Introduction

On December 11, 2013, the Basic Act for National Resilience Contributing to Preventing and Mitigating Disasters for Developing Resilience in the Lives of the Citizenry (hereinafter referred to as the “Basic Act”) was promulgated and put into force.

The preamble to the Basic Act refers to the Great East Japan Earthquake, while noting the possibility of the outbreak of large-scale disasters, including a Nankai Trough earthquake, capital inland earthquake, volcanic eruption and the like, and provides as follows: “In order to promote measures for disaster prevention and mitigation promptly in preparation for large-scale natural disasters that may occur at any moment, it is necessary to assess vulnerability to large-scale natural disasters, set priorities and take proper measures in advance, with the aim of building national land and regions highly resilient to large-scale natural disasters, and at the same time to increase the power of local residents so that they can protect themselves and their lives by themselves.”

The Fundamental Plan for National Resilience is, so to speak, a prescription for developing national resilience based on vulnerability assessment, which is like a health checkup of the nation. With a view to promoting comprehensive and deliberate measures concerning national resilience, this Fundamental Plan will serve as the guidelines for other related national plans.

Accordingly, the whole government will promote the development of a resilient nation by revising relevant national plans according to this Fundamental Plan and formulating and promoting required measures to enable Japan to exercise its resilience to the full extent in a situation of a national crisis due to such disasters as a Nankai Trough earthquake or a capital inland earthquake, whose probability in the next 30 years is predicted to be about 70% according to a long-term evaluation by the Earthquake Research Committee, Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, the Government of Japan.

Chapter 1:
Basic Concept concerning National Resilience

1. Principles of National Resilience

Japan has repeatedly been hit by a number of large-scale disasters due to its geographical, geomorphic and meteorological features. Large-scale disasters have happened when people least expected them and have caused tremendous human loss and enormous economic, social and cultural damages. However, damage due to disasters varies significantly depending on the preparedness of society. In order to avoid repeating ex post facto measures, i.e., making efforts over years for the recovery and reconstruction from tremendous damage after being hit by a large-scale earthquake or other disasters, it is important to make preparations for large-scale disasters in advance during normal times, squarely facing the possibility of large-scale natural disasters and various other risks. In light of the lessons we learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake, we need to prepare comprehensive measures against large-scale disasters, with the possibility of the worst cases without preconceptions, while incorporating national land policy and industry policy as well, not only limited within the scope of narrowly-defined disaster prevention, as a far-sighted national policy with an eye on the distant future. Through such initiatives for building a resilient nation, we must overcome risks instead of merely being at the mercy of them, to achieve sustainable growth and develop an environment where young people leading subsequent generations can have bright hopes for the future.

For that purpose, we are committed to promoting initiatives for building national resilience with the aim of creating safe and secure national lands, regions, and economic society that have strength and flexibility, even in the event of any disasters. Basic principles therefor are as follows:

1. Prevent human loss by any means.
2. Avoid fatal damage to important functions for maintaining administration as well as social and economic systems.
3. Mitigate damage to property of the citizenry and public facilities.
4. Achieve swift recovery and reconstruction.

Through proactively promoting public-private initiatives for building national resilience to secure social and economic systems that will never become dysfunctional in any event, the lives and property of local residents, industrial competitiveness and economic growth can be protected, and at the same time, both the national and local governments and the private sector may also be able to enhance their capacity to address changes in circumstances and increase their productivity and efficiency. Such initiatives will also contribute to the national government’s growth strategy by cultivating new markets and expanding investments, thereby playing a part in Japan’s economic growth, in enhancing its international competitiveness and winning the trust of the international community.

Therefore, the national government is committed to promoting actions for building national resilience comprehensively, across ministries and agencies, in collaboration with local governments and the private sector.

2. Basic Policies for Promoting Initiatives for Building National Resilience

Based on the principles of national resilience, initiatives for making the entirety of the nations’ land territory more resilient to large-scale natural disasters shall be promoted in line with the following policies, while utilizing the experience we have obtained through the Great East Japan Earthquake and other previous disasters. Such initiatives will contribute to disaster prevention and mitigation, swift recovery and reconstruction from disasters and enhancement of Japan’s international competitiveness.

Envisaged risks that may affect the lives of the citizenry and the national economy include large-scale accidents, such as nuclear disasters, and terror attacks, in addition to natural disasters. However, a Nankai Trough earthquake and a capital inland earthquake are predicted to occur in the near future and once such large-scale natural disasters happen, a wide area of national land will be damaged significantly. Therefore, this Fundamental Plan aims to promote government-wide initiatives, in collaboration with local governments and the private sector, for building national resilience first against large-scale natural disasters.

(1) Approach for Building National Resilience

1. Implement measures, while closely examining all aspects of essential factors that may damage Japan’s robustness.
2. Implement measures in a planned manner, while having a long-term perspective and the concept of time management, not from a short-term perspective.
3. Enhance regional power by rebuilding diversity in regions, strengthening regional collaboration and thus trying to make the entire nation more resilient to disasters, with the aim of preventing the still-ongoing excess concentration in the Tokyo Metropolitan area and creating an autonomous, decentralized and coordinated nation.
4. Strengthen latent strength, resilience, and recuperative power held by social and economic systems of all levels in Japan.
5. Implement measures, while comprehensively ascertaining the power of the market, administration and society, with a broad and systematic perspective, and also keeping the ideal systems and regulations to be achieved in mind.

(2) Appropriate Combination of Measures

6. Promote measures effectively by appropriately combining structural measures, such as developing disaster prevention facilities, enhancing the earthquake resistance of facilities and securing replacement facilities, and non-structural measures concerning emergency drills and disaster prevention education, depending on disaster risks and regional circumstances, and develop a system therefor at an early stage.
7. Implement measures in an appropriate combination of self-help efforts, mutual assistance and public help, with the public sector (the national and local governments) and the private sector (residents and private business operators, etc.) properly cooperating with each other and sharing roles, with a central role being played by the national government in particularly serious, urgent or dangerous situations.
8. Devise measures that not only work well for disaster prevention and mitigation in an emergency but also are utilized effectively even at normal times.

(3) Promotion of Measures in an Efficient Manner

9. Prioritize measures to be implemented intensively in light of expected changes in citizens’ demands as a result of a decrease in population, as well as the aging of social capital, etc., while giving due consideration to ensuring implementation of relevant measures on an ongoing basis through effective use of financial funds.
10. Promote measures effectively, while reducing cost through effective use of the existing social capital.
11. Actively utilize private funding through PPP and PFI in order to make the most of limited funds.
12. Contribute to effective and efficient maintenance and management of facilities.
13. Promote reasonable use of land from the viewpoint of protecting human lives, while seeking consensus among interested parties.
14. Promote research and development based on scientific knowledge and make efforts for disseminating the outcomes thereof.

(4) Promotion of Measures in Accordance with Regional Characteristics

15. Strengthen bonds between people and the functions of the communities, and endeavor to develop an environment where actors who promote initiatives for building resilient communities can carry out their activities properly in each region.
16. Implement measures with due consideration to women, elderly people, children, people with disabilities, foreign people, etc.
17. Give due consideration to symbiosis with nature and harmony with the environment in accordance with the characteristics of each region.

3. Basic Means for Promoting Initiatives – Thorough Implementation of the PDCA Cycle –

Initiatives for building national resilience represent national risk management and should be promoted nationwide through repeating the following PDCA cycle and always looking back and reviewing the prior process.

1. Clarify the final goals and identify and analyze major risks.
2. Analyze and assess risk scenarios and their effects, and identify specific vulnerabilities in light of the goals.
3. Analyze and assess vulnerabilities and consider countermeasures against problems and risks in overcoming the relevant vulnerabilities.
4. Review policies necessary for solving problems, select countermeasures to be prioritized, and implement them in a planned manner.
5. Properly evaluate the results and review and improve the initiatives as a whole.

In this process, analysis and assessment of vulnerabilities and establishment of countermeasures against risks should be conducted through a new approach of cross-sectoral government-wide programs (policy packages for achieving goals) by identifying “the worst events that should never happen,” the occurrence of which is particularly supposed to cause fatal damage to the nation, and from the perspective of what we lack at present and what we should do from now on in order to avoid such events. This approach is intended to promote organic collaboration among sectors and gradually improve the reach of administrative initiatives currently taken in each sector to allow them to explicitly incorporate various types of risks.

Through the implementation of the PDCA cycle, selection and prioritization of programs are to be reviewed constantly. Initiatives for building national resilience will thus be stepped up by way of improving vulnerability assessment means, enhancing methods of evaluating effects of measures (introduction and review of Key Performance Indicators (KPI), etc.), setting up goals for each program, and introducing progress management through preparing roadmaps, while making the utmost efforts for visualizing the details and processes of such initiatives.

4. Matters Requiring Particular Consideration

(Building of Social and Economic Systems from a Comprehensive Point of View)

Under objective circumstances involving various risks, pursuing excessive economic efficiency that only envisages normal times may result in damaging the Japanese economy and society and increasing risks of losing economic efficiency against the initial intention. Therefore, when intending to build, reform or improve social and economic systems, we need to have a comprehensive point of view in order not only to ensure efficiency at normal times but also to seek long-term efficiency and reasonableness in light of the existence of various types of risks.

(Promotion of Private Investment)

Proactive efforts by private business operators, as well as initiatives by the national and local governments, are indispensable for achieving substantial progress in building national resilience. The public and private sectors need to collaborate with each other and share roles in a proper manner.

Under the tight financial conditions faced by the national and local governments, it is necessary to promote private business operators’ investment of their funds, personnel, technology and know-how in initiatives for building national resilience (hereinafter referred to as “private investment”).

Comprehensive initiatives from both the software and hardware aspects are expected to create diversified needs in various sectors and will bring about new innovation and expansion of private investment, leading to increasing Japan’s competitiveness through improvement of the disaster response capacity of private business operators. Such initiatives themselves will contribute to the sustainable economic development of Japan.

For this purpose, voluntary capital investment, etc. that will contribute to building national resilience (such as the development of backup facilities and systems) should be encouraged by way of thorough provision and sharing of information and collaboration with private business operators (PR and awareness raising activities and establishment of relevant councils, etc.). At the same time, infrastructure development and countermeasures for aging infrastructure should be promoted by utilizing PPP and PFI, and mechanisms that further induce private investment (such as a certification system, regulatory reviews, and use of tax systems) should be embodied steadily.

Additionally, local governments should understand the significance of promoting these efforts for increasing private investment broadly nationwide and should endeavor to provide information and raise people’s awareness so that they can have interactive communication actively with local private business operators.

(Building of Systems by Local Governments, etc.)

In order to promote initiatives for building national resilience, information sharing and collaboration should be ensured among local governments and between the national government and local governments. The national government will support and promote local governments’ efforts to strengthen their structure, such as the enhancement of their supervisory and adjustment functions and the fostering of human resources in charge of resilience-building activities, as well as regional efforts to establish and implement plans for building regional resilience. Furthermore, the national government will provide proper assistance to municipalities so that they can take appropriate measures for residents, depending on risks of disasters, on a timely basis.

(Promotion of BCP and BCM)

In the event of a large-scale natural disaster, etc., the most important thing in maintaining national economic activities and enabling swift recovery and reconstruction is the organic accumulation of initiatives taken by the national and local governments and efforts for continuing business activities made by individual companies. Therefore, companies’ activities for their individual company/business continuity planning in an emergency (BCP) and business continuity management (BCM) should further be facilitated and their efforts for achieving joint BCP and BCM across industry segments beyond the bounds of individual companies or among respective regions should also be promoted, while enhancing support measures and seeking means to build a proper evaluation system. Such positive attitude for BCP and BCM should be firmly established as Japanese business culture with the aim of ensuring resilience of supply chains and enhancing Japanese companies’ competitiveness. In light of the fact that many of the products, components and materials of Japanese manufacturing industry play the key role in domestic and overseas supply chains, attention should be paid to diversification of supply sources of materials and components and ensuring emergency power sources for Japanese companies, including SMEs and small businesses, when considering the promotion of BCP and BCM.

(Risk Communication and Fostering of Human Resources, etc.)

Each citizen is supposed to play a major role in initiatives for building national resilience, and it is important for the administration to encourage them to voluntarily think about the importance of national resilience not only in response to the unilateral publication of information but also through bi-directional communications with the citizens. For that purpose, the national government will promote a national campaign to foster and ensure human resources who have specialized knowledge and technology concerning disaster prevention and mitigation and to disseminate and implement lessons and knowledge obtained from previous disasters, while also taking into account the perspective of gender equality.

(Promotion of Compilation of Database and Opening of Data)

Initiatives for building national resilience cover broad fields both in the public and private sectors, including risk communication, maintenance and management of social infrastructure, and research and development in various fields. In order to promote these initiatives efficiently based on data, it is indispensable to integrate information held separately by various entities, including the national and local governments and the public sector, to enable all these entities to have access to such information. Therefore, the national and local governments and the public and private sectors must cooperate and share roles appropriately for promoting sharing and compilation of a database of information, including landform, geological conditions and other fundamental information, which is currently held separately, and for developing a unified platform for this purpose. The disclosure of such data should also be promoted.

(Measures for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Transmission of Information)

Initiatives for building national resilience represent part of our hospitality to foreign visitors. Safe and peaceful Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 will be backed by national resilience. For this purpose, necessary measures will be taken in a comprehensive and systematic manner for enhancing the resilience of Tokyo in close collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan government and other related local governments.

The national government will actively provide the international community with information on Japan’s initiatives for building national resilience and the outcomes thereof, thereby endeavoring to deepen their understanding that Japan is a country where social and economic activities can be carried out safely.

(International Contributions through our Initiatives for Building National Resilience)

Enhancing resilience of Japan’s economic society, which plays a significant role in global supply chains, will also contribute to the growth of the world economy.

In light of the fact that the aging of Japan’s social infrastructure, which was intensively developed in and after the high-growth period, will become an issue in the near future, our challenge to ensure national resilience and achieve sustainable economic growth through strategically and efficiently maintaining and renovating such infrastructure as assets to hand down to the future generations is expected to serve as a model for other countries. Additionally, Japan will be required to lead the whole world in the field of technology on disaster prevention and mitigation, based on the know-how which we have accumulated through past experience of various natural disasters, while promoting our efforts for the development of new technology and enhancing technical support for other countries, by such means as fully utilizing the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), which concluded a cooperation agreement on risk assessment with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) .

From these viewpoints, the national government is committed to deepening mutual understanding with other countries through making opportunities for information exchange and exchanging personnel, and to working together to encourage and inspire each other in various fields concerning national resilience, thereby further promoting Japan’s initiatives for building national resilience and endeavoring to contribute to the international community.

Chapter 2:
Vulnerability Assessment

1. Framework and Procedures for Assessment

Based on the Guidelines for Assessment of Vulnerability to Large-scale Natural Disasters decided by the National Resilience Promotion Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as the “Headquarters”) on December 17, 2013, an assessment of the vulnerability to large-scale natural disasters (hereinafter referred to as the “vulnerability assessment”) was conducted under the following framework in the following procedures.

(1) Envisaged Risks

Envisaged risks that may affect the lives of the citizenry and the national economy include large-scale accidents, such as nuclear disasters, and terror attacks, in addition to natural disasters. However, a Nankai Trough earthquake and a capital inland earthquake are predicted to occur in the near future and once such large-scale natural disasters happen, a wide area of national land will be damaged significantly. Therefore, under this Fundamental Plan, the assessment was conducted envisaging large-scale natural disasters for the time being.

(2) Sectors of Measures

Vulnerability assessment is to be conducted for each sector of measures concerning national resilience (Article 17, paragraph (4) of the Basic Act). Targeted individual sectors of measures are 12 (administrative functions/police and fire services; housing and cities; healthcare and welfare; energy; finance; information and communications; industrial structures; transportation and logistics; agriculture, forestry and fisheries; national land conservation; environment; and land use (national land use)) and cross-cutting sectors are three (risk communication; countermeasures for aging infrastructure; and research and development).

(3) Goals and the Worst Events that Should Never Happen

Vulnerability assessment is to be conducted while envisaging the worst events that should never happen (Article 17, paragraph (3) of the Basic Act). Regarding such worst events, eight goals to be achieved in advance were set up and 45 events that would hinder the achievement thereof were specified as follows.

(4) Procedures for Assessment

As the first step, the Headquarters compiled measures for avoiding these specified worst events as cross-sectoral programs covering multiple ministries and agencies, and then analyzed problems of each of the individual measures comprising the respective programs. Based on the analysis results, the Headquarters ascertained the achievement levels and progress of programs and comprehensively analyzed and assessed the current vulnerabilities in respective programs, and further analyzed and assessed the current vulnerabilities in each sector of measures, while taking into account problems newly revealed through the former analysis and assessment by program.

The utmost efforts were made to set up indicators to show progress when analyzing the problems of each of the individual measures, and to select Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for respective programs, in light of the relevance and objectivity, when ascertaining the achievement levels and progress thereof.

2. Key Points of Assessment Results

The assessment results are as shown in Attachments 1 and 2. The key points of the results of the overall vulnerability assessment are as follows.

(1) Need to Appropriately Combine Structural Development and Non-structural Measures while Selecting Measures to be Prioritized

Many of the measures concerning national resilience for achieving disaster prevention and mitigation are still only half done. After experiencing a disaster far beyond our imaginings and in consideration of the capacity and financial limits on the part of entities that implement these measures, we must say that it is necessary to select measures to be prioritized and appropriately combine structural development and non-structural measures so as to achieve higher levels of national resilience as early as possible, while always keeping the four fundamental goals (prevent human loss; minimize damage; avoid fatal damage to important facilities; and achieve swift recovery and reconstruction) in mind.

(2) Need to Ensure Substitutability and Redundancy

However hard we may try, only enhancing the earthquake resistance of each facility would not be enough as disaster prevention measures. In particular, in such sectors as administration, energy, finance, information and communications, and transportation and logistics, where system shutdown would cause fatal damage, substitutability and redundancy need to be ensured through developing backup facilities and systems.

(3) Need to Collaborate with Local Governments and the Private Sector

Individual measures are carried out by diverse entities, including local governments, private business operators, NPOs and the general public, in addition to the national government. In order to ensure efficient and effective implementation of measures by these entities, the national government must support local governments’ efforts to foster required personnel or otherwise strengthen their organizational systems and offer proper assistance to municipalities. Thorough provision and sharing of information and collaboration among relevant entities are also indispensable.

Chapter 3:
Policies for Promoting Initiatives for Building National Resilience

1. Sectors of Measures concerning National Resilience

Sectors of measures concerning national resilience covered under this Fundamental Plan are the following 12 individual sectors and three cross-cutting sectors as set up upon conducting vulnerability assessment.

(Individual sectors of measures)

(i) Administrative functions/Police and fire services; (ii) Housing and cities; (iii) Healthcare and welfare; (iv) Energy; (v) Finance; (vi) Information and communications; (vii) Industrial structures; (viii) Transportation and logistics; (ix) Agriculture, forestry and fisheries; (x) National land conservation; (xi) Environment; and (xii) Land use (national land use)

(Cross-cutting sectors)

(i) Risk communication; (ii) Countermeasures for aging infrastructure; and (iii) Research and development

2. Promotion Policies for Respective Sectors of Measures

Promotion policies for each of the 15 sectors of measures (basic guidelines for establishing measures) set forth in 1. above are as follows.

These 15 sectors were compiled by categorizing necessary measures in light of the eight goals, but they are all interdependent. Therefore, after clarifying the competent ministries and agencies (departments, etc.), relevant ministries and agencies, local governments, etc., must build a proper system, share data and jointly conduct progress management to promote measures in each of these sectors, with due consideration given to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of the respective measures.

(Promotion Policies for Individual Sectors of Measures)

(1) Administrative Functions/Police and Fire Services (Administrative Functions)

• With the aim of maintaining key functions of the national government even in the event of a capital inland earthquake or other large-scale natural disaster, the business continuity plan for each ministry and agency should be reviewed constantly based on that for the entirety of the national government, while conducting drills and evaluation for enhancing the effectiveness thereof. Additionally, based on the review results, such measures as seismic reinforcement work for government facilities, storage of goods, ensuring of electricity, etc., securing of alternate functions, preparation of dual communication channels and network bases, and development of systems to back up various types of data should be promoted. Related ministries and agencies are to take further measures jointly as necessary. In that process, reexamination should be carried out with regard to duties to be prioritized in the event of a large-scale natural disaster, as well as interdependency among various duties, a system to supplement required duties, and means to ensure the minimum personnel necessary upon a disaster. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Efforts should be made to strengthen disaster response capacity through securing broad-based disaster prevention bases indispensable for taking emergency measures and enhancing means for collection and provision of information helpful for taking responses against disasters. The handling of information on disaster victims should also be discussed. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Local governments should be encouraged to establish and review their own business continuity plans based on actions taken by the national government and relevant ministries and agencies, and to strengthen their business continuity systems through efforts to improve effectiveness. They are to foster human resources for enhancing their disaster response capacity and build a system for mutual support and collaboration with other local governments and relevant organizations. The national government will offer support for local governments, i.e., for those with fragile frameworks that suffer serious staff shortages on an ongoing basis from normal times, not only in an emergency, with the aim of strengthening systems of local governments. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); and other relevant ministries and agencies]

(Police and Fire Services)

• Bases and routes for activities of the police, fire services, self-defense forces, the Japan Coast Guard, etc. shall be made more disaster-resistant. Equipment, such as airplanes, ships, vehicles and communication materials, necessary for rescue activities and ensuring access routes should be developed and enhanced, together with disaster prevention information, while giving due consideration to the development of common communication means and utilization of information possessed by the private sector. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• Systems for the Police Disaster Dispatch Unit, Emergency Fire Rescue Unit (including the Dragon Hyper Command Unit), TEC-FORCE, National Strike Team, FAST-Force, etc. are to be strengthened. Emergency drills and other training exercises should be organized from the planning stage in collaboration among relevant organizations, and joint drills and systematic and staged training exercises should be conducted under circumstances simulating various scenes of disasters. Collaboration with the private sector, etc. should also be strengthened and efforts should be made for enhancing local disaster prevention capabilities through improving the system, equipment and drills of fire companies, which are the core of regional disaster prevention activities. Awareness-raising activities concerning flood control companies and voluntary disaster prevention organizations should also be carried out and such activities should be reviewed depending on the changes in society. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• The central government offices, local governments, the police, fire services, self-defense forces, and the Japan Coast Guard, etc. should endeavor to strengthen their respective response capacity and develop a system for collaboration and adjustment under which comprehensive disaster response measures are to be taken nationwide. At the same time, they should discuss how instruction and supervision should be provided based on basic principles of responses at the time when a declaration of a disaster emergency is issued. Furthermore, a system should be developed for prior adjustment and immigration procedures necessary for accepting emergency aid teams from overseas, based on the experience of accepting the US army’s “Operation Tomodachi” after the Great East Japan Earthquake. [Cabinet Secretariat; Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]

(2) Housing and Cities

• Goals of countermeasures against large-scale fires in densely-populated urban areas should be steadily achieved by measures such as preventing fire spread, and goals of seismic reinforcement work for houses, buildings and schools, etc. should also be achieved. For these purposes, measures should be taken by appropriately combining the hardware and software aspects. Such measures include the development of shelters and evacuation routes using parks and city streets, demolition of old condominiums and construction of new ones, renovation of buildings for enhancing earthquake resistance, and promotion of renovation of used houses through improving their evaluation methods and construction of wooden houses highly resilient to earthquakes, as well as the use of support measures and tax systems targeting local governments, utilization of regulatory methods, research and development of new construction methods such as those using Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT) and of traditional construction methods, establishment and dissemination of standards therefor, and provision of joint training exercises. Public relations activities and awareness-raising activities targeting the general public will be proactively carried out in an easy-to-understand manner, thereby promoting actions effectively inducing reconstruction and renovation of houses and buildings. [Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• Based on lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake, safety measures against long-period ground motions should be taken for high-rise buildings, and with regard to large-scale reclaimed land, etc., sharing of information on ground and disaster prevention measures for underground space should be promoted. The disaster response capacity of multipurpose facilities should also be enhanced through proper evacuation guidance given by general fire/disaster prevention supervisors and implementation of joint drills, etc. [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• Efforts should be made for promoting seismic reinforcement work for routes and facilities for essential utilities (electricity, gas, water supply and sewerage, and communication systems). Disaster resistance should be strengthened by such means as introducing a system to automatically stop power supply for preventing electrical fires. Individuals and local governments are to be encouraged to store drinking water and other necessities, and alternate functions are to be secured. In carrying out such actions, relevant areas should be divided into unified blocks. Additionally, by encouraging business operators to establish their own BCP and BCM structures, disaster mitigation measures contributing to swift reconstruction should be promoted. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• The public sector and the private sector should cooperate with each other to provide accurate information in the event of a disaster, make efforts to continue their business in relevant business or commercial zones as a whole, and ensure safety of evacuees and those stranded around major stations in metropolitan areas. Measures for people stranded due to a disaster should promoted and disseminated in advance around major stations and should be enhanced through drills and prior information sharing regarding the possibility of using public and private buildings as temporary shelters. Efforts should also be made for strengthening disaster prevention functions of those shelters and evacuation centers through measures such as enhancing their earthquake resistance, increasing storage of necessities, and ensuring alternate water sources and energy, while endeavoring to steadily enhance the disaster resistance of traffic facilities to ensure smooth evacuation and returning home. [Cabinet Secretariat; Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Relevant organizations should cooperate with each other to create communities resilient to tsunamis, while trying to make towns more compact, in light of population aging in urban areas, so that elderly people can have access to important facilities within walking distance and live independently even in the event of a disaster. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]

(3) Healthcare and Welfare

• There is a risk that an extensive large-scale disaster may cause a tremendous number of people to be injured, exceeding the capacity of emergency treatment and transportation. Therefore, the public and private sectors should discuss means to provide proper medical services envisaging both emergency situations and normal times. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]
• Efforts should be made to enhance the earthquake resistance of medical and welfare facilities, promote relocation from areas expected to be submerged in water in the event of a Nankai Trough earthquake, ensure information communications, emergency power generation and alternate water sources that support medical and welfare functions, and store water, food and other necessities, thereby strengthening disaster prevention and mitigation functions to secure business continuity. In order to ensure that a large number of victims expected to be generated by a disaster can all receive necessary services, healthcare and welfare functions are to be made more disaster-resistant through building a broad-based collaboration system for appropriate allocation of medical resources, including materials, equipment, and personnel. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]
• In order to avoid an absolute lack of medical services in the event of a large-scale natural disaster, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will provide training for fostering staff of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), who will play the central role in medical rescue, enhance drills in organized collaboration among assistance teams, and actively deploy them to hospitals that serve as disaster centers. Furthermore, the ministry will ascertain local medical needs that are required after emergency activities and build a nationwide support system that incorporates a mechanism to appropriately allocate medical resources and make adjustments. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]
• In order to ensure that medical facilities that serve as comprehensive disaster centers in each prefecture can accept patients, including severe patients, the use of medical treatment units (medical modules), also at normal times, is to be considered. Measures to avoid an absolute lack of medical functions and personnel should also be promoted by allocating necessary materials and equipment to local medical organizations, such as hospitals that serve as disaster centers and municipalities that will establish first-aid centers, and by enhancing various types of medical training courses. Furthermore, collaboration between medical organizations and transport/logistics business operators should be strengthened to ensure higher disaster resistance and early opening of access routes for patients and medicines and prompt resumption of distribution of medical materials. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• In order to prevent outbreak and spread of infectious diseases due to a disaster, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will conduct sterilization and pest control based on the Act on Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Care for Patients Suffering Infectious Diseases, and will provide vaccination based on the Preventive Vaccinations Act. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]
• Through promoting collaboration between the health and medical care sector and the nursing care sector from normal times, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will endeavor to build the integrated community care system, thereby developing an environment that encourages elderly people to participate in community activities and enhance disaster response capacity of respective communities. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]
• In order to ensure emergency support for vulnerable people, such as elderly people and people with disabilities, in the event of a disaster, a broad-based welfare support network among private bodies and business operators should be built. [Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare]

(4) Energy

• Most of the large-scale energy supply bases in Japan are located on the Pacific side, and there is a risk that a Nankai Trough earthquake or a capital inland earthquake may damage their supply capacity significantly. Therefore, the disaster response capacity of each facility should be strengthened, and self-sufficiency within each region and the capacity to mutually accommodate energy between regions should be enhanced. At the same time, the supply side and the demand side of energy should take comprehensive measures to ensure mutual support and unity, through structural development and non-structural measures, thereby seeking to enhance resilience of the energy supply chain as a whole. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• While trying to ensure the necessary energy supply even in the event of large-scale damage through promoting efforts for strengthening the emergency shipping capacity of refineries and securing national stockpiles of petroleum products and oil gas, the supply side needs to establish their concept of prioritization of supply destinations in advance on the premise that supply will be limited after receiving damage. Efforts should also be made to maintain and strengthen declining supply capacity of terminals (service stations, etc.), introduce non-utility generation facilities to individual households, public facilities, schools and medical institutions, and secure sufficient stock of fuel. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• As damage to a complex or other energy supply facilities or to high-pressure gas facilities may not only cause disruption of energy supply but also lead to a large-scale fire and environmental pollution, their disaster resistance needs to be enhanced, and strengthened disaster prevention systems need to be put in place. [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Introduction of independent and distributed energy, such as cogeneration, fuel cells, renewable energy and hydrogen energy should be promoted locally, while aiming to create smart communities. Introduction of renewable energy using biomass, water, land and other resources in rural areas should also be promoted. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of the Environment]
• The infrastructure for road and marine transport of energy should be improved and the disaster response capacity of the transport system needs to be strengthened. Furthermore, relevant organizations should cooperate with each other to develop a system necessary for ensuring early opening of transportation routes in an emergency, and discuss means for information sharing, cooperation for smooth transportation of fuel, and improvement of various procedures. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• The supply side is to be encouraged to create a joint BCP and BCM structure across multiple companies and promote mutual cooperation on an ongoing basis. Relevant organizations should conduct joint drills to ensure supply chains in an emergency and enhance the effectiveness of their BCP and BCM structures, aiming to ensure capability to promptly secure materials, fuel and personnel necessary for emergency reconstruction work. They should thus endeavor to further strengthen their functions through the use of the PDCA cycle and promote technological development. [National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Ministry of Defense; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• With the aim of making the entirety of the energy supply-demand structure more resilient, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will endeavor to multilateralize and diversify domestic and overseas supply sources, in light of medium- to long-term trends of energy supply and demand, domestic and overseas circumstances, and disaster risks in coastal areas. Means therefor may include intensive measures concerning the national energy infrastructure and distribution networks that enable mutual accommodation of electricity and natural gas, etc. between regions, promotion of regionally dispersed power sources, and ensuring of domestically produced energy through the use of thermal energy and promotion of research and development for commercialization of methane hydrate. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]

(5) Finance

• Financial institutions, etc. are required to reliably maintain their functions of making settlement and supplying cash even in the event of various natural disasters, including large-scale complex natural disasters. The national government and the central bank will collect and provide information accurately and promptly to maintain financial orders, thereby mitigating credit uncertainty over financial settlement functions in Japan and avoiding systemic risk or other financial crisis. [Financial Services Agency; Ministry of Finance; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• In order to ensure that financial services are provided for sure, financial institutions should improve the disaster resistance of their buildings, etc., ensure the backup functions of their systems, try to secure power sources and information communication functions in an emergency in collaboration with relevant organizations, and establish and enhance their BCP and BCM structures. In particular, as significant settlement functions are concentrated in the Metropolitan area, they need to intensively promote efforts to minimize possible influence due to a capital inland earthquake, such as by securing alternate bases. The central bank must promote its measures in consideration of its significant role in maintaining financial order from a macro perspective. [Financial Services Agency; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Relevant organizations, including the national government and the central bank, should carry out joint drills in a cross-sectoral manner and reflect the results in their countermeasures. In this manner, they should further enhance the effectiveness of their BCP and BCM structures, accumulate know-how, develop human resources, and promote collaboration among related financial institutions. In that process, various circumstances, such as concurrent damage to multiple financial bases, shortage of personnel (major staff), and long-term disruption of the power supply and transport infrastructure, should be envisaged in order to ascertain vulnerability of the entirety of the financial system. [Financial Services Agency]

(6) Information and Communications

• A well-balanced mechanism of “autonomy, decentralization, cooperation and consolidated operation” should be built on the premise that social infrastructure in the field of information and communications is interdependent. For that purpose, such interdependency should be visualized, and vulnerability of the information communications system against long-term disruption of the power supply, which has not been supposed up till now, need to be assessed. Measures should be taken immediately based on the results of the assessment. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Financial Services Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• Through the use of geospatial information and ICT, etc., diversified means for collecting disaster information both from the public and private sectors should be ensured. At the same time, diversified means for providing such information, including utilization of the Information Commons and the public wireless network LAN for joint use, etc., should also be ensured so that all citizens can obtain accurate information for sure. As a means to ensure information transmission in an emergency, mutual collaboration between the information communications infrastructure possessed by the public sector and that possessed by the private sector should also be sought. Furthermore, relevant organizations should promote radio stations’ countermeasures against poor radio reception and other measures against disasters. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• Countermeasures against disasters should be promoted steadily in each region as high priority efforts, and the disaster resistance of power facilities and transmission facilities/networks themselves needs to be enhanced. Information and communications facilities and equipment should be improved by preparing emergency power supply equipment and fuel storage facilities, etc. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); National Police Agency; Financial Services Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]
• An information collection/analysis system should be created concerning social infrastructure that actively utilizes censors, image information systems, and other ICT, with the aim of enabling early implementation of efficient countermeasures for aging infrastructure and maintenance and management thereof. Such system should also be utilized for providing evacuation guidance in an emergency. Additionally, research and development should be carried out and related regulations should be reviewed for the purpose of enhancing disaster measures and maintenance and management technology that utilizes various types of information on social infrastructure. [National Police Agency; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of Defense]

(7) Industrial Structures

• Efforts should be promoted to visualize the structure of supply chains, which have become more and more complicated, while paying attention to corporate value and business relationships of individual companies, and to enhance disaster resistance of industrial equipment, including equipment within a production line, etc. in consideration of the problem that the production of some core materials is concentrated in certain factories or business establishments. The infrastructure of the logistics system and energy supply, as well as industrial water works, which support the industry and supply chains as a whole, should also be made more disaster-resistant. Furthermore, relevant organizations should discuss means to ensure substitutability, such as creating multiple supply chains, ensuring substitutability of components, and dispersing or relocating factories and business establishments from the perspective of ensuring the business continuity of respective companies, thereby endeavoring to build disaster-resistant industrial structures. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• Each company is to be encouraged to make efforts to ensure emergency power supply facilities necessary for continuing its industrial activities, and large companies and SMEs should cooperate with each other to build a mechanism to accommodate non-utility generation facilities, fuel storage and procurement, etc. among affiliated companies and within regions. In building such mechanism, attention should be paid to business types and processes that need to be supplied with power constantly for achieving swift recovery and reconstruction of relevant regions. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]
• Considering the circumstances where the international division of labor has further progressed and supply chains have become globalized, private companies and economic organizations are to be encouraged to cooperate with each other and establish BCP and BCM structures in a group or in a certain business field, in addition to separately establishing their individual BCP and BCM structures, while taking into account the activities outside disaster-affected areas and global supply chains, including overseas production bases. They should also promote research and studies for developing disaster-resistant infrastructure, etc. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• In order to encourage individual companies to establish their BCP and BCM structures, common guidelines should be revised in light of the trends of international standards. Manuals on how to establish BCP and BCM structures should be prepared as necessary depending on business types and modes and awareness-raising activities should be carried out to disseminate such guidelines and manuals. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• In tandem with structural measures, efforts should be made to create a framework to properly evaluate companies’ systems and capabilities to continue business with the aim of ensuring the effectiveness and further encouraging the establishment of the BCP and BCM structures. Business operators are to be encouraged to secure and develop human resources through ongoing education and training and improve their BCP and BCM structures by implementing the PDCA cycle. Efforts for human resource development and to create a better environment therefor will also be promoted in light of the problem of labor shortage, such as due to the aging of skilled workers in the construction industry engaging in recovery and reconstruction work. [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• In order to further enhance the effectiveness of individual companies’ BCP and BCM structures, business continuity plans for building regional resilience (provisional title) should be established for each regional block through collaboration of relevant ministries and agencies, their regional branches, local governments and economic organization, etc. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Financial Services Agency; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]

(8) Transportation and Logistics

• Disaster resistance of transportation/logistics facilities should be enhanced depending on regional characteristics of disasters. In particular, with regard to transportation networks in metropolitan areas, where main arteries and hubs for the flows of people and goods and central administrative functions are concentrated, disaster preparedness should be ensured promptly in accordance with the characteristics of each region regarding earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and other disasters. Such efforts should not be limited to the development of facilities (structural measures), but should include non-structural measures, such as the enhancement of road/maritime/air traffic control, strengthening of training, and promotion of research and development. As an incentive to facility managers, establishment of a mechanism to publicize the progress in efforts to enhance disaster resistance of facilities should be discussed. [National Police Agency; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• With regard to main arteries and hubs for the flows of people and goods that support the economy of Japan, alternate transportation routes from the broad-based perspective and narrowly focusing on specific areas should be ensured on the premise that the arteries may be disrupted or the hubs may become dysfunctional due to any large-scale natural disaster. In particular, as one of the alternate transportation routes for the vital east-west main artery, which is the core of Japanese economic society, the project of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen is being promoted for ensuring interconnection and substitutability among different transport modes, from a national perspective, with the aim of bringing about innovation in the national land structure with the linear trains’ ultrahigh speed. JR Tokai, which is the responsible entity, will promote this project in collaboration and cooperation with the national and local governments. Additionally, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will endeavor to steadily develop expressway networks, including the Shin Tomei Expressway. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• When developing alternate transportation routes, transportation/logistics business operators should develop necessary structural measures by properly ascertaining the required capacity and functions, and at the same time, they should prepare sufficient non-structural measures, such as the strengthening of collaboration with other business operators, enhancement of their BCP and BCM structures including the establishment of joint BCP and BCM structures across multiple companies, and provision of training, so that alternate transportation can be commenced promptly after the occurrence of a disaster. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• Disaster response capacity needs to be strengthened, while fostering personnel and improving materials and equipment, so that each transportation infrastructure mode and transportation agency can be reopened and recovered and the operation can be resumed at an early stage. In order to ensure smooth allocation of required personnel and goods to disaster-affected areas appropriately in response to various circumstances, a system for information sharing and collaboration among the private sector and managers of facilities needs to be strengthened for ensuring access routes, recovery, and transport. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will also promote measures to eliminate power poles, etc. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]

(9) Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

• In the event of a large-scale natural disaster that affects broad areas, it is necessary not only to ensure supply of emergency food, etc. to disaster-affected areas immediately after the disaster, but also to secure production, processing and distribution of food, etc. nationwide thereafter and maintain a system of stably supplying such necessities. For that purpose, relevant organizations should conduct vulnerability assessments and implement structural measures, such as the development of production infrastructure, etc. for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry, and non-structural measures, such as the establishment of BCP and BCM structures, and the expansion and dissemination of a collaboration and cooperation system among business operators in the food industry, those in relevant industries (transportation and warehouse businesses, etc.), and local governments, aiming to enhance the disaster response capacity of a series of supply chains. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• Considering that natural disasters have been occurring frequently in recent years and that risks of disasters are heightened due to global warming and other factors, relevant organizations should cooperate with each other and strengthen efforts for disaster prevention and mitigation by combining structural and non-structural measures. These measures include the development of facilities and forests for protecting human life and property and for preventing and mitigating secondary damage in rural areas, strengthening of the disaster prevention functions of fishing ports and villages, preparation and dissemination of hazard maps concerning reservoirs, as well as the establishment of BCPs by facility managers. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• While seeking collaboration with local communities and giving due consideration to vegetation unique to relevant regions from the perspective of ensuring symbiosis with nature, efforts should be made to maintain production activities of agriculture and forestry in rural areas. Through proper maintenance of farmland and forests by fully utilizing local resources in such efforts as developing agriculture into the sixth industry, devastation of farmland and forests should be prevented so that they can properly function to preserve national land. In that process, it should be ensured that local communities’ functions are fully utilized in conservation and management of local resources and voluntary disaster prevention and reconstruction activities despite the fact that population decline and population aging are progressing in rural areas. At the same time, active use of locally produced wood should be encouraged, while promoting proper thinning. Efforts should also be made for technological development of civil engineering and construction methods using wood, such as those using CLT. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of the Environment; and other relevant ministries and agencies]

(10) National Land Conservation

• To respond to earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, sediment disasters and other national disasters, comprehensive measures should be taken by effectively and efficiently combining structural and non-structural measures. Structural measures include the development of river management facilities and shore protection facilities, as well as the installation of erosion control equipment and soil conservation facilities in areas with high risks of sediment disasters, while non-structural measures include disaster mitigation measures incorporating effective land use, preparation and dissemination of hazard maps, proper information transmission in the event of a disaster, and development of warning and evacuation systems. In implementing such comprehensive measures, proper support will be given to local governments. While taking these measures, and also in consideration of the possible effects of future climate change, etc., the utmost efforts should be made to minimize damage due to a disaster exceeding the envisaged scale or a disaster that occurs while such measures are still in preparatory stages. In this process, existing facilities should be utilized efficiently by such means as promoting the automation and remote control of water gates and the effective management and operation thereof, and making drainage pump stations water-resistant and earthquake-resistant. Due consideration should also be given to effective use of hydro-energy, collaboration with local communities, symbiosis with nature, and harmony with the environment. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• An effective and efficient system for managing and renewing social infrastructure should be developed through utilization of non-destructive testing technique, robot technology, and ICT, as well as through upgrading of information regarding the lifecycle of social infrastructure. At the same time, research and development should be promoted for observation and forecast of meteorological phenomena, earthquakes/tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, as well as for national land monitoring using GPS and geospatial information, and for the creation of new technologies for social infrastructure. Furthermore, a platform for sharing disaster information and infrastructure information should be developed. [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• A system should be developed for securing and fostering personnel and communities that play central roles in the conservation of national land, and at the same time, efforts should be made to build a social and economic structure that enables the former. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]

(11) Environment

• Functions of coastal forests, marshes and other ecosystems at normal times and in an emergency (disaster prevention and mitigation functions) should be assessed and disaster prevention and mitigation measures should be promoted, while actively utilizing the ecosystems, depending on the characteristics of each region. [Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of the Environment]
• The Ministry of the Environment will promote measures, with the aim of building a waste treatment system that enables swift and proper treatment of disaster waste by region, in collaboration among related parties, through such means as renovating waste treatment facilities in a planned manner (including installation of non-utility generators to waste incineration plants to make them independently operable as countermeasures against aging infrastructure), securing a wide-area waste treatment system, developing stock yards for provisional storage of disaster waste, and securing materials and equipment helpful in the event of a disaster. Additionally, the ministry will build a system for properly treating sewage even in the event of a disaster, and will endeavor to develop human resources through training with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of the aforementioned measures. [Ministry of the Environment]
• In order to prevent environmental pollution and health hazards due to discharge or leakage of hazardous materials in the event of a disaster, a system should be developed and maintained for relevant ministries and agencies and local governments to cooperate with each other and take proper responses, with regard to the sharing of information on storage of hazardous materials and on how to monitor and prevent the spread of discharged or leaked hazardous materials. [Ministry of the Environment; and other relevant ministries and agencies]

(12) Land Use (National Land Use)

• It is necessary to rebuild diversity in respective regions through having them exercise their independence and to strengthen regional collaboration, while concurrently promoting efforts to make the entire nation more resilient to disasters. In such a manner, relevant ministries and agencies will endeavor to enhance regional power, prevent the still-ongoing excess concentration in the Toyo Metropolitan area, and create an autonomous, decentralized and coordinated nation. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• More focus should be placed on the Japan Sea side, as well as on the Pacific side, where various functions are now concentrated, to enhance substitutability and redundancy by linking the both sides in creating a more resilient nation. Furthermore, in order to ensure that each region can properly maintain and secure various national and social functions, in accordance with the types and frequencies of the natural disasters to which it is vulnerable, and according to the significance of respective functions, mutual cooperation should be strengthened among regions and companies, and better sharing of necessary functions and provision of backup should be pursued, while promoting disaster prevention and mitigation measures for areas where functions are concentrated. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• Considering types and frequencies of natural disasters and geographical and geological conditions of respective regions, efforts should be made for making safe communities, while discussing various measures flexibly combining those for preventing damage to facilities and those for regulating and guiding land use, with an eye on the recovery and reconstruction stage after a disaster. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Ministry of the Environment]
• Local governments should seek cooperation of the national government and the private sector and endeavor to secure sites to be used for shelters or bases for rescue activities in the event of a large-scale natural disaster and sites for building temporary housing, in advance. Furthermore, cadastral maps should be developed based on cadastral surveys and maps stored at registries for ensuring systematic implementation of disaster prevention projects such as the development of emergency transportation routes before a disaster and smooth recovery and reconstruction work after a disaster. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• The administration, residents, researchers and other related parties should act cooperatively in strengthening risk communication and human bonds and creating unified communities. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• In rural villages whose functions have deteriorated due to depopulation and population aging, relevant organizations should endeavor to enhance and maintain regional functions by strengthening collaboration between villages or by relocating or reorganizing villages, based on the opinions of local people. For villages that may be isolated due to a disaster, they should be made resistant to isolation without help from other regions by such means as increasing storage, depending on village size. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]

(Promotion Policies for Cross-cutting Sectors)

(1) Risk Communication

• Voluntary efforts should be promoted through bi-directional communications, encouraging participation of all related parties, including the national and local governments, citizens, and companies, based on the concept of self-help efforts, mutual assistance and public help. At the same time, disaster prevention education at schools should be enhanced and all citizens are to be provided with education and training for raising awareness of national resilience throughout their lives. In this manner, relevant organizations should make efforts for building risk-resilient economic society and mitigating damage. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• In local communities, which are the basis for promoting risk communication, increasing residents’ social involvement and strengthening regional power will work to enhance disaster response capacity and heal the mental scars after a disaster through mutual aid and collaboration among residents, with due consideration given to women, elderly people, children, people with disabilities, and foreign people, etc. Considering the significance of such effects, necessary measures are to be promoted. Additionally, independent regional activities should be promoted, including logistic support for volunteer organizations and bodies working to protect regions against disasters. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]
• With the participation of learned persons, local governments, private business operators and other related parties, the national government will take the initiative in establishing and holding the Liaison Conference as the core of the efforts for strengthening risk communication. The national government will also promote the development of the content and integration of information, such as making a database of risk information, for raising citizens’ awareness of national resilience, and offer support to residents and private business operators for fostering leaders with accurate understanding of knowledge from previous disasters and with practical ability to take actions. [Cabinet Office (Disaster Management); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other relevant ministries and agencies]
• Relevant ministries and agencies should promote measures for disseminating goods and services that contribute to building national resilience in an easy to understand manner so as to induce private investment in various related fields. [Relevant ministries and agencies]

(2) Countermeasures for Aging Infrastructure

• In light of an expected acceleration of aging of the existing infrastructure, which was intensively developed in and after the high-growth period, and from the perspective of protecting human life and preventing social and economic systems from becoming dysfunctional, relevant ministries and agencies should steadily carry out maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure, while seeking reduction and leveling of the total cost in the medium- and long-term. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• Relevant ministries and agencies as well as local governments should collect information necessary for the maintenance of facilities (such as various facility data and the level of aging of each facility) and make an action plan and individual plans based on the basic plan for prolonging lifetimes of infrastructure as early as possible in line with the roadmap. They should also establish a maintenance cycle for checking, diagnosis, repair, renewal and compilation of information for essential infrastructures and implement required measures so that the established maintenance cycle functions smoothly. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• Development and dissemination of new technologies and cross-sectoral use and sharing thereof should be promoted. New technologies include those for checking and diagnosis, such as non-destructive testing technique, and those for prolonging lifetimes upon construction or renewal of facilities, such as research of new materials and repair/strengthening techniques. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• In public-private collaboration and support, the national government and local governments should respectively build a system to support initiatives for building national resilience, such as for fostering and deploying engineers who will engage in management and renewal of the infrastructure, establishing qualification systems concerning checking and diagnosis, and strengthening research systems. [Relevant ministries and agencies]

(3) Research and Development

• Education/research organizations and private business operators should endeavor to foster excellent human resources and relevant ministries and agencies should promote innovation for building national resilience in all sectors of measures by introducing incentives for research and development. Furthermore, by encouraging dissemination and utilization of excellent techniques, they should actively contribute to responding to recurrent natural disasters and solving technical problems in countermeasures for aging infrastructure. [Relevant ministries and agencies]
• Research and development by research organizations and private business operators should be promoted in wide-ranging national resilience-related fields covering from basic technology to applied technology. In that process, effective and efficient means for research and development should be sought by promoting diversion of national resilience-related R&D activities to other purposes and utilization of the results of research and development for other purposes in various national resilience-related fields. [Relevant ministries and agencies]

Chapter 4:
Promotion and Constant Review of the Plans

1. Necessary Review of Other National Plans

As specified in the Basic Act, this Fundamental Plan serves as the guidelines for other national plans for building national resilience and is positioned as a so-called umbrella plan superior to those other plans.

In other words, in light of the fact that how to promote plans in various fields exerts a significant effect on the resilience of the whole nation, basic policies and measures under various other national plans concerning national resilience must be established and implemented in line with the guidelines specified in this Fundamental Plan so as to ensure comprehensive and systematic implementation of the initiatives for building national resilience as a whole.

For this purpose, based on this Fundamental Plan, other related national plans are to be reviewed every year and amended as necessary in accordance with the progress of respective measures and programs.

2. Constant Review of the Fundamental Plan

This Fundamental Plan provides that the initiatives for building national resilience should be promoted, while having a long-term perspective, by clarifying medium- to long-term promotion policies and directions for the respective measures and reviewing the content once around every five years in consideration of the changes in social and economic circumstances and the progress of the respective measures. The necessity to amend the content is to be examined within five years as necessary, depending on the annual progress of measures and programs, and required amendments are to be made based on such examination. In particular, as the vulnerability assessment, which was conducted for establishing this Fundamental Plan, was based only on measures conducted or ascertained by the national government, future assessment must also cover initiatives conducted independently by local governments and private business operators. Furthermore, vulnerability assessment should be enhanced to be conducted based on risk scenarios by identifying individual events in a disaster as risks and taking into account regional vulnerabilities and the level of possible damage. Review and required amendments of this Fundamental Plan should follow in tandem with the progress of such efforts for enhancing vulnerability assessment.

3. Promotion and Prioritization of Programs

(1) Establishment of an Action Plan for Every Fiscal Year and PDCA Cycle

Initiatives for building national resilience are to be promoted by implementing various measures every year based on the Fundamental Plan, which was established with the aim of avoiding the 45 worst events that should never happen as specified through the vulnerability assessment explained in Chapter 2, while reviewing other related national plans as necessary.

It is extremely important for the national government to decide policies for promoting respective programs based on the results of vulnerability assessment and to have relevant ministries and agencies cooperate with each other and implement measures promptly. Furthermore, the national government must review programs constantly depending on the progress of measures and endeavor to optimize programs by adding new measures as necessary and make corrections of promotion policies.

Attachment 3 shows policies for promoting respective programs, which were decided based on the results of vulnerability assessment thereof conducted as explained in Chapter 2. The Headquarters prepared the Action Plan for National Resilience by compiling plans for promoting programs, which contain these promotion policies and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and major measures for promoting programs. Specific measures are to be implemented based on this Action Plan and the Headquarters ascertains their progress every fiscal year and reviews the plans for promoting programs. The whole process will thus be managed by repeating the PDCA cycle. In order to ascertain the progress of programs as quantitatively as possible, concrete numerical goals such as KPIs shall be set and constantly reviewed accordingly if necessary.

(2) Prioritization of Programs

In order to carry out initiatives for building national resilience efficiently and effectively with limited resources, it is necessary to select measures to be prioritized and implement them intensively. This Fundamental Plan set priorities of measures by program and selected 15 programs from the viewpoints of the significance of the national government’s role, seriousness of the influence, and degree of urgency. The worst events that should be avoided by the 15 prioritized programs are as shown in the following table.

Regarding these 15 programs, intensive efforts should be made in light of their significance, with the possibility of placing further importance in consideration of the progress and implementation of concrete measures by relevant ministries and agencies.

(3) Points to be Noted in Promoting Programs

Programs are a package of measures covering multiple ministries and agencies and none of them can be achieved by a single ministry or agency. Therefore, relevant ministries and agencies, as well as local governments, must build a system to promote programs and share data or otherwise collaborate with each other.

They must also endeavor to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of respective programs for achieving the goals of this Fundamental Plan by such means as effectively utilizing limited resources through repeating the PDCA cycle and properly combining structural and non-structural measures.

4. Establishment and Promotion of Regional Plans

(1) Necessity to Establish Regional Plans

In order to make substantial achievements in initiatives for building national resilience, it is indispensable to mobilize the full potential of all parties including local governments and private business operators, in addition to the national government.

Ascertaining risks of large-scale natural disasters faced by respective regions and promoting measures for building national resilience in a comprehensive and planned manner is an extremely important task for local governments not only for protecting the lives and property of local residents but also for contributing to regional economic growth through building communities where people can engage in economic and social activities safely.

Local governments thus need to establish respective Fundamental Plans for Regional Resilience, which serve as the guidelines for other regional plans, and promote regional efforts for building a resilient nation comprehensively through reviewing and promoting such other regional plans.

In order to surely protect the lives and property of local residents and maintain key functions with limited financial and other resources, it is again important to clarify what to prioritize and implement intensively in establishing and implementing regional plans for building regional resilience. For that purpose, the top of local governments must take the initiative and provide persuasive explanations based on objective data to the local assembly, heads of relevant local governments, and residents of respective regions.

(2) Assistance by the National Government

Regional plans must be in harmony with the Fundamental Plan and there may be cases where local governments need to ascertain the relationships between their own measures and measures taken by the national government in their plans. Therefore, regional plans need to be established in full collaboration and cooperation between the national government and local governments.

The national government will prepare guidelines so that local governments can smoothly establish their regional plans, and will offer assistance therefor to local governments as needed.

Conclusion – For Building National Resilience –

Initiatives for building national resilience represent, in part, works to reorganize various measures that have so far been taken independently by each ministry and agency into unified initiatives under common goals. Relevant ministries and agencies are required to carry out necessary measures in a planned manner under an effective cooperative system beyond their bounds. It is also essential for them to implement the PDCA cycle and sequentially step up their initiatives by such means as constantly reviewing prioritization of their measures, improving vulnerability assessment methods, introducing progress management based on roadmaps, and visualizing the details of the initiatives. Based on this concept, measures are to be promoted properly.

National resilience cannot be achieved solely by the national government. It is indispensable to collect the wisdom of all related parties, including local governments and private business operators, and mobilize the full potential of the whole nation. Each citizen must hand down the spirit of self-help efforts and mutual assistance from generation to generation, trying to protect oneself instead of counting on others and to help each other, while considering what one can do in the community. To develop a culture where all citizens act independently in this manner will be the basis of the initiatives for building national resilience.

For that purpose, the national government will not only promote and manage the progress of the Fundamental Plan, but will also endeavor to make its details understood properly and disseminated and reflected broadly in the code of conduct of local governments, private business operators and the citizenry as a whole. The national government will support and promote the establishment and implementation of regional plans by prefectures and municipalities nationwide based on this Fundamental Plan, while making a national approach on problems that cannot be dealt with under regional plans, with the aim of having these efforts reflected back in this Fundamental Plan to enhance national resilience-related initiatives, thereby steadily achieving the goal of building a nation resilient to various risks.