Life Course of Young People in the Areas Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake : Reasons for Living in a Difficult Area and Community Reconstruction

ヒガシ　ニホン　ダイシンサイ　ヒサイチ　ニ　オケル　ワカモノ　ノ　ライフコース　ジョウケン　コンナン　チイキ　デ　セイカツ　スル　リユウ　ト　コミュニティ　ノ　フッコウ

スズキ, イサム

Suzuki, Isamu

山本, 晃輔

ヤマモト, コウスケ

Yamamoto, Kousuke

岡邑, 衛

オカムラ, エイ

Okamura, Ei

榎井, 縁

エノイ, ユカリ

Enoi, Yukari

志水, 宏吉

シミズ, コウキチ

Shimizu, Kokichi

高原, 耕平

タカハラ, コウヘイ

Takahara, Kohei

宮前, 良平

ミヤマエ, リョウヘイ

Miyamae, Ryohei

若者

ライフコース

コミュニティ

disastered area

young people

life course

community

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The purpose of this study is to analyze young people in the depopulated areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. One of the characteristics of this disaster was that the affected areas had long been facing various social problems. Specifically, it was a depopulated area with issues of aging and declining population. Population decline became an even greater social problem as a result of the earthquake. The affected areas are facing serious population decline and aging, and young people are losing their bases of livelihood. Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, where this study was conducted, was devastated by the earthquake. To this day, the population outflow has not stopped. Despite these circumstances, there are young people who choose Minamisanriku as their place of residence. This study attempted to understand the factors that led young people to choose Minamisanriku as their place of residence, despite the region's declines. Through analyzing the life course of young people in Minamisanriku, we examined their lives in such a difficult area and the impact of the earthquake on them. The survey results show that the life course of young people who chose Minamisanriku as their base of living can be classified into three categories; U-turn type, who returned to Minamisanriku after once going to school or working in the city center. I-turn type who moved from urban areas to Minamisanriku. Local-type who have lived and worked in Minamisanriku since birth. First, the analysis revealed that their ”happiness” depends on their career choices and the degree of participation in the communities. Second, they chose Minamisanriku as their place of residence due to "community attachment," “human relations, ”and "self-actualization (employment)”. Third, young people cannot remain unrelated to the disaster, and in the process of recovery from the disaster, they become members of the community through communication with local residents, and they are considered to be tackling both social issues and self-actualization.

山本, 晃輔

岡邑, 衛

榎井, 縁

志水, 宏吉

高原, 耕平

宮前, 良平