Harvard's second fukushima field trip course: an overview.

The Field Trip to Fukushima Course (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, GHP549, Winter Session 2026) built on the inaugural 2025 course to offer an educational experience for graduate students across Harvard, examining ongoing recovery challenges in Fukushima following Japan's 2011 triple disaster of an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. Students learned directly from stakeholders spanning local, prefectural, and national levels across a range of sectors, mainly in Fukushima and Tokyo. Organized into three groups (Radiation and Environmental Health, Disaster Preparedness and Health Systems Resilience, and Community Recovery and Social Impact), students presented their results at Fukushima Medical University on January 20, 2026. The Radiation and Environmental Health group proposed establishing a Japan-led task force on nuclear disaster response and preparedness, presented in a theater-style format. The Disaster Preparedness and Health Systems Resilience group applied a social capital framework and recommended community strengthening through Disaster Welfare Assistance Teams in the acute phase and community buckwheat farming in long-term recovery. The Community Recovery and Social Impact group designed a LINE account for information dissemination and community building among young people. Building on its inaugural year, the course offered insights into how field-based, interdisciplinary learning can contribute to graduate education in disaster preparedness, recovery, and community resilience.