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Tomorrow marks the 25th year anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake on January 17, 1995.

The disaster, which brought 6,434 deaths and destroyed more than 250,000 homes, brought great change to the disaster assistance in Japan. New laws were adopted such as Disaster Victim Life Rebuilding Assistance. In addition, many volunteers rushed to the affected areas to provide relief assistance, making 1995 known as the "First Year of Volunteer Era."

"At that time, we did not have a concept of volunteerism for disasters. However, for 70% of the 1.37 million volunteers that came to the affected areas, it was their first time volunteering. It was not like there were leaders who gave instructions on what to do but everyone proactively offered their help," said Mr. Masakiyo Murai, advisor to the NGO Collaboration Center for Hanshin Earthquake Rehabilitation. As natural disasters occur more frequently, volunteers have expanded their roles in disaster assistance and have become crucial actors in disaster affected areas.

The NGO Collaboration Center was established in the wake of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. And now, the Center is focusing its efforts on disaster recovery and reconstruction for communities affected by Typhoon No.19 (Hagibis).

Typhoon No.19 brought tremendous damage to wide areas across the Kanto, Koshin, and Tohoku regions. The Center began providing assistance on October 15 immediately after the onset of the disaster to improve the living environment of evacuation centers and installed hot bath services in Nagano. Starting November, the Center began operating "Otagaisama (helping each other)" buses to dispatch volunteers efficiently from nearby areas. With Civic Force's NPO Partner Project, the Center operated two bus lines, one from Niigata to Tochigi and the other from Suwa Province to Nagano City. Around 100 volunteers helped to remove rocks and straws from houses in Tochigi and to clean up mud in apple farms in Nagano.

Recently, the Center is focusing its efforts in Tochigi Prefecture which lacks much needed assistance. Tochigi receives much fewer volunteers despite the tremendous damage caused by the disaster. Even now, a series of clean-up works such as removal of mud from flooded houses to drying floors have not yet been completed in many homes. Three months after the disaster, although many victims are still living in their flooded homes without adequate clean up, some volunteer centers are closing their doors.

In December, the NGO Collaboration Center held a learning workshop in Tochigi and provided a networking opportunity for municipality workers and NPOs working on disaster recovery. Some participants came from Niigata and Ibaraki who have been working for recovery efforts from previous disasters. At the workshop, participants heard things such as "my parents' house was damaged by the disaster but because this was my first time, I didn't know how to ask for help from volunteers" and "it is difficult to grasp the magnitude of damage because victims don't actively voice their concerns." Based on lessons learned from the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the Center emphasized the importance of listening to victims carefully and creating disaster recovery plans.

In January, the Center held another workshop with their stakeholders and addressed challenges in moving forward. As the participants prioritized those challenges, the group affirmed their commitment to provide assistance for people in need.