Tag - disaster-preparedness

 
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September 08, 2025
 

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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Yoko Koiso, who lost her daughter in the 2021 mudslide in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, prays during a memorial ceremony held in the city on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025
People mourn victims of Atami mudslide four years on
Participants offered silent prayers for the 28 victims as sirens blared around the city.
The Central Disaster Prevention Council adopted a revised disaster-prevention plan that will encourage municipalities and logistics business associations to ensure there will be an emergency transportation system should a Nankai Trough earthquake occur, at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025
Japan adopts target of reducing death toll by 80% in Nankai Trough quake
According to the latest estimate disclosed in March, the death toll from a Nankai Trough megaquake is expected to reach up to about 298,000.
A delivery driver takes a break in the shade during high temperatures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2025
How much does a heat wave cost? Insurers and CEOs want to know.
Some believe a new market for heat insurance — driven in part by artificial intelligence and the need to cool data centers — is around the corner.
The government is considering a program that would allow local governments to lease food trucks used following disasters to business operators during normal times and receive maintenance fees in return.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025
Cabinet Office may lease government-owned disaster food trucks to businesses
The plan aims to offer local governments assistance from the private sector in preparing for natural disasters as the authorities confront severe financial conditions.
A resident carries his belongings from his damaged house in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2, 2024 — the day after a major earthquake devastated parts of the area.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2025
Japan eyes body for local government disaster waste management
The institution will help local governments quickly collect and dispose of large amounts of disaster waste, a type of work in which many local governments have no experience.
Self-Defense Forces soldiers take part in an evacuation drill, at Nama Hama Beach on Yonaguni island, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture, in November 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2025
Japan aims to complete Yonaguni evacuation shelter in 2028
The project was started bearing in mind a possible emergency over Taiwan in the Nansei southwestern island region.
People push a cart to receive water to distribute to neighbors in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 5, 2024, after a massive earthquake hit the area.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 28, 2025
Megaquake may hit central Japan within next 30 years, government panel says
There is a 16% to 18% chance of a large temblor hitting the Kinki western region and Hokuriku central region, according to a government panel.
A draft interim report calls on social media service providers to introduce voluntary regulations designed to suspend monetization in the event of a disaster, to curb the spread of disinformation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2025
Japan aims to regulate social media monetization in disasters
The report calls on social media service providers to suspend monetization in the event of a disaster, to curb the spread of disinformation.
Under a new basic policy for reconstruction, the government will tackle such issues as the final disposal of soil removed during radiation decontamination after the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
¥1.9 trillion over five years eyed for 2011 tsunami reconstruction
The amount tops ¥1.6 trillion for the five years through fiscal 2025, which ends in March.
The national government's envisioned disaster management agency is a signature project of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba,
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025
Many regions eager to host branches of upcoming disaster agency
A total of 28 entities representing prefectures, municipal government and other bodies have expressed their interest.
A screenshot of a submarine cable map on TeleGeography’s website shows a network of cables connecting with Japan.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 16, 2025
The underlying risks to Japan’s undersea cables
What exactly are undersea cables, and how real is the threat of disruption in Japan?
Satoshi Fujii, head of a subcommittee at the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2025
Nankai Trough quake predicted to cause ¥1.47 quadrillion in damage
The Japan Society of Civil Engineers said that the damage would be spread over the course of 22 years.
The new basic plan for promoting disaster prevention measures is expected to call for intensive efforts to develop evacuation shelters and stockpile emergency supplies to prevent earthquake-related deaths from indirect causes.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025
Japan plans to target 80% reduction of likely megaquake death toll in 10 years
The target will be included in a new basic plan for promoting disaster prevention measures, which is expected to be adopted in early July.
Ishiba also called for the promotion of talks on setting up regional offices of the agency to enhance support for developing antidisaster measures tailored to the specific circumstances of each region.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Ishiba eager to submit disaster agency bill next year
Ishiba called for the promotion of talks to enhance support for developing antidisaster measures tailored to the specific circumstances of each region.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a National Resilience Promotion Headquarters gathering on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Japan adopts ¥20 trillion anti-disaster program
The program, starting next April, focuses on rebuilding aging infrastructure and stepping up preparations for huge disasters.
The government plans to develop a shelter strategy for foreign armed attacks by the end of fiscal 2025, according to sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan to decide plans for shelters from armed attacks within fiscal 2025
The government will also compile basic guidelines for evacuating residents in Okinawa Prefecture's Sakishima Islands, apparently with a possible Taiwan contingency in mind.
The scene where a crumbling glacier partially collapsed and tumbled, at the village of Blatten, Switzerland, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 4, 2025
Swiss glacier collapse is a lesson on climate disaster management
The collapse of the glacier in the Swiss Alps was an expected disaster. When the first signs of instability started to appear, the town was evacuated.
A wildfire that occurred in the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in February significantly damaged a residential area.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2025
Japan looking to draft fire warning guidelines
Such warnings are designed to prevent fire from occurring or spreading, but there are no nationwide standards.
Evacuees stand in line to receive water from a water tank car at an evacuation center in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 4, 2024.
JAPAN
May 28, 2025
Japan enacts legislation aiming to strengthen disaster preparedness
The legislation was compiled based on lessons learned from the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024.
Participants crouch and take cover inside the Toei Subway Higashi-Nakano Station as part of a civil protection drill simulating the launch of a ballistic missile, held on Jan. 15 in Tokyo's Nakano Ward.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 27, 2025
Hurdles remain for securing missile shelters in Japan
Government carries out first large-scale survey to identify more potential evacuation sites.
Japan to experience blood moon lunar eclipse on Monday
A blood moon is seen during a partial eclipse in the sky over Lake George near Canberra on March 14.
‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
Japan prince comes of age as succession crisis looms
Prince Hisahito concludes his elaborate "kakan no gi" coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.
Ishiba to quit as prime minister amid LDP discontent
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announces his decision to step down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Sunday.
Bangladesh is a South Asian time bomb
Many Bangladeshis hoped that the overthrow of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina last year would revitalize the country’s democracy after an authoritarian lurch under the “iron lady.” Instead it has led to proliferating human-rights abuses, intensifying repression and widespread Islamist violence.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
Resonac creates 27-member consortium to pursue advanced chip developments
Representatives from member companies of JOINT3, a consortium working together on semiconductor-related developments announced by Resonac, pose for a photo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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