Source : BRICS NEWS
Japan’s government is preparing to urge every citizen to stockpile at least three days’ worth of food and water in readiness for major disasters, BRICS News reported on Tuesday, October 27.
BRICS News said in a post on X that Japan will urge all citizens to keep at least three days of supplies. The appeal is expected to be issued on November 2, when the country’s new Disaster Management Agency begins operations, according to Japanese broadcaster FNN.
Disaster Management Minister Goshi Hosono outlined the plan on a Fuji TV online news programme. He said the new agency would issue an “urgent request” on its first day to central government ministries, all prefectures and the public to step up disaster preparedness.
“At a minimum three days, and if possible I would like to say a week,” Hosono said, urging households to prepare food, toilet supplies and water at home so they can cope even without government support, according to FNN. “If more people can support themselves, help can be focused on those who really need it,” he added.
The government is preparing for what Hosono described as disasters on a national-crisis scale. These include a megaquake along the Nankai Trough, a major earthquake striking directly beneath the capital, massive earthquakes around the Japan and Kuril trenches, and an eruption of Mount Fuji. In disasters of that size, damage to roads and communications could delay rescue teams and relief supplies, Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing FNN.
Hosono said the agency’s most important job would be responding to such national-scale disasters, and that “a different dimension of preparedness” was needed. He also named better conditions in evacuation shelters as a priority, saying he wants to expand the standard of toilets, kitchens with warm meals and beds to include baths as well, through agreements with private facilities.
Shelter conditions have long been a concern in Japan. FNN noted that after the Kumamoto earthquake in July 2026, evacuees were still sleeping on the floor weeks after the disaster.
The guidance itself is not new. Japan has long advised households to keep emergency reserves, and the government recommends about three litres of drinking water per person per day, along with long-life foods such as rice and canned meals and portable toilets or toilet bags, according to Times Now. The new request is intended to renew pressure on households to follow that advice as the agency launches.
The new Disaster Management Agency is designed to act as the government’s command centre for disasters, covering everything from planning and prevention to emergency response, recovery and reconstruction.
Japan’s announcement follows a similar step in the United Kingdom, where the Cabinet Office launched a “Be Ready” campaign on October 22 encouraging households to prepare to manage for three days if power, water or phone and internet services are disrupted, South Korea’s Hankyung reported.
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