The subject of fire fighting in The Great East Japan Earthquake

特集　東日本大震

Expertise in fire defense administration : Effects of uneven distribution of expertise on relations between government agencies

In Japan, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the government agency responsible for fire defense administration at the national level, has little authority, and administration has primarily been delegated to municipalities. This is a part of the government that had been decentralized before the start of the policy of decentralization For many years, the former Ministry of Home Affairs (now part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), which had been in charge of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, did not train employees to work for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency for their entire careers other than technical officials at the National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency had been a stepping stone for elite and rank-and-file employees of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This resulted in a lack at the national level of personnel with expertise in fire defense administration who were capable of making sound policies. R.A.W. Rhodes indicated that because no organization is capable of securing all resources, resources are exchanged between government agencies, which consequently become interdependent (Rhodes, 1986). In fire defense administration as well, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has for many years depended on staff temporarily transferred or assigned for training from municipal fire departments in order to secure human resources having expertise. However, policymaking and communications have not always befitted the actual situation at small-scale fire departments. In the present study, we analyzed expertise in fire defense administration in order to clarify the circumstances that led to this situation, the ways in which the government agencies involved in fire defense administration acquired human resources from each other in order to secure expertise, the effects of these exchanges on the relationships among fire departments, and other matters

Recent Trends of All-Hazard Crisis Management System in Europe

In recent years, the number of crisis cases has become more diverse and the likelihood of their occurrence has increased. Japan has already experienced nuclear and chemical disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, and the Aum Sarin incident. The all-hazards approach is becoming the mainstream of special disaster management in other countries. In this study, I would like to summarize the international trend of all-hazard emergency management systems, especially in European countries本研究の一部は，2013年度関西大学若手研究者育成経費において，研究課題「消防団管理に関する萌芽的研究－消防団活動の安全管理と活性化策－」として研究費を受け，その成果を公表するものである．また本研究の一部は，科学研究費補助金基盤（ C ）（2018～2020年）において，研究課題「国民保護行政における専門性の補完体制の比較研究」として研究費を受け，その成果を公表するものである