Disaster Preparedness for Rural Living | Concrete Preparations and Mindset for Natural Disasters

Rural Living and Natural Disasters | Understanding Risks Different from Urban Areas

Japan is one of the world's leading countries for natural disasters. It faces diverse disaster risks including earthquakes, typhoons, torrential rains, heavy snowfall, and volcanic eruptions. In particular, when living in rural areas, preparations for risks different from urban areas are necessary. Disaster risks specific to rural areas include landslides, river flooding, and the time difference until rescue and support arrive.

According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the number of landslide disaster incidents reaches approximately 1,500 annually, with the majority occurring in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas. During the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, multiple isolated settlements resulted from severed roads, and there were cases where relief supplies took several days to arrive. While rescue assistance in urban areas can arrive within hours, it may take more than 72 hours in rural areas.

Additionally, rural areas tend to have higher elderly populations, with a greater proportion of people requiring support during evacuation compared to urban areas. According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the average aging rate in depopulated areas is around 38%. In other words, it's necessary to consider disaster preparedness in areas where more than one in three people are 65 years or older. Preparing for your own safety is important, but establishing mutual aid systems for the entire community is essential.

Stockpiling Essentials | Seven Days Minimum is Common Sense for Rural Living

While the Cabinet Office recommends a minimum of three days of stockpiles, for rural living we strongly recommend preparing at least seven days' worth. When roads are severed, it's not uncommon for logistics restoration to take more than a week.

The standard water requirement is three liters per person per day. For seven days, that's 21 liters; for a family of four, 84 liters are needed. That's equivalent to 42 two-liter bottles. Storing such a quantity all at once is difficult, so the practical approach is the "rotating stock method"—purchasing larger quantities regularly and using the older supply first.

Food should primarily consist of items that require no heating to eat. Standard options include freeze-dried rice, canned goods, nutritional supplements, hardtack, and retort-packaged foods. Recently, allergy-friendly emergency foods have become more abundant, with freeze-dried rice meals available from around ¥300 per serving. Pre-packaged emergency food sets (3-day supply) are commercially available for approximately ¥5,000 to ¥8,000 per person, with five-year shelf lives.

Other essential supplies include flashlights (LED models with long battery life), portable radios (hand-crank models are convenient), mobile power banks (capacity of 20,000 mAh or higher recommended), first aid kits, regular medications, cash (including coins), copies of identification documents, masks, work gloves, plastic bags, plastic wrap, and portable toilets (35 units for one person for seven days, assuming five uses per day).

Rural-Specific Disaster Preparations | Well Water, Wood Stoves, and Home Power Generation

You can leverage the advantages of rural living for disaster preparedness. First, securing well water is worth noting. Even when public water supplies are cut off, wells ensure access to water for daily use. While drinking water requires filtration, well water is sufficient for toilets, laundry, and cleaning. New well installation costs around ¥200,000 to ¥500,000 depending on depth and location. Some municipalities offer subsidies for disaster-use well installations.

Securing heating methods is also important. If a power outage occurs in winter, air conditioners and fan heaters become unusable. Wood stoves or oil stoves (electric-free types) can provide both heating and cooking. Especially in cold regions like Tōhoku and Hokuriku, securing heat is literally a matter of life and death. We recommend maintaining fuel oil at full capacity and stockpiling at least 40 liters (two 20-liter jerry cans).

Combining solar panels with battery storage is also effective for rural disaster preparedness. Recently, portable power stations have become affordable, with 1,000Wh-class units available for approximately ¥100,000 to ¥150,000. Combined with a solar panel (100W), you can achieve minimal self-sufficiency in electricity for smartphone charging, LED lighting, and small refrigeration.

Cars are essential for rural living, but also critically important from a disaster perspective. Make it a habit to keep fuel at half-tank or above. During disasters, vehicles serve as shelter and multipurpose tools—car radios for information gathering, DC chargers for phone charging, and air conditioning for heating and cooling.

Creating an Evacuation Plan | Reading Hazard Maps

The first step in disaster preparedness is accurately understanding the risks in your residential area. Always check hazard maps published by your municipal government. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "Hazard Map Portal Site" allows you to view and overlay flood, landslide, tsunami, and storm surge hazard maps for the entire nation.

Key points to check on hazard maps include your home's inundation risk zone and depth, the presence of landslide warning areas, the distance and route to the nearest designated evacuation shelter, and hazardous locations along the route to the shelter. Set at least two evacuation routes and walk them beforehand to confirm. Since conditions differ significantly between day and night, walk the route once during dark hours as well.

Also decide in advance on evacuation decision criteria. The Japan Meteorological Agency's alert levels specify that level 3 means elderly and others should evacuate, level 4 means everyone evacuates, and level 5 indicates disaster is already occurring. At level 4, be prepared to evacuate without hesitation. Don't fear false alarms—"evacuating when nothing happens" is the best possible outcome.

It's also essential to share with your family your "disaster assembly point," "communication methods," and "safety confirmation procedures." Have all family members practice using NTT's Disaster Message Dial "171" or your mobile carrier's disaster message board. These can be used for practice on the 1st and 15th of every month.

Community Mutual Aid for Preparedness | Face-to-Face Relationships Save Lives

The greatest disaster preparedness resource in rural living is "human connections." The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake demonstrated that areas with close neighborhood relationships experienced faster evacuation announcements and fewer casualties.

Participating in voluntary disaster prevention organizations is the first step in community disaster preparedness. While the organization rate of voluntary disaster prevention organizations nationwide has reached approximately 84%, some areas have only superficial activity. Beyond an annual disaster drill, active participation in evacuation route verification, identification of those needing support, and stockpile inspections builds effective disaster preparedness systems.

Also work on identifying vulnerable neighbors (elderly living alone, people with disabilities, families with infants) and decide in advance who will provide evacuation assistance. Such planning is called an "individual evacuation plan." Following the 2021 amendment to the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Law, municipalities are now obligated to create individual evacuation plans.

Disaster preparedness is not something special—it's a natural extension of daily life. Stockpile checks, hazard map reviews, conversations with neighbors—these small accumulated efforts protect the lives of yourself and loved ones in a crisis. SOROU.JP is progressively publishing disaster prevention information and evacuation shelter locations by region, so please take advantage of these resources.