About JDGS
In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the JDGS project launched two websites: one to support those who have lost loved ones, and the other to provide information on ambiguous loss.
１．”A website to support those who have lost a loved one”
It took six months to create this website after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The site was updated in December of 2011, and then relaunched in the fall of 2015. Another relaunch is scheduled for 2020. This website contains a variety of information that we feel those who have lost a loved one and those who support them should know.
〇Website URL https://jdgs.jp/e_top/
〇Site Content
２．”Ambiguous loss information website”
This website was created a year and a half after the Great East Japan Earthquake. It was updated in October of 2012, followed by a renewal in the autumn of 2015. Another renewal was undertaken in 2020. This website contains a range of information about “ambiguous loss” that can occur when a family member is missing, when they are unable to return to their hometown, or when they have a family member with dementia.
〇Website URL https://al.jdgs.jp/e_top/
〇Site Content
【Project Member List (in alphabetical order)】
| Inoue Vimara | The Mindful Life Institute Office Camel |
| Chikako Ishii | TELL Counseling Center / Ishii Supervison Office of Family Therapy |
| Masaya Ito | National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry |
| Keiko Komemushi | Kyoto Sangyo University |
| Kayoko Kurokawa | Ryukoku Junior College |
| Yukihiro Sakaguchi | Kwansei Gakuin University |
| Noriko Setou | Fukushima Medical University |
| Akemi Shirai | International University of Health and Welfare |
| Noriko Murakami | Kobe Red Cross Hospital |
| Satomi Nakajima | Musashino University |
| Satomi Takahashi | National Defense Medical College |
【Project Advisor List (in alphabetical order)】
［ Domestic ］
| Noboru Asukai | Medical Corporation Aoyamakai Aoyama Hospital |
| Yoko Hashimoto | Sanno Educational Research Institute |
| Mizuho Hayashi | Sendai City Health and Welfare Center |
| Masaru Horikoshi | National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry |
| Tadashi Ishii | Tohoku University |
| Tetsuo Kashiwagi | |
| Hiroshi Kato | Care Center in Hyogo Prefecture |
| Yoshiharu Kim | National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry |
| Seiko Konishi | Musashino University |
| Toshiyuki Kubodera | Seigakuin University |
| Mie Kurosawa | Trauma and Society |
| Soichiro Maruyama | Kobe Shinwa Women’s University |
| Koji Minamiyama | Seijo University |
| Sachie Miyabayashi | Tohoku Gakuin University |
| Shinichi Niwa | Fukushima Medical University Aizu Medical Center |
| Satoko Ohara | Miyagi Mental Health Welfare Center |
| Hideki Onishi | Saitama Medical University International Medical Center |
| Tomoko Suzuki | National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry |
| Keiko Takagi | Sophia University Grief Care Institute |
| Ryuhei Tatara | Osaka Municipal General Medical Center |
| Hisako Watanabe | |
| Kunio Yanagita |
［ Overseas ］
| Pauline Boss | University of Minnesota |
| Colin Murray Parkes | St Christopher’s Hospice |
| Katherine Shear | Columbia University |
【Cooperation and cooperative organizations】
［ Japan ］
［ UK ］
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the JDGS project has received a great deal of material about support for the bereaved with warm encouragement from overseas grief researchers. We also receive a lot of help in translating these materials into Japanese to share this information with as many people as possible. I’d like to express our deepest gratitude to those who have contributed.
【JDGS Secretariat】
Noriko Setou Fukushima Medical University
【Translators】
Miki Itano
Chikako Ishii
Aiko Umezu
Shimizu Micheal Izman
Yuko Tani
Rie Tsuboi
Sayuri Tomimura
Yuko Nakai
Ryoko Noma
Yumiko Hirose
Makiko Komenaga
【Website creator / Administrator】
Noriko Setou, Fukushima Medical University
(Former affiliation: Konan Women’s University)
〇2012 JDGS Website Collaborators
| Isamu Saeki | Konan Women’s University |
| Saki Ujike | Konan Women’s University |
| Yumiko Hatakenaka | Konan Women’s University |
〇2015 JDGS Website Collaborators
| Isamu Saeki | Konan Women’s University |
| Marina Kaji | Konan Women’s University |
| Chihiro Fujimoto | Konan Women’s University |
〇2016 JDGS Website Collaborators
| Isamu Saeki | Konan Women’s University |
| Kaeko Imazawa | Konan Women’s University |
| Yukie Sasatani | Konan Women’s University |
〇2020 JDGS website Collaborators
| Kunihiko Nakai | r923 |
| Chikako Ishii | TELL Counseling/Ishii Supervision Office of Family Therapy |
| Mikiko Yamaguchi | English translation checker |
| L.G. Lubeck | English proofreader |
＊The website to support those who have lost their loved ones in disasters (FY2020 version) is supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (Project No. 20K03393).
The JDGS Project (Japan Disaster Grief Support Project) was organized soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake by “grief” experts in the country to support those bereaved by the disaster.
The loss of a loved one is often painful both emotionally and physically, but when it happens all of a sudden, especially in a disaster, the pain defies words. This loss can be accompanied by shock, fear, and despair.
Immediately after the disaster, many people experience difficulty in expressing sadness due to evacuation and trying to rebuild their lives, and they did not feel like talking about their loss and grief. Therefore, some grief experiences were able to develop into serious problems almost unnoticed.
Grief support after a disaster can go on for years. Through this bereavement project, we tried to find out how to best provide long-term bereavement support after disasters. This will help us to prepare for possible future disasters. By utilizing related materials and bringing together the wisdom and experience of many domestic and foreign experts, we are conducting the following practical activities.
1. Building a network of grief experts
2. Collecting, translating and introducing domestic and foreign materials on psychosocial support for those affected by disaster.
3. Publishing leaflets, manuals, and websites to promote the understanding of grief and how to support victims
4. Creating a support network and system for those who have lost their loved ones in a disaster and for those with missing family members
5. Organizing training and workshops for supporters in the affected areas, and also supporting local people who organize workshops
6. Supporting bereavement groups run by survivors