Abstract

A traditional village is cultural property where old buildings and traditions are concentrated and also where indigenous traditional cultures can be recognized and experienced directly or indirectly. In addition, traditional villages have been recognized as precious resources to revitalize regional economies through tourism. Currently, signage systems have been developed as for ordinary tourist sites or cities, and concepts or methods for sign system for traditional villages have not yet been established. Therefore, it is necessary to develop disaster prevention-based signage to prevent large-scale disasters, to guarantee the safety of residents, and to increase the satisfaction of visitors in traditional villages as precious resources. A case study is conducted to apply the proposed sign system for traditional villages in Korea and Japan as a tourist-oriented sign system that has been accomplished in Korea and a large disaster-oriented sign system developed with residents as a priority in Japan. The disaster prevention sign system considers the residents since residents are victims when a disaster happens, and guideline to increase the efficacy and satisfaction are suggested. However, this study has definite limits in sucring objectivity because the objects of study are insufficient, and the development of the sign system based on effective disaster prevention considering the features of traditional villages will continue in the future.