“World Tsunami Awareness Day,” designated on November 5th, is connected with the events that followed the Ansei Earthquake in 1854, when a great tsunami overtook Wakayama Prefecture's Hiromura Village (present day Hirogawa Town). During the disaster, Goryo Hamaguchi lit fire to sheaves of rice in an effort to alert those who had not started running upland to safety, saving their lives in the process. On a proposal by Japan, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously designated November 5th as “World Tsunami Awareness Day.” At Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata, we will continue to spread the story of “the Fire of Rice Sheaves,” in an effort to ensure absolutely zero victims from tsunami disasters.
Selected Papers No.23(p.10)

Kitakyushu City began soliciting contractors for the establishment and running of a large-scale offshore windfarm last summer as the second phase of its “Green Energy Port Hibiki” project, which began in 2010. This was the first such case to be conducted in line with the reformed Port and Harbor Act. With momentum from this project, we look to further accelerate the accumulation of industries relating to wind-power generation.

In Okinawa, despite the urgent issue of coral conservation, the history concerning the direct use of coral has begun to be forgotten. On Ishigaki Island however, traditional artisans from days past remember in detail the process of painting tiled roofs with plaster made from coral they gathered from the sea.