The World Bosai Forum has opened in the city of Sendai to share the lessons from the powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

The three-day forum started on Friday in Sendai, one of the municipalities affected by the disaster. The Japanese word "bosai" refers to disaster preparedness.

The biennial event was launched in 2017. But the third World Bosai Forum was postponed until this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time the forum is being held around the anniversary of the disaster.

In an opening ceremony, survivor Kawasaki Aki spoke about how she managed to get through the tsunami as a junior high school student. She has been telling visitors to Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture about her experiences.

Kawasaki said she was able to evacuate quickly thanks to repeated drills and lessons on bosai. She expressed hope that participants of the forum will learn from each other and improve their disaster preparedness.

Sendai Mayor Kohri Kazuko said there is an increasing number of young people who do not have first-hand knowledge of the disaster.

She said she wants to learn from discussions and hopes that the forum will help improve disaster preparedness and risk reduction around the world.

Experts from about 40 countries will hold discussions. The forum also features exhibits of bosai products.