Analyzing urban rituals with reference to development of social capital for disaster resilience

Based on the field survey data of Kishiwada City, Osaka, Japan, this paper analyzes the potential role of social capital developed through ritual events in building a disaster resilient community. The preliminary findings show that the ritual events are contributing to the development of trust in the community at Kishiwada. Bonding social capital, bridging social capital and trust are found to enhance disaster awareness and self reliance. It is also found that ritual based organizations in Kishiwada are functioning as a social platform that regularly activates residents for collective actions in civic activities. Implications regarding the social utility of ritual based organizations in disasters are also discussed.