Disaster Prevention and Awareness

In this chapter, I demonstrate how gamification is grounded in Japanese society, especially in the field of disaster prevention and awareness. Japanese people generally are culturally familiar with many games, including tabletop exercises, board games, card games, and digital games. In the field of disaster prevention and awareness, games and game-related activities have been common and pervasive. The game “Crossroad”, a tabletop exercise, is a pioneering game in that it increased awareness of the effectiveness of gamification in this field. After the game gained popularity, various games were developed by ordinary people, especially people who have experienced natural disasters or are expected to be victims of future disasters. The trend toward games designed by ordinary people can be interpreted as one of the characteristics of Japanese gaming culture. People design games and then continue learning using their games. This could be a reflection of Japan’s generally bottom-up culture. The success of the Game Market, which is held three times each year and where mainly independent game designers develop games, could be further evidence that gamification is embedded in Japanese society. In addition to this grassroots movement, researchers also contribute to disaster prevention and increasing awareness by designing learning environments employing games.