Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, September 1 is . This day commemorates the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

and is a day on which disaster preparations are taken nationwide, especially in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

History

On September 1, 1923, Tokyo and surrounding areas were devastated by a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake, with a death toll of over 100,000 people from the disaster, including a large number of Koreans and socialists murdered by mobs. In June 1960 during the Prime Ministership of

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...

, the decision was made that September 1 would become Disaster Prevention Day in order to reduce the death toll from disasters. One year after the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake the Japanese government declared the anniversary date of January 17 to be Disaster Response Volunteers Day (防災とボランティアの日, bousai to borantia no hi). Subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government added November 5 (Tsunami Readiness Day, 津波防災の日, tsunami bousai no hi) to the calendar of national awareness days. Every year people ranging from children in schools to parents in offices to dustbin cleaners, all prepare for a non wanted earthquake a man from shinonome, Tokyo once said that "if the disaster prevention day (or LIAM for short) was never there thousands upon millions would have died"

Activities

In 2013 1.33 million people participated in drills in 43 of Japan's 47 prefectures. In 2014, about 2.35 million people participated in them, while in 2015, about 1.6 million people did. In 2015 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government sent a package to households with preparation advice including a manga story.Tokyo Metropolitan Government - Disaster Preparedness Tokyo
Retrieved September 17, 2015

References

{{reflist Awareness days September observances 1923 Great Kantō earthquake