Events like this are a sobering reminder that natural disaster preparation is not optional in Japan. This does not mean living in constant fear or filling your apartment with military rations. It means knowing the risks around your home, receiving reliable information, keeping enough supplies to manage without utilities, and understanding what to do before panic has a chance to take over.

For foreign residents, preparation also involves overcoming a possible language barrier. For tourists, it means knowing how to receive emergency information when you do not have local knowledge, a stocked home or an established support network.

Understanding Japan’s Main Natural Hazards

Japan experiences earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, heavy rain, flooding, landslides, volcanic eruptions, extreme heat, and heavy snow. The risks vary considerably by location. A coastal town may face tsunami and storm-surge hazards, while a mountain community may be more exposed to landslides, avalanches, or volcanic activity. Even two neighbourhoods within the same city can have very different flood risks.

Japan’s earthquake reports use both magnitude and seismic intensity (shindo). Magnitude describes the overall size of an earthquake. Seismic intensity describes how strongly the ground shook in a particular place. Japan’s intensity scale has ten categories: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lower, 5 Upper, 6 Lower, 6 Upper, and 7. This is why the same earthquake may produce very different intensity reports in different cities.

Typhoons and earthquakes receive much of the international attention, but heavy rain can be equally dangerous. Flooding and landslides may occur far from the centre of a typhoon, and saturated slopes can remain unstable after the rain has stopped. Japan’s official disaster guidance therefore covers not only earthquakes and tsunamis but also heavy rain, floods, landslides, volcanic activity and heavy snow.

Start With Your Own Address

The most useful preparedness question is not “What disasters happen in Japan?” It is “What could happen where I live?”

Look up your municipality’s hazard map and find your home, workplace, and usual commute. Check separately for flooding, landslides, tsunami inundation, storm surge, and volcanic hazards where applicable. The national Hazard Map Portal links to municipal maps and allows users to examine several types of risk.

Next, identify at least two possible evacuation routes. Do not assume the nearest school or community centre is safe for every disaster. Japan distinguishes between a designated emergency evacuation site, which is intended to protect life from a particular immediate hazard, and a designated shelter, where people may stay after evacuating or when they cannot return home. One location may serve both purposes, but not always. A riverside school might be an earthquake shelter while being unsuitable during a flood.

Foreign residents should also check whether their city provides multilingual emergency emails, an official disaster app, social-media updates, or information through the local international association. Do this now rather than attempting to navigate a municipal website during an emergency.

Build Two Kinds of Emergency Supplies

It helps to separate your preparations into two groups:

• A home stockpile for remaining safely in your home without water, electricity, gas, or normal shopping.
• A portable emergency bag that you can carry if you must evacuate.

Government guidance recommends approximately three litres of drinking water per person per day and at least three days of food, preferably enough for a week when space and budget allow. Regular food that keeps well can be rotated into ordinary meals, so emergency preparation does not have to mean buying expensive specialist products.

A practical home stockpile should include water, shelf-stable food, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, flashlights, batteries, portable phone chargers, toilet paper, wet wipes, rubbish bags, and a way to prepare food without household gas or electricity. Portable toilets are especially important. A home may remain structurally safe while water and sewage services are unavailable.

Your evacuation bag should be light enough to carry comfortably. Include water, compact food, a flashlight, power bank, charging cables, basic first aid, masks, gloves, a small towel, rain protection, cash, and copies of important information. Keep sturdy shoes near the bed in case broken glass makes the floor dangerous after an earthquake. Cabinet Office guidance specifically recommends preparing emergency supplies and keeping shoes beside the bed when earthquake risk is elevated.

Add supplies that reflect your actual life rather than a generic checklist. These may include:

• Several days of essential medication and a written list of prescriptions
• Menstrual products, diapers, or infant formula
• Spare glasses, hearing-aid batteries, or mobility-related supplies
• Appropriate food and equipment for pets
• Seasonal protection such as heat packs, cooling towels, or extra water
• A paper containing your address in Japanese and emergency contact details

Do not rely entirely on your phone. A dead battery, damaged network, or overloaded mobile system can turn a phone containing every important detail into a decorative rectangle.

Make Your Home Safer Before an Earthquake

Many preventable earthquake injuries are caused by falling furniture, glass, and household objects. Secure tall shelves and cupboards, keep heavy items on lower shelves, and avoid placing large furniture where it could fall across a bed or doorway. JMA preparedness guidance recommends securing furniture, maintaining a safe space within the home, preparing emergency items and confirming evacuation and communication plans in advance.

Know where your gas, water, and electricity controls are. However, do not attempt to turn off a flame or utility during violent shaking if doing so would put you in danger. JMA advises people to protect themselves first rather than trying to force their way toward a stove during the shaking.

Renters should photograph the condition of the apartment, keep insurance information accessible and ask the landlord or management company about the building’s emergency procedures. After a severe earthquake, do not re-enter a visibly damaged building simply to retrieve possessions.

Know How Japan’s Alerts Work

Foreign residents sometimes assume that an emergency alert will automatically appear in their preferred language. That is not guaranteed. Municipal broadcasts and phone alerts may be entirely or partly in Japanese, and loudspeaker announcements can be difficult to understand even for fluent speakers.

The official Safety tips app provides push notifications for earthquake early warnings, tsunami warnings and weather warnings. It supports Japanese and 14 additional languages and contains evacuation guidance, useful phrases and links to emergency resources. Although designed with international tourists in mind, it is also useful for foreign residents.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also provides multilingual information covering weather, heavy rain, earthquakes, tsunamis, high temperatures and volcanoes. The Cabinet Office recommends using JMA, Safety tips, NHK WORLD-JAPAN and the MLIT Disaster Prevention Portal as reliable information sources.

During floods and landslide emergencies, pay particular attention to Japan’s five alert levels:

• Level 3: Older people, people with disabilities and anyone who may need extra time should leave dangerous areas.
• Level 4: Everyone in a dangerous area should evacuate.
• Level 5: A disaster is occurring or immediately threatening life. Take whatever action offers the best available protection.

Do not wait for Level 5. It may not be issued in every emergency, and evacuation may already be dangerous by that point. Official guidance is to leave hazardous areas by Level 4.

What to Do During an Earthquake

When the Earthquake Early Warning alarm sounds or when shaking begins before any warning arrives, your first task is to protect yourself.

When indoors, move away from windows, shelves, and anything likely to fall. Protect your head and shelter beneath a sturdy table or beside a structurally safer interior area. Do not run outside during the shaking, where roof tiles, glass, signs, and walls may fall. In a public building, follow staff instructions rather than rushing toward the exit.

If you are outside, move away from block walls, vending machines, glass-fronted buildings, and overhead signs. On a train or bus, hold a rail firmly and follow staff directions. If you are driving, slow gradually, switch on your hazard lights, and stop on the left when it is safe. Do not use an elevator after a major earthquake.

Once the shaking stops, put on shoes, check for injuries, fires, gas smells, and structural damage. Open a door if necessary to preserve an exit, but do not immediately begin wandering through the neighbourhood. Aftershocks may cause already weakened walls, ceilings and slopes to collapse.

What to Do About a Tsunami

A tsunami is not a concern only for people standing directly on a beach. Waves can travel along rivers, and the first wave may not be the largest.

If you are near the coast or a river mouth and feel strong shaking (or long, slow shaking) move immediately toward higher ground or a designated tsunami evacuation building. Do not wait for an alert, do not return for belongings, and do not stop to photograph the sea. JMA advises remaining away from the coast until all tsunami warnings and advisories have been lifted because waves may arrive repeatedly.

A red-and-white chequered tsunami flag displayed at a beach means a tsunami warning or advisory has been issued. Leave the water and coastal area immediately.

What to Do During Typhoons, Floods, and Landslides

Unlike earthquakes, severe weather often provides some preparation time. Use it.

Charge devices, fill water containers, bring balcony objects indoors, and check forecasts before transport begins shutting down. Do not travel simply because your train has not yet been cancelled. A timetable is not a safety assessment.

Follow both JMA warnings and instructions from your municipality. If your home lies in an identified flood or landslide zone, leave while roads are still passable. Evacuation does not always mean going to a government shelter; depending on the situation, a safer relative’s home, hotel or building outside the hazard zone may be appropriate.

Never walk or drive through floodwater. Its depth, current and contents may be impossible to judge, and drains or channels may be hidden beneath it. Stay away from rivers, coastal walls, and steep slopes during and after heavy rain.

When evacuation is already more dangerous than remaining inside, move to the safest available part of a sturdy building, often a higher floor for flooding or a room away from the slope during a landslide threat. This is an emergency last resort, not a reason to delay an earlier evacuation.

Volcanoes, Snow, and Extreme Heat

Japan’s active volcanoes use a separate five-level alert system. At Levels 2 and 3, access around the crater may be restricted; Levels 4 and 5 involve warnings affecting residential areas and preparations or orders to evacuate. Never cross a barrier or enter a restricted trail because the mountain appears quiet.

Volcanic ash can reduce visibility, irritate the lungs and eyes, damage machinery, and interrupt transport and deliveries. During ashfall, close windows and vents, avoid contact lenses, wear eye protection and an effective mask outdoors, and follow local instructions for ash disposal.

In snowy regions, emergency preparation should include warm bedding, heat packs, food that can be eaten without cooking, and awareness of carbon-monoxide risks. Never use a charcoal grill, generator, or unsuitable camping heater inside an enclosed home.

Summer disasters present the opposite problem. Power cuts and crowded shelters can quickly become dangerous during extreme heat. The continuing Kumamoto response has included specific warnings about heatstroke in evacuation environments. Keep more water than the basic minimum during summer, and include oral rehydration products, cooling items, and any medical supplies required by people particularly vulnerable to heat.

Communication After a Disaster

Mobile networks may become congested when everyone attempts to call at once. Text messages and internet-based messaging may work when ordinary calls do not.

Japan’s Disaster Emergency Message (Dial 171) is activated after major disasters when calls into affected areas become difficult. People can record and retrieve voice messages using a telephone number as the point of contact. Discuss its use with family before an emergency rather than trying to explain it after communications fail.

Choose one contact outside your region who can relay information between family members. Agree on a meeting point, but also agree that nobody should cross a dangerous area simply to reach it. Your message should communicate the essentials: where you are, whether you are safe, whether you are evacuating and where you plan to go.

Foreign residents should keep digital and paper copies of their passport, residence card, insurance details, medication list, and embassy or consulate contact information. Informing an embassy may be useful in a major disaster, but local emergency instructions should remain your immediate source of safety guidance.

Advice for Tourists

Tourists face the same physical hazards as residents but usually have fewer supplies and less knowledge of the area.

When checking into accommodation, look at the evacuation map on the door, locate the stairs, and note the name and address of the hotel in Japanese. Keep shoes, your phone and essential medication within reach at night. Carry a small power bank and some cash, as card systems and ATMs may be unavailable during power or network interruptions.

Download Safety tips and enable location-based alerts. Ask hotel staff what an announcement means rather than assuming it is unimportant. When instructed to evacuate, follow local staff, police and emergency personnel.

The JNTO Japan Visitor Hotline operates 24 hours a day at 050-3816-2787 and provides support during illnesses, accidents and natural disasters. For urgent police assistance call 110; for fire or ambulance services call 119.

Tourists should also keep travel insurance details accessible and expect transport disruption after major earthquakes, typhoons, or volcanic activity. Do not travel toward an affected area merely because a hotel booking remains active.

Preparation Is an Ordinary Household Task

Disaster preparation can feel overwhelming because no kit covers every possible emergency. The goal is not perfection. It is to make the first hours and days safer and less confusing.

A useful starting plan takes less than an afternoon:

1. Check the hazard map for your home or accommodation.
2. Find the correct evacuation location for each local hazard.
3. Install multilingual alert and information apps.
4. Store water, food, medication, and portable toilets.
5. Secure heavy furniture.
6. Prepare a light evacuation bag.
7. Decide how you will contact family.
8. Learn the meaning of Alert Levels 3, 4 and 5.
9. Save 110, 119 and, when relevant, the JNTO hotline.
10. Review everything twice a year.

Japan has extensive warning systems, trained emergency services, and well-developed disaster infrastructure. None of them, however, can replace knowing what the warning means, where you need to go and what you must carry.

Preparedness does not stop a disaster from happening. It gives you fewer decisions to make when the ground is moving, the rain is rising, or the lights have gone out.