On September 27th, 2011, the Asian Crisis Management Conference was held in Seoul around the theme of "The changing role of risk management organization in large scale disaster"

A lively discussion was held between representatives of each city about their disaster countermeasures and experiences, such as lessons learned from the heavy rains in Seoul in July, 2011.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) presented on lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, with three participants reporting from the Tokyo Fire Department, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Disaster Prevention Division.

The presentation from representatives of TMG about actions taken by each department and division during the Great East Japan Earthquake and issues identified through the experiences elicited a great response from each city.

The lessons learned through the earthquake were served as a valuable example to the Asian cities each facing their own issues, and awareness was renewed of the necessity for a wide-range of cooperation between cities.

The report by the Tokyo Fire Department on actions taken at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant gained considerable applause and praise for the assistance administered.

The participants observed several crisis management facilities during the conference. On the 28th, they visited the Seoul Water-Surface Fire Unit located on Hangan River, experiencing riding in a fire-fighting boat and observing spraying water. As its name implies, the Seoul Water-Surface Fire Unit is a fire station floating over the river. The participants seemed fascinated with the experience of donning lifejackets and watching the spraying of water from the boat.

Additionally, two weeks after the conference, the ANMC21 Plenary Meeting was held from October 9th to 11th in Seoul. At the meeting, representatives from Tokyo, Manila, Seoul, Taipei, made special reports on crisis management of major disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and also flood and typhoon. They affirmed the importance of sharing experience and techniques between cities, and using these to examine increasingly effective disaster countermeasures.

The network formed in the conference seems sure to be strengthened by the cooperative relationships between each city's crisis management departments.