Disaster prevention training for international students (19 October and 9 November 2019)

On Saturdays 19 October and 9 November, Kyoto University co-hosted 'Disaster Prevention Training for International Students' with the Kyoto Prefectural International Center (KPIC), with a total of 35 students taking part: 14 on the first date and 21 on the second.

KPIC began offering the program to KyotoU international students in the fall of 2018. The University has since been encouraging applicable students to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance their preparedness for natural disasters, which can strike any time of year, such as earthquakes, typhoons, and floods.

The first part of the 2019 training took place each day in the KUINEP Lecture Hall on the ground floor of the Education Promotion and Student Support Department Building, where KPIC staff delivered a lecture on disaster prevention, introducing resources such as websites and smartphone applications, and a glossary of special terms. Afterwards, participants studied an evacuation map of the city of Kyoto to locate their nearest evacuation centers, and took part in role play to practice making emergency calls.

In part two, the students moved to the Kyoto City Disaster Prevention Center for simulated earthquake, fire-fighting, and evacuation experiences. The earthquakes were of the horizontal type, and ranged in intensity from four to seven on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. This session was followed by a lecture on how to prepare for and respond to such events. Participants next learned how to use a fire extinguisher by tackling a virtual fire projected on a screen. The final session, focusing on evacuation, featured a realistically simulated hotel fire, which presented a rare opportunity to experience the challenge of finding a way out of a smoke-filled building.

Everyone enjoyed each of these unique experiences while diligently honing their disaster preparedness.