October 18th 2019
TOKYO- The Japanese government at a cabinet meeting Friday adopted an ordinance designating recent powerful Typhoon Hagibis as an extraordinary “specified” disaster to give special treatment to affected people and businesses.
The designation, made under a relevant special law, took effect immediately, providing victims with such benefits as the extension of the expiration dates on their driver’s license and the valid period of restaurant operation permits.
The 19th typhoon of the year caused widespread damage, including through flooding and landslides, in eastern and central Japan last weekend.
The typhoon was the sixth disaster given the designation, after the 1995 earthquake in the western city of Kobe and nearby areas, the 2004 temblor in the Chuetsu region of the central prefecture of Niigata, the March 2011 quake and tsunami mainly in northeastern Japan, the pair of earthquakes in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto in 2016 and the 2018 torrential rains in western Japan.
The designation is made for extraordinary and very severe disasters that destroy or damage a great number of houses and disrupt transport and vital services in wide areas so that impacts on afflicted individuals and businesses are minimized.
Barrier Free Japan 
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