Japan’s new National Disaster Management Agency urged households Nov. 2 to store food and water for at least three days, saying a major disaster could strain government response capacity.
The agency prefers a week of supplies and estimates that each person needs three liters of drinking water per day, including water for cooking. Its notice also recommends portable toilets and other everyday necessities.
The notice identifies major earthquakes, including those associated with the Nankai Trough and Tokyo, and a Mount Fuji eruption among the risks. It also asks residents to check their homes’ earthquake resistance, secure furniture, review hazard maps and evacuation routes, prepare emergency bags and take part in drills.
The appeal restates a benchmark already on the Prime Minister’s Office household preparedness page, which was updated in October: three days of food and water, with a week desirable for a major disaster. The agency’s notice is a request, not a new legal requirement.
Preparedness guidance elsewhere uses different benchmarks. Ready.gov calls for at least three days of food and water. The U.K.’s Be Ready campaign says a three-day household supply can help people manage until assistance reaches those most in need. The European Union’s preparedness strategy proposes developing guidelines for at least 72 hours of population self-sufficiency; the cited page does not set out a household stockpile checklist. Germany’s Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance recommends supplies for 10 days. Be Ready also suggests adding supplies through regular shopping over time to spread the cost.
The Associated Press reported that concern about Japan’s readiness for a disaster on the scale of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami helped prompt the agency’s creation. At its launch, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said people could “reduce damage by being prepared,” the AP reported. Japan’s notice says prefectures and government ministries are due to report progress by year-end.
