To preserve the memory of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of January 17, 1995, the city of Kobe has created a unique and beautiful museum. It provides movies and life-like presentations of the actual earthquake, extensive pictures and artifacts, and a series of interesting hands-on experiments people can undertake to understand better what the earthquake was and what it did to people. The workshop participants made a visit to the museum on 30 August, 2007, after having a presentation on the quake and the lessons the city learned from it.

The museum is impressive and the participants both enjoyed it and learned a great deal from it.

 
From left: The Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Museum; earthquake ground movement explained; earthquake proof building