Online Seminar: “What words should we offer to those who lost their homes in the Los Angeles fires?”
Notice: Thursday, May 22, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM (Los Angeles Time) — Participation is free — Organized by Cultural News
Cultural News has set its mission to build community through Japanese culture in Los Angeles, and decided to promote “How to interact with disaster victims during major disasters” as a response to the Los Angeles Wildfires that occurred on January 7.
As the first initiative, on March 9, Professor Kenta Kasai of Sophia University’s Institute of Grief Care was invited to an online seminar on the topic: “To the Japanese community in Los Angeles: Being with those affected by the great fire.”
Professor Kasai’s YouTube recording link: https://youtu.be/fmEGRa5CKRQ
The second online seminar will be held on Thursday, May 22, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (Los Angeles time). Specially Appointed Associate Professor Noriko Setou from the Department of Disaster Mental Health, Fukushima Medical University, will speak on “Learning how to interact with victims of the Los Angeles great fire.”
Participation is free of charge. The online seminar will be held on Zoom, so those who wish to participate should apply to higashi@culturalnews.com.
In the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, which occurred simultaneously on January 7 this year, a total of approximately 12,000 families lost their homes. Recovery efforts are being conducted by the federal government, Los Angeles County, and the City of Los Angeles. In the Altadena area, construction to rebuild homes has begun. However, for the majority of affected residents, debris removal work is still ongoing. Disaster recovery centers are also still open in Altadena and West Los Angeles.
Within the Japanese-American community in Los Angeles, the situation of the victims has become clear. More people than expected have been affected. Although there were few fatalities in the Los Angeles great fire, we have prepared this online seminar because we believe that many people in the Japanese-American community are at a loss for what words to offer to victims who lost their homes, property, and all their mementos.
On May 22, we will hear from Noriko Setou, who has been involved in grief care in Fukushima Prefecture for many years.
Noriko Setou, Grief Care Specialist
Since April of this year, she has been a Senior Research Principal at the Hyogo Prefectural Mental Health Care Center Research Department. From 2018, she served as a Specially Appointed Associate Professor at the Department of Disaster Mental Health, Fukushima Medical University, and continues to hold a concurrent position at Fukushima Medical University after April.
Professor Setou is a certified psychologist specializing in bereaved family support, disaster support, and more.
She herself was affected by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe in 1995 and participated as an external supporter in the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
At the Department of Disaster Mental Health, Fukushima Medical University, she was involved in supporting severely damaged coastal communities and victims dispersed across the country.
Due to the issue of radiation exposure from the nuclear power plant accident, Professor Setou’s activities in Fukushima Prefecture were diverse. Initially, there was concern about radiation exposure, but as years passed, the situation changed. While radiation exposure concerns relatively decreased, the number of people who could not return home increased significantly.
Communities were devastated, and the towns could not return to their former state. Many victims experienced a profound sense of loss, whether they couldn’t return to their hometowns at all, or if they returned to a hometown completely different from what it once was.
With opinions differing within families regarding returning to their hometowns or not, and the continued division of families and regions after the earthquake, Professor Setou continues her support activities for disaster victims, with the motto of “Build Back Better.”