Category: Disasters

Disability Disasters Earthquake Japan

Disability News Japan Podcast: 12 Years After 3.11 Earthquake Evacuation Plans for Disabled Remains Vague

Ibaraki prefecture will ask bus companies for cooperation to evacuate senior residents and disabled people. The prefectural government estimates that more than 400 buses will be needed for the task, and it does not know how it can secure that many buses.

Disability Disasters Japan

Wide-area evacuation drills held in Tokyo for people with severe disabilities

An NPO that supports the independent living of people with disabilities in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward is looking for evacuation measures for people with severe disabilities in preparation for large-scale floods. The welfare evacuation shelters designated by the ward are limited to one companion, making it difficult for people with disabilities who need multiple hands to assist. However, even if you try to evacuate outside the ward with a helper or family before a typhoon hits, there are problems associated with traveling long distances.

Barrier Free Deaf Disability Disasters Discrimination Japan

New law expected to be passed in current session of the Diet to support disabled in Japan during disasters, especially the needs of the deaf

Legislation is expected to be passed in the current parliamentary session to support persons with disabilities to obtain the same information they need in their daily lives and during disasters as able-bodied persons, with the aim of eliminating disparities. Issues have been raised regarding the acquisition of information by persons with disabilities, such as the fact that subtitles and sign language interpreters are sometimes not provided for disaster news.

Barrier Free Disability Disasters Japan

Non-partisan group in the Japanese Diet calls for Bill to improve access to information for the disabled during disasters

In order to make it easier for people with disabilities to obtain information, issues have been pointed out, such as the difficulty of people with visual or hearing impairments to quickly grasp the occurrence of disasters, and the difficulty of people with intellectual disabilities to understand information displays in public facilities.

Disability Disasters Japan

Central Japan fire departments introduce emergency report system for disabled people

The NET119 Emergency Report System for people with hearing and speaking disabilities has been introduced in some fire departments in the central Japan prefecture of Niigata. It enables people to make emergency reports via the internet using smartphones or other devices and their location information is instantly sent to fire stations, leading to quick dispatches.