“Inamura no Hi” is a story of a man who noticed a precursor of a large tsunami at the earliest stage and led village inhabitants to higher ground by burning harvested rice sheaves. This story was based on a true story at the time of Ansei-Nankai Tsunami (1854), which claimed around 3,000 lives in the coastal areas of Western Japan (ADRC).

Based on the information from ADRC, 8 countries, language versions were released:  Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.
Thai language version was also found.

This story became famous after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster, especially the 2005 UN WCDR (World Conference on Disaster Reduction)  in Kobe. Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi introduced this story in the Japanese lessons for disaster education (Government of Japan, 2006). Hirogawa Town’s video well explains the background of the story in short and their tsunami disaster education.

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