Kobe City: “Rumor Project x Seawall” – Disaster Prevention with Hyogo Prefectural Higashinada High School

Press Release (January 16, 2024)
Coastal Disaster Prevention Division, Port and Harbor Department

Overview

In Kobe City, the storm surge countermeasure project was completed in March 2018 and the tsunami countermeasure following the “Nankai Trough Giant Earthquake” in March 2023.
In order to publicize this project and to create an opportunity for people to think about disaster prevention, we will consider “rumors” to be posted on the seawall together with students of Hyogo Prefectural Higashinada High School and Mr. Koichiro Yamamoto, the implementer of the “Rumor Project”. The “Rumor

Project”

is an effort to make information about Kobe City policies and local trivia in the form of “rumors” in the Kobe dialect (mainly in the style of “it seems”) to make it easier to reach and catch the attention of the public.
(Reference) Temporary enclosure at the Shin-Tare Library construction site Storm Surge

Countermeasure Project and Tsunami Countermeasure Project

In the coastal area of Kobe Port, approximately 60 km of storm surge countermeasure facilities such as tide embankments, tide barriers, and pump stations are being constructed. In addition, as tsunami countermeasures against the Nankai Trough Earthquake, existing seawalls are being reinforced with a tenacious structure to “raise”, “prevent scouring”, and “prevent joint opening”.

Participants

○Hyogo Prefectural Higashinada High School
○Artist Koichiro Yamamoto
○City of Kobe

Posting location:

Seawall in Higashinada-ku, Kobe *Schedule

of activities

Thursday, January 18, 16:00 – 1st joint activity
Friday, January 26, 16:00 – 2nd joint activity
Around March 3rd joint activity (on-site posting)

(Reference) Profile of Koichiro Yamamoto

Born in Nagoya in 1969. Graduated from Tsukuba University. Moved to Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture in 2012.
He has been developing art projects based in Hachinohe that are deeply connected to the local community throughout Japan, such as the “Rumor Project,” in which he puts up posters with rumors about people in the city on shopping streets, and “Machikare,” in which he works with elementary school students to create calendars with the anniversaries of people living in the city. In 2014, he launched “Machigumi,” a citizens’ group that creates “something fun” in the central city of Hachinohe. He is a community artist and the leader of Machigumi.
In Kobe City, he has been developing the “Rumor Project” since 2019 so far in municipal subways, Kobe Electric Railway, Sannomiya, Higashi Yuenchi, Seishin-Chuo, Naya, and the construction site of the new Tarumi Library.