During earthquake disasters, medical facilities and other medical facilities are damaged, and the medical functions in the region are reduced. On the other hand, injuries and loss of medical supplies due to the disaster increase the medical needs. Therefore, it is necessary to respond to diverse medical needs and effectively utilize limited medical resources during earthquake disasters. In particular, delays in medical care for the patients with intractable diseases living under home care who regularly use medical devices such as tube feedings and ventilators lead to the endangerment of their lives. It has been reported that past large-scale earthquake disasters in Japan have also caused problems such as prompt admission of the patients with intractable diseases living under home care to medical facilities and information management of the patients. As a countermeasure for the patients, the listing of the patients with intractable diseases on the list of persons requiring support for evacuation is being promoted, but only about 60% of local governments in Japan are doing so, and many local governments are unable to examine the patients with intractable diseases in the region. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively examine the patients with intractable diseases living under home care in the region and improve the medical support system for the patients with intractable diseases during disasters. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to comprehensively examine the patients with intractable diseases living under home care in the region using the National Health Insurance data, which is medical big data. Patients receiving home medical care were selected from medical information in the National Health Insurance data for Hakui, Ishikawa, a regional city in Japan. As a result, it was possible to comprehensively examine the number of the patients with intractable diseases living under home care who should be cared for during disasters in Hakui, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Dhaka is being called the dustiest city in Bangladesh. In Dhaka South City Corporation, almost all of the educational institutions are built on the side of the main road. This study aims to monitor the Particulate Matters (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) concentration based on Educational institutions in Dhaka South City Corporation, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study was conducted in 37 locations of Dhaka metropolitan, by using Aeroqual S500 Portbale Air Quality Monitor. It was found that average concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in 37 places in the study area were 68.82 and 113.95 µg/m³ respectively. The average concentration of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ of all the zones was found more than one time higher than the Bangladesh National Air Quality Standard standard level. It is estimated that the average PM_2.5/PM₁₀ was 60.41%. It also revealed that the concentrations of PM_2.5 may change significantly between and within the land uses as the P values are less than 0.05. The outcome of this research is arranged in descending order based on the average concentration of PM_2.5 which follows as Zone-5 (Chak Bazar, Bangshal, Kotwali) > Zone-2 (Dhanmondi) > Zone-6 (Sutrapur, Gendaria, Jatra Bari) > Zone-3 (Ramna, Shahbagh) > Zone-1 (Hazaribagh) > Zone-4 (Lalbagh, New Market) > Zone-7 (Kadamtali).

The air quality in Dhaka is progressively declining over time. This study employed a comprehensive research methodology to analyze the air quality in Dhaka city over seven years, from 2016 to 2022. AQI and PM₂.₅ data has been collected from the U.S. Embassy Dhaka and meteorological data from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). Data processing and analysis have been conducted using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Annual variations indicated that 2021 and 2022 experienced the highest pollution levels. In 2021 annual PM₂.₅ concentration was found an average of 94.6 µg/m³ which is 2.7 times higher than the national Standard level. Furthermore, shifting variation analysis demonstrated that air quality deteriorated in the morning, reaching an unhealthy level, largely attributed to heavy traffic. Along with that seasonal variations indicated that winter had the highest PM₂.₅ levels, linked to factors like biomass burning and reduced rainfall. This variance is due to the interaction of a number of different meteorological phenomena. It has been observed that there exists a robust and statistically significant negative relationship between rainfall and the concentration of PM₂.₅. Moreover, Weekly variations showed Thursdays to have the highest air pollution, likely due to ongoing industrial activities. Monthly analysis highlighted January as the worst month, with extremely high PM₂.₅ levels, while July and August exhibited relatively good air quality. The frequency of days with "Unhealthy" and "Very Unhealthy" AQI categories significantly increased, posing a serious threat to public health. To address this, a range of short, mid, and long-term strategies are recommended, including improved public awareness, sustainable transportation options, and stricter environmental regulations.

Year of 2023 is the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan. This earthquake caused one of the largest natural disasters in Japan's history and left various impacts on Japan. Total economic loss estimated was over 40 % of Japan's GDP which was over four times larger than the general budget of Japan at that time. Approximately 105,000 people were killed and 87.1 % of them were killed by spread of fires. Fatalities by structural collapse was over 10,000 and this was twice that of the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Compared with these damages, Tsunamis and landslides, which were relatively small but killed approximately 1,000 people, were also sufficiently large compared to other past earthquake disasters in Japan. Also, many people were killed by the problem of false rumors. Therefore, the Great Kanto Earthquake’s impacts have been often discussed from the viewpoint of spread fires, large structural damage and the problem of false rumors, etc.

However, it is not enough to treat its impacts on Japan, mainly caused by natural and physical phenomena. In this paper, taking a bird's-eye view of the historical background of the Great Kanto Earthquake and the history of Japan since then, the various impacts on Japan including social problems, such as politics and economics created by the earthquake disaster are discussed. Based on the discussion, it can be said that the Great Kanto Earthquake was an inflection point that drastically changed the course of a country which was headed toward a democratic nation under the democratic movement in the Taisho Era called Taisho democracy. It was because recovery and reconstruction from the large-scale damage in the Tokyo metropolitan region required strong leadership and governance. As a result, just 22 years after the earthquake, over 3-million Japanese, including civilians, lost their lives in World War II, leading Japan to defeat.

As a result, just 22 years after the earthquake, over 3-million Japanese, including civilians, lost their lives in World War II, which affected Japan a lot after the war. The lessons learned from this disaster will be very useful for considering proper countermeasures for a large earthquake currently expected to hit Dhaka city.

In rural area in Japan, depopulation has been progressing significantly due to population decline. This is due to natural decline caused by the declining birthrate and aging population, as well as social decline caused by the population outflow to other cities. Regional differences in social conditions, such as employment conditions and higher education, are often discussed as factors that contribute to the population outflow from rural areas. On the other hand, few studies have focused on individual perceptions such as regional attachment and life satisfaction. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Internet-based leisure behavior, residents' subjective well-being, and their intention to continue living in their community in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which is undergoing depopulation. Leisure via the Internet can be enjoyed almost equally well in rural areas as long as there is an Internet environment. Thus it is thought that there is less disparity between cities compared to leisure time spent at leisure facilities. Therefore, this study examines the effects of promoting the use of the Internet in rural communities, where the economic scale is likely to continue to shrink in the future. Results of this study, it was clear that leisure time via the Internet contributed to some extent to residents' subjective well-being and their intention to continue living in their region.

The COVID-19 pandemic is now coming to an end in Japan, and the number of foreign tourists, which had declined significantly since 2020, is recovering. Particularly in Tokyo, Ishikawa, Kochi, and Fukuoka prefectures, the maximum number of foreign tourists per month in 2023 has already exceeded the one before the COVID-19 pandemic. Beside the number of foreign tourists to Japan is estimated to continue to increase in the future. Therefore, it is expected that tourism measures targeting foreign tourists to Japan will improve nationwide. However, due to cultural and environmental differences, there are many challenges in developing tourism measures for foreign tourists to Japan. One of challenges is a lack of disaster reduction plan focused on foreign tourists to Japan. It is very necessary because a lot of foreign tourists are not familiar with Japanese geography and disaster prevention knowledge. Therefore, in this study, the relationship between the distribution of foreign tourists to Japan and the risk of disasters is examined. It is conducted by using the KDDI Location Analyzer, which can examine the number and attributes of foreign tourists to Japan staying in any areas or facilities. The target area of this study is Kanazawa City, which attracts the largest number of foreign tourists to Japan in Ishikawa Prefecture. As a result of this study, the behavioral trends of foreign tourists to Japan in Kanazawa City and areas with high risk of disasters that require disaster prevention measures for tourism were clarified.

In recent years, the risk of urban flood in Japan has increased due to the intensification of heavy rainfall associated with climate change and the deterioration of drainage functions associated with urbanization. During flood disaster, buildings are inundated for a long time, causing various facilities to become unusable, leading to chronic malfunctions. Stores that purchase foodstuffs and other items become difficult to operate when their premises are inundated, resulting in lost sales opportunities and economic losses due to lost profits. However, the amount of damage associated with loss of sales opportunities is not considered in the calculation of the amount of inundation damage in inundation damage. In addition, the effect of the reduction in the duration of inundation by flood control projects on the reduction of damage to stores has not been fully clarified. In this study, we used purchasing big data accumulated by past consumers to estimate the amount of inundation damage associated with loss of sales opportunities. Kakehashi river in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, was targeted for study. We estimated the loss of sales opportunities based on past purchase histories during the assumed duration of inundation of the Kakehashi River and found that the loss of sales opportunities in inundated areas including stores would be approximately 50,000 yen per day. Damage estimation by pattern with varying break points revealed that the amount of damage in each region varied depending on the break point. By considering break points in the estimation of flood damage, it was shown that the benefits of levee improvement can be evaluated not only in terms of protection of existing assets, but also in terms of toughening urban functions to minimize loss of opportunities.

Since November 2022, Japan has restarted accepting international cruise ships. This is expected to boost tourism not only in urban areas but also in rural areas with many cruise ship passengers. On the other hand, cruise ship passengers are characterized by high average age and minimal luggage during sightseeing. Therefore, they are highly vulnerable if earthquake occur. In addition, cruise ship operators may take measures to evacuate the port to safer sea areas during an emergency, leaving passengers in the tourist areas. Furthermore, municipalities may have to hold a large number of tourists in evacuation centres. In this study, questionnaire survey was conducted on cruise ship passengers at Kanazawa Port to examine their disaster awareness during earthquake and tsunami disaster. In addition, the disaster risk of cruise ship passengers visiting distant tourist destinations by bus from the port was evaluated. Through the analysis of this study, it was possible to clarify cruise ship passengers’ awareness of earthquake disaster and to evaluate the risk disasters during sightseeing.

In Japan, the ratio of aging sewage pipes is rapidly increasing, and the three shortages of financial resources, human resources, and technology are becoming problems in maintenance and management. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to conduct a comprehensive survey of a massive number of sewage pipes．Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize the inspection and investigation of a massive number of sewage pipes. In determining priorities for sewage pipe that have not been inspected and surveyed, it is effective to estimate the soundness in the sewage pipe. Previous studies have estimated the soundness of pipeline units by using statistical methods and machine learning. On the other hand, inspection plans are often developed on an area level. However, there are no previous studies that have predicted the soundness of sewage pipes on area level. In this study, machine learning is used to estimate the soundness in sewage pipes on a very small mesh area level. The macro soundness estimation method proposed in this study will contribute to the planning of practical inspection plans.

Abstract

Dhaka is the most polluted city in Bangladesh. The number of transport (vehicles), burning sources, and industries are increasing day by day both in the city and rural areas. The most important pollutants are brown carbon (BrC) and black carbon (BC) which absorb light at shorter wavelengths and longer wavelengths respectively. As an important type of light-absorbing aerosol, BrC greatly impacts the Earth's radiative balance and is also thought to be a climate-forcing agent. This study investigates the optical properties, heating rate of BrC and BC, chemical functional groups, and total carbon content in the particulate matter released from biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion. Light absorption properties like mass absorption efficiency (MAE₃₆₅), absorption angstrom exponent (AAE), and refractive index (k_abs-BrC) were determined by using UV-visible spectrophotometer (only for BrC) and Aethalometer (for both BrC & BC). This study found that light absorption properties of biomass burning > fossil fuel. A greater light absorption coefficient at 365 nm or 370 nm indicated the greater contribution of the chromophore. In FTIR analysis showed that biomass and fossil fuel samples showed a strong peak at ~850, ~1360, 1370, 1306, and near 1640 cm^-1. This indicated major component of BrC was organic nitrate which is responsible for the light absorption. BrC was expected to be significantly attributed to total light absorption, demonstrating the potential climatic impact of biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion events in rural Southeast Asia.