Japan is very good at this, and the systems assume you already know how they work. Most of what follows takes an evening to set up once and then sits there.
Do these today
- Turn on emergency alerts. Japanese phones receive Earthquake Early Warning and evacuation orders as a loud broadcast alert. Check the setting is enabled, especially on a handset bought abroad.
- Install a disaster app with English support. NHK World and the Japan Tourism Agency's Safety Tips app both push warnings in English.
- Find your evacuation site. Your municipality designates specific places — usually a school or park — and distinguishes a temporary gathering site from a shelter you can stay in. Search your ward office site for 避難所, and note the actual address.
- Agree a meeting point and an out-of-area contact with anyone you live with. Mobile networks congest; a fixed plan does not.
Early warning buys seconds, not minutes. The alert sounds because shaking is already on its way. The correct response is immediate and physical, not a decision.
The first ten seconds
- Get under a sturdy table and hold on to a leg. Protect your head.
- Stay away from windows and anything tall.
- Do not run outside mid-shake. Falling glass and masonry are the danger.
- Open a door once shaking eases, since frames can distort and trap you.
- Turn off gas when it is safe. Modern meters cut off automatically and must be reset by hand afterwards.
- Shoes on. Broken glass causes a large share of injuries after an event.
If you are near the coast and the shaking is long or strong, move to high ground immediately without waiting for a tsunami warning. The shaking is the warning.
The bag
Keep one by the door, packed to carry:
- Water, three litres per person per day, three days
- Food needing no cooking
- Torch, batteries, power bank
- Battery or wind-up radio
- First aid, prescription medicine, spare glasses
- Copies of your residence card and passport, and some cash in small notes — card systems fail with power
- Wet wipes, plastic bags, a portable toilet kit
- Work gloves, dust mask, whistle
- Warm layer and a foil blanket
Then a larger stock at home: water and food for three days minimum, a week if you have room.
Around the flat
- Secure tall furniture to the wall. Home centres sell brackets and tension rods cheaply. This is the single highest-value thing you can do.
- Nothing heavy stored above head height, particularly over the bed.
- Film on glass doors so they do not shatter.
- Torch and shoes within reach of where you sleep.
As a foreign resident specifically
- Shelters may have no English. Some wards keep multilingual materials; many do not. A translation app that works offline is worth installing.
- Registering your address matters here too. Municipal information and support reach registered residents.
- Tell family abroad how you will contact them. International coverage of a Japanese earthquake is alarming and often geographically vague.
- Learn the words: 避難所 (shelter), 津波 (tsunami), 余震 (aftershock), 給水 (water supply point).
The phrases
- 避難所はどこですか。 — Hinanjo wa doko desu ka? — Where is the evacuation shelter?
- 助けてください。 — Tasukete kudasai. — Please help.
- 水はどこでもらえますか。 — Mizu wa doko de moraemasu ka? — Where can I get water?
- けが人がいます。 — Keganin ga imasu. — There is an injured person.
Where to confirm this
Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 21 August 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.