, and the memories and lessons learned concerning disaster prevention are starting to fade away even among the remaining two thirds of residents,” he says. With that in mind, he is a big proponent of passing down the experience and lessons of the 1995 catastrophe to future generations to enhance our disaster preparedness. Mr. Ido is also president of the Union of Kansai Governments, a group headed by seven prefectural governors in the south-central region of Japan. Hyogo is in charge of a region-wide disaster contingency scheme to prepare for earthquakes.
Campaign Activities-
Several times a year: Hyogo Prefecture, together with the institute called Disaster Reduction Human Renovation Institution (a non-profit institution backed by the Hyogo Prefectural Government), conducts several disaster management training programmes for other local governments in Japan, including heads of local government ; Participating governments in 2010 included Nagano Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Nagasaki Prefecture ; Participating governments in 2011 included Aichi Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. 21-25 November 2011, Kobe, Japan: co-organized with the UNDRR subregional office in Kobe a city-to-city exchange between Philippine and Japanese cities on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and effective risk governance. 17 January 2011, Kobe, Japan: held the "1.17 Memorial Gathering" to maintain experiences and learning from the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. 13-14 January 2011, Kobe, Japan: co-organized with UNDRR subregional office in Kobe, “Disaster Reduction Alliance Forum 2011” on the theme "Making Cities Resilient" with campaign-participating cities Nagaoka, Japan, and Makati, Philippines. 17 January 2010, Kobe, Japan: organized a "1.17 Memorial Gathering" to maintain experiences and learning from the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. 14 January 2010, Kobe, Japan: co-organized with the UNDRR subregional office in Kobe, an annual disaster risk reduction symposium, “Disaster Reduction Alliance Forum 2010,” on the theme "Making Cities Resilient."