[/floatr]TMG: The Committee for Local International Promotion Presents Final Report on Effective Disaster Preparedness Measures for Foreign Residents
Background
There are now over 390,000 registered foreign residents in Tokyo, and a trend for long-term residency is increasing. This makes it vital to create a living environment that would ensure the safety and peace of mind of foreign residents...In order to resolve the issues facing foreign residents who have language problems, different customs, and other barriers, studies have been conducted on effective measures to build disaster preparedness based on the results of previous studies and actual responses that were taken...
...3.3 Current state of affairs of foreign residents in relation to disaster preparedness and the issues they face
1. Inadequate provision of basic information to foreigners and insufficient sense of crisis among foreign residents
2. Lack of interaction with and understanding of foreigners in local communities
3. Insufficient information communication systems for foreigners
4. Inadequate collaboration between the TMG, municipalities, and private organizations concerning support for foreigners...more...
The cartoon on the right (from Kochi prefecture materials) says that the most vulnerable people in a serious earthquake are the handicapped, elderly, children. pregnant women and foreigners. Joking aside, a lot of foreigners probably are less aware of what to do in an earthquake than the locals so it is no bad thing if the TMG takes steps to improve the situation.
