Disaster footage for DRR: Asahi Broadcasting Group holdings hosts exhibition and symposium of 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake archives
The Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings Corporation (ABC) hosted an exhibition titled “A Future Vision of Disaster Prevention to Share with the World” as part of the Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
1 September 2025 – The Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings Corporation (ABC) hosted an exhibition titled “A Future Vision of Disaster Prevention to Share with the World” as part of the Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
ABC has published a voluntary commitment “The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Video Footage Archive for Public Viewing” in the SFVC online platform.
The exhibition showcased footage compiled as part of ABC’s voluntary commitment to develop a video footage archive of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake for the public.
The exhibition aimed to generate discussion and awareness of the role of the media and disaster footage as a tool for learning important lessons following disasters to keep future generations safe. The exhibition ran over four days from 1st – 4th September 2025.
The opening of the exhibition was marked by a symposium titled “Disaster Communication: The Role of Archives and Television Stations.” Held on National “BOSAI” Day in Japan, the event brought together journalists with experience capturing disaster footage, broadcasting professionals, academics, and audiovisual archive specialists to discuss the challenges and opportunities of disaster footage for future disaster preparedness. The event reflects the call of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction for the media to take an active role in raising public awareness of disasters at all levels.
Mr. Masayuki Nishide, President and CEO of ABC, welcomed participants and viewers to the hybrid event. Ms. Yuki Matsuoka, Head of the UNDRR Kobe Office, gave opening remarks, followed by keynote talks from Ms. Natalia Ilieva of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and Prof. Akihiro Shibayama of the International Research Institute of Disaster Science at Tohoku University. A panel discussion, moderated by Prof. Mayumi Sakamoto of the University of Hyogo, featuring representatives from broadcasting organisations across the Asia-Pacific Region and Japanese academic institutions closed the event.
The work of ABC highlights the vital role of the media, particularly disaster archival footage, in disaster awareness and prevention. Archives preserve the lessons of past disasters for future generations to learn from, even after living memory has deteriorated. News and media institutions have a responsibility to record and disseminate disaster information in a transparent and accessible manner to successfully communicate disaster risk. As keynote speaker Ms Natalia Ilieva deftly stated in her keynote speech; “Archival footage of past disasters is not only a record, it’s a living testimony.”