Half of Japanese Households Lack Disaster Preparedness

Roughly half of Japanese households have not implemented disaster preparedness measures, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday ^[1].

This gap in readiness persists despite Japan's high vulnerability to natural disasters, suggesting a disconnect between public awareness and actual household action.

The study, conducted by research firm Intage between July 22 and July 27 ^[2], surveyed 5,000 men and women aged 15 to 79 across Japan ^[1]. The results show that 52.8% of households have taken disaster prevention measures ^[1]. While this represents a five percentage point increase over the last three years ^[6], a significant portion of the population remains unprepared.

For those who have not taken action, the primary reason is a tendency to procrastinate. More than 40% of respondents said they feel the necessity of disaster preparedness but continue to put it off ^[1]. Intage said that people often delay these tasks due to the perceived effort, cost, or a lack of knowledge regarding specific steps to take ^[1].

Certain demographics show higher levels of risk. Approximately 60% of single-person households have not implemented any disaster measures ^[3].

Spending on preparedness remains low. The average annual expenditure per person on disaster prevention is 2,877 yen ^[5]. While some data suggests this spending is flat ^[3], other reports indicate that the amount people wish to spend on these measures has decreased for two consecutive years ^[6].

An Intage spokesperson said that the key moving forward is finding ways to make people view disaster prevention as a personal matter.