Japanese foreign aid to fisheries in response to disaster: The case of the 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption and transoceanic tsunami

The large-scale eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022, caused widespread impacts, primarily due to the tsunami. The Ministry of Fisheries in Tonga requested that Japan provide fishery equipment, a gesture reflecting Japan's international cooperation in the sector. This study clarifies the factors influencing positive perceptions of Japan's international cooperation among Japanese fisheries stakeholders through a literature review, hypothesis development based on the review, and an analysis of a questionnaire survey to verify the hypotheses. The questionnaire survey was administered using Rakuten Insight in July 2022 with 200 respondents. Ordinal logistic regression and structural equation modeling were applied to confirm the factor structure of the model, including causal relationships between latent variables, in the form of a path diagram. The results of the analyses verified the hypotheses, indicating that the perception of disaster risk and trust in public aid in Japan may be key factors in shaping a favorable acceptance of Japan's international cooperation aimed at raising the resilience of fisheries in developing countries. In conclusion, we advocate for the Japanese government to focus more on awareness-raising activities for disaster risk reduction in the fisheries sector and to foster domestic trust in public aid to gain the public's consent in Japan.