Lessons from the Response

Disaster Grantmaking in Japan

• NEW: Database—Donors, Recipients, and Overseas Grantmaking for the Japan Disaster




• Lessons Learned: The 2011 Disasters in Tohoku, Japan (March 2012)—Give2Asia, which has responded to over 30 disasters since its founding in 2001, reflects on the unique opportunities and challenges of on the ground disaster grantmaking in Japan.




• One Year Later: Rebuilding After the Great Tōhoku Earthquake (March 2012)—PhilanTopic, a Foundation Center blog, spoke with JCIE's Jim Gannon about the progress of rebuilding efforts in the quake-and tsunami-affected Tohoku region of the country.




• Responding to 3/11: Helping with the Japan Disaster (May 2011)—JCIE's Jim Gannon outlines advice for US funders in approaching the disaster in Philanthropy New York's Smart Assets blog.




• Best Practices in Disaster Grantmaking: Lessons from the Gulf Coast (April 2008)—Excellent report by the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (now Philanthropy NY) on the challenges that US foundations faced in coordinating their response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and what approaches worked.

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis

• National Diet of Japan – Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAICC) website—An independent commission appointed by the Diet, the NAICC submitted a final report in July 2012 that criticizes government and industry collusion and characterizes the nuclear crisis as a "manmade disaster".




• "Fukushima in Review: A Complex Disaster, a Disastrous Response" (March 2012)—English summary by journalist Yoichi Funabashi in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of the findings of the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident




• "Fukushima Nuclear Disaster"" (January 2012)—US Congressional Research Service overview.

Other Recommended Articles & Analysis

• JCIE Survey of US Giving

  • One Year Report: US Giving in Response to Japan's March 11 Disaster Tops $630 Million (March 2012)

  • 18-Month Report: US Giving in Response to Japan's March 11 Disaster Exceeds $665 Million (September 2012)

  • Two-Year Report: US Giving in Response to JapanDisaster Exceeds $710 Million (March 2013)




• Japan's Response to a Large-Scale Disaster: Can it be Improved?(February 13, 2013)—An article on the Risk Management Magazine by Leo Bosner.




• Friendship Across Borders: Nearly 100 US Sister City Organizations Raise Relief Funds for Japan (September 2012)—A JCIE report spotlighting the efforts of US sister city associations in the Japan relief effort




• Forging U.S.-Japan Civil Society Cooperation Out of the 3/11 Disaster (January 2012)—Chapter by JCIE's James Gannon from Mike & Maureen Mansfield Foundation's Japan Moves Forward




• Partnership for Recovery and a Stronger Future: Standing with Japan After 3-11 (November 2011)—Task force report on the potential areas of US-Japan cooperation on disaster recovery and preparedness by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, in partnership with Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).




• Human Security Approaches for Disaster Recovery and Resilience (November 2011)—Japan Medical Association Journal article co-authored by Masamine Jimba with JCIE's Tomoko Suzuki and Susan Hubbard, & others.




• Recovering from Japan's Disasters (June 2011)—In his East Asia Insights policy brief, JCIE Senior Fellow and former Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka proposes steps that Japan needs to take to maintain its international presence.




• Learning from Megadisasters (October 2012)—The World Bank and the Government of Japan prepared a set of "Knowledge Notes," which synthesizes lessons from Japan's experiences with disaster risk management (DRM) and postdisaster reconstruction to offer recommendations for countries that face similar risks and vulnerabilities.




• Civil-Military Lessons Learned in the Response to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake(October 2012)—The fifth volume of Liaison, a journal of civil-military humanitarian relief collaborations.