In the wake of the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, local and prefectural governments around the country rushed to assist the Tohoku region, sending material aid and personnel, while private firms and individuals arrived to volunteer their services wherever they were needed.
Few were as quick to respond as Hyogo Prefecture and the city of Kobe, which had experienced their own earthquake in January 1995, and had worked in the intervening years to become Japan's premier center for disaster response-related knowledge, and an example that towns, cities and prefectures in Tohoku could use as they attempted to rebuild.
At a recent symposium, held ahead of the 20th anniversary this Saturday of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and attended by officials and representatives of nonprofit organizations from Iwate and Hyogo prefectures, Hyogo Gov. Toshizo Ido and Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso spoke on the administrative and planning challenges governments face when dealing with a large-scale natural disaster.
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