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Japan is made up of many islands, and there are mountainous areas with active volcanoes. So, seismic activity and earthquakes occasionally occur, and during your time living here, you will experience some small shakers. The Miura Peninsula, on which Yokosuka City is located, juts out into the western Pacific Ocean, and therefore sometimes gets hit by strong wind & rain storms called typhoons (台風), or large destructive waves called TSUNAMI (津波). Once in a while, a storm or earthquake will be strong enough to cause injuries and damage, and from the olden days, the Japanese have developed a system of "being prepared" for natural disasters, and conducting emergency actions after the disaster has occurred. All of this is called: BO-SAI (防災), and is part of daily life in Japan. Typical examples of BO-SAI are regularly-scheduled drills of varying sizes which are conducted by governments or neighborhood associations (CHO-NAI-KAI 町内会). Local schools are often designated as emergency assembly & shelter areas. Disaster relief supplies (food, drinking water, blankets, etc.) are stored at various spots where people might gather together. Finally, a big emphasis for BO-SAI is personal preparedness. Japanese home goods stores will often have sections for BO-SAI products, and people will buy things which will help to cope with a loss of electrical power or running water after a disaster event. We will look more closely at BO-SAI in future articles. FYI, at the link below is a recent briefing produced by Yokosuka Navy Base (CFAY), which explains the basics about BO-SAI from an American perspective.

written by Goodfield

Link: https://cnrj.cnic.navy.mil/.../Emerge.../AOB%20SLIDES.pdf...