Disaster Management Minister Takeshi Hosono asked for public understanding on Friday of a push for households to prepare for themselves, after the government's own call for self-reliance drew accusations online that the state was abandoning its duty.
The Disaster Management Agency included the self-help appeal in an emergency request issued on Tuesday, covering preparation for a Nankai Trough megaquake or a quake directly under the capital. The request said there are limits to what government alone can do and urged residents to take voluntary steps such as stockpiling food.
On social media, some users called it irresponsible to appeal for self-reliance without warning, and one said the agency was denying its own reason for existing.
At a news conference on Friday, Hosono stressed that the agency would do everything it can to protect people's lives and livelihoods. He said he would work with local governments to secure equipment such as toilets and beds to improve conditions in evacuation centers.
He also said that in a disaster on the scale of a national crisis, opening shelters and delivering supplies would be expected to lag, creating significant risk. If households prepare in advance, he said, authorities can concentrate their response in the early stages on the people who genuinely need help.
“That is what leads to protecting each person's life.”Takeshi Hosono, disaster management minister