Photo/Illutration The leveled area around the Wajima morning market in Ishikawa Prefecture remains almost unchanged on Feb. 29, about two months after the Noto Peninsula earthquake. (Shinnosuke Ito)

In the immediate aftermath of a major disaster in Italy, survivors can count on being accommodated in fully air-conditioned tents and getting hot meals, and having ready access to restrooms and showers.

But facilities and services such as these do not exist for disaster survivors in Japan, even though Italy is just as disaster-prone.

The Italian situation is often cited as a model case. However, the Italians did not get there without many twists and turns.

Italy’s disaster management authorities still vow to “never forget” the Friuli earthquake of 1976, which occurred in the Friuli region in northeastern Italy and killed about 1,000 people.

Seven years later, I had the opportunity to study at a local high school that had been built as part of the post-disaster recovery program. And the locals were still reminiscing then about the utter chaos that prevailed after the quake.

When directing vehicular traffic on severed roads, police and military officers gave conflicting instructions to drivers.

Relief goods from abroad failed to reach survivors, mainly because of the absence of a centralized command structure that further aggravated the bureaucracy’s compartmentalized administration system.

When another big quake occurred a few years later in southern Italy, the same flaws added to the toll, and calls grew louder for the establishment of a more efficient system.

The current Protezione Civile, the Italian Civil Defense body, came into existence in 1982 as an organization directly under the Prime Minister’s Office.

After repeated legal amendments over four decades, the organization has grown into a command center with about 700 workers. Its task is to instruct and coordinate the fire department, military, police, research organs and volunteers as soon as a disaster has struck.

How is Japan doing?

In his policy speech on Oct. 4, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his resolve to improve conditions at evacuation centers and eliminate disaster-related fatalities. And in mentioning “food trucks,” I wonder if he was thinking about Italy.

The most important thing is to create an efficient control center. And Ishiba must remember that a government office won’t be of any use if it is over-compartmentalized.

Two weeks have elapsed since catastrophic rainfall hit the Noto Peninsula, which is still recovering from a major earthquake on New Year’s Day. There are people trying to tough it out at evacuation centers, even as we speak.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 5

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.