A Study of Crisis Management from a View of Public Administration in Japan : Searching for Management Tools to Combat Crises and Contingencies

这项研究涉及日本地方政府的危机和应急管理。本研究从2003年开始，为期三年。研究的主要目标之一是调查日本地方实体之间危机管理的巩固程度。在这项研究中，利用了危机管理的四个基本组成部分：准备、反应、恢复和缓解。这些指数将作为衡量该国不同地方政府之间危机管理状况的关键尺度。从一开始，调查人员就决定，这项研究不会触及危机管理的“硬维度”。因此，无论多么重要，它都不会有兴趣从土木工程或城市规划的角度来研究应急管理。相反，这项研究只调查了这个问题的管理方面。自那以后，这项研究将重点放在了组织、人事…等问题上以及危机管理的财务方面。从这个意义上说，这项研究在日本学术界对危机管理问题做出了独特而特殊的贡献。这项研究首先有意识地列出了日本的一些县和地方政府。然后，它从与灾害控制密不可分的四个方面调查了这些地方实体。三年的研究表明，其中一些政府为未来的自然灾害做好了充分的准备，而另一些政府在危机局势的措施方面仍有许多不足之处。人们普遍忽视了这一点，这表明日本大多数地方政府都非常有意识地制定应对自然灾害和人为灾难的政策和计划。这些调查的结果已在《危机管理和公共行政》一书中公布。本文由本研究的首席调查者中村明撰写和编辑，并于2005年由Gyosei出版。在研究的第三年，也是最后一年，调查者试图扩大研究的范围。因此，他加入了研究日本消防队安全的研究小组。从这次集体努力中，这位调查员学习了消防局开发的技术。它叫S-KYT。这是一种有助于提高消防队危机意识的心理方法。这可以纳入该国地方政府之间的公共管理。同样，调查员还参与了研究地方政府与国际协定之间关系的小组。在这个小组中，这位调查员从危机管理的角度关注地方政府和国际法。外国船只造成的漏油和沉船事故一直在增加，给日本地方政府带来了严重问题。现有的国际协议无法保护地方实体，因为它们是主权国家之间的协议。目前，日本地方政府一直面临着严峻的问题，即如何保护自己免受外国船只造成的人为灾难的影响。这项研究的结果不久将以英文发表在有声誉的国际期刊上。较少

This research has dealt with crisis and contingency management in Japanese local governments. The term of the research has lasted for three years from 2003. One of the major objectives of research has been to investigate the degree of consolidation of crisis management among local entities in Japan. For the research, four components essential to crisis management has been utilized : preparedness, responsiveness, recovery, and mitigation. These indices would serve as a critical yardstick to measure the state of crisis management among different local governments in the country. From the outset, the investigator has decided that the research would not touch on "hard dimensions" of crisis management. However important, it would not be therefore interested in studying contingency management from civil engineering or city planning perspectives. Instead, the study has checked only into managerial aspects of the issue. The research has since zeroed in on such problems as organizational, perso … More nnel, and financial aspects of crisis management. In this sense, the current research has stood out as unique and exceptional contributions to the issue of crisis management in Japanese academia.The research has first made conscious efforts to list a number of prefectural and local governments in the country. It has then investigated these local entities in terms of four components inextricable from disaster control. The three years of research has indicated that some of these governments have well prepared for future natural calamities, while others have remained much to be desired in regard to the measures of crisis situations. A general overlook has demonstrated that a majority of Japan's local governments are quite conscious of making policies and programs for both natural and man-made disasters. The outcome of these investigation has been made available in the book, Kikikanri to Gyosei (Crisis Management and Public Administration). This is written and edited by Akira Nakamura, the principle investigator of this research, and published by Gyosei in 2005.In the third and final year of the research, the investigator tried to expand the scope of the study. He thus joined the research group which studied the safety of fire brigades in Japan. From this collective effort, this investigator has learned the technique developed by the Fire Defense Agency. It is called S-KYT. This is a psychological method to help improve the crisis awareness of fire brigades. This may be incorporated into public management among local governments in the country. Likewise, the investigator was also involved in the group which studied the relationships between local governments and international agreements. In this group, this investigator focused on local governments and international laws from the view of crisis management. Oil spill and ship wreckage accidents caused by foreign vessels have been increasing and generated serious problems to local governments in Japan. The existing international agreements have not been able to protect local entities, because they are the accords among sovereign states. At the current moment, Japanese local governments have been facing the serous problems of protecting themselves from the events of man-made disasters generated by foreign vessels. The outcome of this research will be published soon in English in reputable international journals. Less