Cross talk between Inoo Kei and his university professor Part 1 (19.12.13)
Original article here.
Finally finished translating the second part of the Josei Jishin crosstalk between Inoo Kei and his professor during university era, Professor Yamamoto Toshiya. As Inoo has mentioned in many TV shows, he really is thankful to the professor because he was able to overcome his shyness through joining Prof. Yamamoto’s lab.
Inoo Kei - What made me overcome my shyness was my university teacher’s “regional exchange”
“So nostalgic!” said Inoo Kei (29) as his eyes lit up because of “Escape Map”. The content of talk with Professor Yamamoto Toshiya from Meiji University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Architecture and representative of Children Safe Community Development Partners, was about the memories of his university days when he went to the disaster area and about Escape Map. The highly educated idol who graduated from Meiji University and his teacher talked about those days.
Inoo: When I was a 4th year student, sensei and I went to Rikuzentakata for a survey. Do you remember that at that time I asked you for advice?
Yamamoto: We decided to eat and then go home in an izakaya in front of Ichinoseki station, but our discussion was so exciting, and we missed several shinkansen, didn’t we?
Inoo: That’s right. We couldn’t get on the shinkansen (laughs).The Great East Japan Earthquake happened when I was in my second year of university. It was such a hard time, so I thought it would be good if I could, as soon as possible, engage in it, so I entered Yamamoto-sensei’s lab which is active in the disaster area from an early stage.
Yamamoto: Our lab entered Rikuzentakata 1 month after the earthquake. After that, Inoo-kun also started going for field surveys mainly at elementary and junior high school in Rikuzentakata, Ookawa elementary school, and junior high school in Kamaishi.
Inoo: Particularly I joined the Escape Map※1 workshop, preparing the meeting venue, and listened to the stories of the disaster victims. I had to listen to stories of junior high school students about a year after the disaster, so inevitably my communication skills grew.
Yamamoto: When building an Escape Map, it is important to gather everyone’s opinion and then share them with the locals. By drawing the Escape Map with your utmost effort, somehow people will start talking. A psychologist said, by using your fingertips, you are activating your brain. One grandpa said, “I used to be able to pass this route,” or, an elementary school student said, “This place is dangerous because of landslides.” And from those opinions discussions started.
Inoo: Using the Escape Map as a measure can make people of all ages, from children to elderly to sit at the same table and have discussions
Yamamoto: The walking speed assumption on the map are adjusted to of the elderly, so the children can realize, “Grandpas take so long to escape,” and then when we present it to the community, in turn the grandpas realize that, “Our grandchildren are seriously thinking about us.”
Inoo: Such awareness can lead to improvements of the evacuation plans, don’t they?
Yamamoto: It’s also nice that we can simulate our own action. By measuring the distance and time to the evacuation site on the Escape Map, you can think, “What would happen if I was here?”
Inoo: Just by imagining the evacuation route can change things, isn’t it? It would be good if schools and such can do this. There is a feeling of playing game by coloring, and by visualization it is easier to understand which places are dangerous. It would be good to be done as part of disaster prevention practice.
Yamamoto: When actually making the map, we think it is good to use the publicly available and free Escape Map Making Manual※2. This is also what became the base of Inoo-kun’s research, isn’t it?
Inoo: I hope that a lot of people will participate in Escape Map making and then review their community evacuation plan and disaster preparedness, and interact with the locals.
Yamamoto: Inoo-kun is very influential, so I hope he continues to introduce things.
Inoo: I think sensei’s communication skills are very amazing. You eat and drink with the locals, and you don't make them feel like you are a professor at all by being willing to take the role to create exciting conversation. The stories that came from there are all good stories. By looking at such sensei, I was able to overcome my shyness and I am using it for work.
=======
※1 The "escape map" is a hand-made map developed by the Nikken Sekkei Volunteer Department using colored pencils to colorize the time to reach the target evacuation site during a tsunami and such. Yamamoto-sensei supports the workshops of Escape Map making all over the country.
※2 The Escape Map Making Manual can be downloaded from the Escape Map Web (http://nigechizu.com/).