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April 01, 2025
 

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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Staff Sgt. Akihiro Yamamoto reflects on the Great Hanshin Earthquake while looking at materials at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Itami base in city of Itami, Hyogo Prefecture in December.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 14, 2025
How the SDF has earned trust through disaster relief efforts
Public sentiment toward the SDF was markedly colder during the Great Hanshin Earthquake, service personnel recall.
Participants observe a minute of silence for the victims of the Jan. 17, 1995, earthquake during an event for the the Coming-of-Age Day in Kobe on Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2025
20-year-olds celebrated in Kobe 30 years after earthquake
A minute of silence was observed for the victims of the Jan. 17, 1995, earthquake.
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jan 12, 2025
Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change
The total cost in climate damages for the country through 2050 could amount to ¥952 trillion if more ambitious action isn't taken.
Palm trees burned by the Palisades Fire along the shore in Malibu, California, at sunrise on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 11, 2025
‘We’re in a new era’: How climate change is supercharging disasters
Extreme weather events — deadly heat waves, floods, fires and hurricanes — are the consequences of a warming planet, scientists say.
Volunteers take care of children at a children’s play space opened for survivors of the earthquake in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31, 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Professor highlights crucial importance of volunteer aid after major quakes
Although volunteers often face criticism on social media, an expert in disaster management argues that volunteers are essential from the very moment a disaster strikes.
A portion of data showing changes in terrain due to the Noto Peninsula earthquake. The blue areas indicate landslides, while the red areas show accumulated debris.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2025
Japan government promotes laser forest terrain surveys
Data obtained by terrain surveys can be used for disaster responses by analyzing terrain changes after earthquakes or heavy rain.
Kenichi Tatsumi, 74, chairman of an association for people with visual impairment in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, speaks during an interview in November.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025
App helping visually impaired in disasters gains traction one year on
The service, which uses the app to read out the names of evacuation centers and other necessary information, was launched in April this year.
The first sunrise of the year is seen on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the massive Noto Peninsula earthquake, in Mitsukushima, a scenic spot in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, where part of the mountain face collapsed.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2025
Japan marks anniversary of massive Noto Peninsula earthquake
Most of the people affected by the disaster have returned to their homes or moved into temporary housing, and are working to rebuild their lives.
Photos taken from the same place but at different times in the Noto Peninsula towns of Wajima (left) and Suzu illustrate the progress made following the devastating earthquake that hit these areas of Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1, 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2025
A year after a deadly earthquake, Noto Peninsula still faces long road to recovery
Reconstruction remains a prolonged and complex ordeal for cities in the worst-hit areas, with recovery further hampered by torrential rains in September.
A Starlink antenna placed at a public facility in disaster-hit Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 10
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2024
Ishikawa municipalities weigh Starlink service one year after earthquake
Municipal officials think that Starlink is effective in securing communication methods in the early days of a disaster.
Evacuated people rest at a green house converted into an evacuation center in the aftermath of an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2. Japan is preparing to create a disaster management agency, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba particularly keen to improve the conditions of emergency shelters for disaster evacuees.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 30, 2024
Japan preparing to create disaster management agency
Disaster-related deaths exceeded 220 in the 2016 quake disaster in Kumamoto Prefecture and topped 240 in the Noto Peninsula temblor.
International students and others participate in a disaster preparedness drill in Osaka City, where disaster information was conveyed in foreign languages.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2024
Noto quake inspires more focus on getting disaster info to non-Japanese
The earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1 highlighted the need to help foreign nationals who do not speak Japanese be more informed.
Workers retrieves tsunami buoy Thai 23461 in the Andaman Sea on Nov. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 25, 2024
The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
They form part of a warning system intended to ensure no disaster is as deadly as a huge December 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean.
A strawberry sales area at the Motegi roadside rest station in the town of Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture. As part of measures to address the shortage of successors, the roadside rest station is collaborating with farmers and others to sell locally grown agricultural products.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024
Support planned for roadside rest stations as regional development hubs
The facilities, which started out mainly as rest places for drivers, have taken on wide-ranging roles, from tourism and agriculture to disaster prevention.
A Meteorological Agency official speaks during a news conference held in Tokyo in August to announce the lifting of the government's emergency alert system for a megaquake that may occur in the Nankai Trough.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024
Japan improves public relations for Nankai Trough megaquake alert
The first such alert, issued in August, caused confusion and unrest as the system was not widely recognized.
New unmanned water-cannon robots are set to be deployed to emergency fire assistance teams nationwide.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024
Emergency teams to be equipped with unmanned water-cannon robots
The robots, remotely operated, can navigate fire sites even during earthquakes or tsunami warnings.
Evacuees from an area flooded by the Kinugawa river, in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2015
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024
Japan updates disaster shelter guidelines
The central government on Friday updated its guidelines for disaster shelter operations, with the update calling for ensuring there is one toilet for every 20 people, among other measures.
Ten percent of municipalities said they did not know details of the megaquake warning system or how to respond to the alert, and 2.8% said they did not even know its name.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 27, 2024
Many municipalities in Japan lack understanding of megaquake advisory system
A Cabinet Office survey found that 12.8% of municipalities were not aware of what steps they should take when a megaquake advisory is issued.
Cardboard beds at a designated evacuation shelter in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31, following the Noto earthquake
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024
Citing Noto quake, experts urge Japan to bolster disaster shelters
Key recommendations from a government task force include the provision of cardboard beds and adequate cooking and toilet facilities.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a G20 summit meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2024
Ishiba calls for disaster reduction efforts at G20
Ishiba also said there is no time to lose to deal with large-scale natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

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