Post-Disaster Temporary Housing: An Emic Study of Lived Experiences of Victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Abstract

In Japan, after a brief stay at a temporary shelter immediately following a disaster, disaster victims (DVs) are provided temporary housing (TH), which precedes permanent recovery housing. Procurement, design, and allocation of TH are standardized and done using an outsider's (etic) perspective and considerations. The research questions for this study were: What were the lived experiences of DVs having to live in the TH supplied? How could life in TH be made more comfortable through design and planning? This research was conducted from a local person's (emic) perspective and focused on lived experiences, fit, coping, and adjustments. To uncover and understand what was important to the DV a Naturalistic Field Research method was used which involved fieldwork, on-site observations, and interviews. Important learnings included the following: Lived experience in TH was made difficult by their unsuitable, inconvenient, and impractical design, which lacked appropriate consideration of residents’ needs as well as cultural and religious practices. Adequate privacy was not provided by the nature of the construction. Though modifications were not permitted at most TH, unauthorized do-it-yourself modification efforts were made by DVs to improve their quality of life. Theoretical considerations and pragmatic implications are described in the concluding discussion.