Two-thirds of villages, towns, cities and wards across Japan have experienced serious natural disasters that warranted coverage under the state’s dedicated disaster relief system over the 15-year period from 2011, according to a new study.

More than 30 percent of municipalities nationwide, surprisingly, received emergency aid under the Disaster Relief Law two or more times, since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami struck the northeastern Tohoku region.

The findings in the study conducted by The Asahi Shimbun indicated that the risk of multiple disasters is becoming an increasing concern, as some local governments, still reeling from natural catastrophes, are hit by new tragedies in succession.

The results indicate that it is time for residents and government officials in the nation to seek and explore new ways of preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

Prefectural governments should decide whether to apply the Disaster Relief Law to cities, towns, villages and wards, provided that a certain level of damage from disasters has been caused or is imminent for those municipalities.

Villages, towns, cities and wards covered by the system will be exempt from paying costs for evacuation shelters, rescue operations and other relevant activities, because these expenses will be fully borne by the state and prefectural governments.

Responsibility for the administration of the Disaster Relief Law lies with the Cabinet Office. The Asahi Shimbun analyzed documents from not only the Cabinet Office but also the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, among other sources.

The count was based on the current classification of cities, wards, towns and villages, inclusive of those that have lately undergone mergers or other changes.

The study shows that 1,162 cities, wards, towns and villages were assisted by the Disaster Relief Law at least once by Aug. 29 since 2011, accounting for 67 percent of the 1,741 municipalities throughout Japan.

Municipal governments that qualified for the assistance mechanism two or more times came to 571, or 33 percent of the total.

The most frequent aid recipients, among all villages, towns, cities and wards, were the cities of Joetsu and Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture, as they obtained emergency support on nine occasions each under the Disaster Relief Law during the study window.

Joetsu and Nagaoka were notably victimized by the powerful Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024 as well as constant heavy snow and torrential rain.

Special support was similarly delivered to Matsushima town and Osaki city in Miyagi Prefecture repeatedly under the Disaster Relief Law. 

For example, Matsushima and Osaki were impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, alongside the 2015 Kanto-Tohoku heavy rainfall disaster. 

Many areas in western Japan, such as Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture, which experienced five torrential rainstorms, likewise emerged as frequent relief recipients in the legal framework.

The overall number of cities, towns, villages and wards that qualified for the Disaster Relief Law has rapidly been rising over recent years.

Only 314 municipalities fell within the scope of the legislation in total between 2010 and 1995, when the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the Kansai region. The cumulative total then soared more than sixfold to 2,090 for the survey period since 2011.

By type of disaster, typhoons and torrential rain made up the largest portion, bringing damage in 1,108 towns, cities, villages and wards. The figure swelled five times from that for the period until 2010, accounting for upward of 50 percent of the total.

Heavy snowfall exerted catastrophic effects on 186 municipalities, recording a 10-fold increase too.

No less than 240 municipalities received specialized assistance under the Disaster Relief Law in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Widespread disasters were alike reported with increased frequency.

Typhoon No. 19 in 2019 impacted 390 towns, cities, villages and wards in Tokyo and 13 prefectures through river flooding and landslides across eastern Japan.

Destructive rainfall in western Japan in July 2018 left 109 municipalities in 11 prefectures eligible for emergency relief under the law.

Data from the Japan Meteorological Agency show that extreme rainfall events exceeding 400 millimeters per day are occurring in a growing number of cases, likely due to the impact of global warming.

Nobuhito Mori, a professor of extreme climate studies at Kyoto University, called for novel countermeasures to address this situation.

“Without improving dam capacities and other infrastructure facilities, the same areas will continue to suffer natural disasters again and again,” Mori said. “We are entering an era where past experiences, like, ‘It has been OK until now,’ will no longer be sufficient.”

(This article was written by Ryoma Komiyama and Shun Niekawa.)