The devastating impact from powerful typhoons that hit Japan in September and October served as a fresh alarm to municipalities responsible for the welfare of local residents. Affected municipalities are working at full capacity to deal with the aftermath of the disasters, fix damaged infrastructure and provide various kinds of support to residents.

The disasters that hit mainly eastern Japan came after similarly violent typhoons caused devastating floods and landslides in western Japan during the summer of 2018. The government decided last December to set aside ¥7 trillion over a three-year period starting March this year to reinforce infrastructure, implement flood control measures, and prevent the partial sinking of airports among other measures.

The budget is of great help to municipalities that are required to implement disaster risk reduction strategies because of Japan's high risk of natural disasters.