The national government has drafted the outline of a bill stipulating how it and local governments should protect the public in foreign attacks on Japan, according to government sources.

The outline states the national government should play a central role in protecting people, and it empowers governors to issue orders for forcible expropriation of private land and buildings for use as shelter and for seizure of private goods or property to be used as relief aid.

It includes articles such as the right of governors to issue evacuation orders to residents. In a summary drafted in April, only mayors were given the authority to evacuate residents.