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6 J. Int'l Humanitarian Action 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/jinthuma6 and id is 1 raw text is: Kodama Journal of International Humanitarian Action
https://doi.org/1 0.1186/s41018-020-00085-1

(2021) 6:1

Journal of International
Humanitarian Action

RE EARCH  ARTe                                                                      A
The implications of international rescue
and relief operations for domestic
regulatory regimes-lessons from the 2011
East Japan Earthquake
Yoshi Kodama
Abstract
This article attempts to reveal how and why international rescue and relief operations had difficulties, following the
2011 East Japan earthquake, in being smoothly received in a country like Japan with well-prepared domestic
natural disaster response mechanisms as well as highly regulated economy and society. To this end, the article
examines lessons and challenges from the operations by foreign rescue and relief assistance teams then tries to
present possible solutions and prescriptions for adjustment and improvement of inter-state frameworks as well as
domestic laws and regulations. Issues are generally analogous to trade and investment liberalisation as well as inter-
state deregulatory endeavours, which may give some insights in addressing post-disaster regulatory and procedural
impediments.

Introduction
This article attempts to reveal how and why inter-
national rescue and relief operations had difficul-
ties at the 2011 East Japan Earthquake in being
smoothly received in a country like Japan with
well-prepared domestic natural disaster response
mechanisms as well as highly regulated economy
and society. To this end, the article examines les-
sons and challenges regarding the operations of
foreign rescue and relief assistance teams, then en-
deavours to present possible solutions and pre-
scriptions for further adjustment and improvement
of   intergovernmental       frameworks      as   well    as
Correspondence: yoshinori.kodama@mofa.gojp
BL(Tokyo), LLM(Cantab), PhD(London). The views expressed in this article are
purely personal to the author. The analyses and views in this article are
based upon the author's discussions and enquiries with experts,
professionals, and negotiators in 2014-2018. The author particularly extends
appreciation to insights and advice from Ms Gabrielle Emery, Coordinator for
Asia Pacific Disaster Law Program, International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies, Asia Pacific Regional Office; as well as Mr Steven Hill'
Legal Adviser and Director, North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, Japan

I Springer Open

domestic laws and regulations. In this juncture,
existing intergovernmental instruments, either bi-
lateral or regional, as well as multilateral, will be
examined, and further improvement will be pre-
scriptively presented.
The method of analysis in this article is based
upon the 'bottom-up' approach. This means to
examine each phase and aspect of rescue and relief
activities, then to analyse relevant domestic regula-
tions as well as international instruments, so as to
seek  possible adjustments or amendments for
existing frameworks. There may be an alternative
approach to tackle challenges by codifying compre-
hensive multilateral legally binding instruments
covering relevant aspects with institutional back-
ings, such as collective decision-making processes
and dispute settlement procedures dealing with
discrepancies in  application  (International Law
Commission (ILC) 2016, as an example of compre-
hensive legislative approach). Such an approach
will be useful as a mid-term objective, but the au-
thor here tries to seek possibilities to utilise

© The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if
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licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons
licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain
permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecornmons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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