The Potential Contribution of Music to Disaster Medical Care in the Community

This paper is a record of the activities of a high school student concertmaster of the Narita Junior String Orchestra, who has been severely restricted in his activities due to public opinion that “music is unnecessary and urgent” during the prolonged COVID-19 disaster in Japan, and who has tried to solve the problems of disaster medicine and disaster awareness in the region through his own performance activities. We examined what local amateur musicians can contribute to the predictive, chronic, and tranquil phases of the local disaster medical cycle. Based on the results, a regional exploration team was established with fellow members of the junior orchestra, and the team worked on “raising awareness of disaster prevention through musical performance (the precursor phase),” “consolatory performances in disaster-stricken areas (the chronic phase),” and “development of new disaster prevention music TENDENKO, incorporating methods of natural disaster transmission through Ainu folk music (the tranquil phase). This is a practice in which high school musicians attempted to solve problems in regional disaster prevention and disaster medicine, such as passing on disaster prevention crisis awareness in disaster-stricken areas and contributing to the healing of disaster victims through music, through their own performance activities.