In recent years, Japan has experienced several natural disasters, and the need for psychological support for affected residents is being increasingly recognized. Support for disaster victims requires a public health perspective, and in many cases, the local municipal office, public health center, or mental health welfare center have a key role to play. However, existing mental health services alone are not sufficient to provide support in the cases of severe damage, necessitating the need for establishing disaster mental health care centers (DMHCCs) in the prefectures. In Japan, starting with the Hyogo DMHCC-set up after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake-six more centers have been established thus far to provide mental health care for victims.
 Miyagi Prefecture suffered extensive damage in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, and the Miyagi DMHCC was established in December of the same year and has since been providing psychological care to disaster victims. In this paper, we provide information on the activities of the Miyagi DMHCC over the 2013 to 2019 period. The annual number of cases supported was 6,000 to 7,000, increasing over time until 2015 and decreasing thereafter. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, many home visits were made to residents selected through screening, although the number of residents who approached the center for assistance increased over time. The majority of subjects with psychiatric disorders were classified as F1 (mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance abuse), F2 (schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders), F3 (mood disorders), and F4 (neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders) based on the ICD-10 classification. F3, comprising mostly depression that occurred after the earthquake, tended to increase over time. The issues faced by residents connected to support and the needs of the community for support groups were expected to change depending on the recovery phase. Support groups were expected to carefully observe the changes in the community and provide the needed support at the appropriate time.
 To prepare for the next major natural disaster, it is important for Japanese government and prefectural governments to provide continuous human resource development. Moreover, it was also considered necessary to analyze the activity of DMHCCs to understand the needs according to the recovery phases following disasters.
 Authors' abstract