Extract of the 2018
White Paper on Fire Service

Materials created by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency wereextracted and translated by the International Fire Service Information Center

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency(FDMA)

Extract of the 2018 White Paper on Fire Service
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Section1 Fire Prevention ................................................................................................................................ 1[ Current Status and Recent Trends with Fires ] Japanese original P.69 ................................................................. 1[ Current Status of Fire Prevention Administration ] Japanese original P.84 .......................................................... 3
1. Current Status of Residential Fire Prevention Measures ................................................................................... 3
2. Fire Prevention Properties .................................................................................................................................. 3
3. Fire Prevention Management System ................................................................................................................. 4(1) Fire Protection Managers ............................................................................................................................... 4(2) Supervisors of Fire Protection Management ................................................................................................. 5(3) Periodic Inspection and Reporting System for Fire Prevention Properties ................................................. 5
4. Disaster Prevention Management System.......................................................................................................... 5(1) Disaster Protection Managers ........................................................................................................................ 5(2) Supervisors of Disaster Protection Management.......................................................................................... 6
5. Onsite Inspections and Corrections of Violations .............................................................................................. 6(1) Current Status for Onsite Inspections and Corrections of Violations........................................................... 6(2) Fire Safety
Mark ......................................................................................................................... 6(3) Initiation of a System for Publicly Announcing Violating Properties ............................................................ 7
6. Fire Protection Equipment etc. ............................................................................................................................ 7(1) Current Status of Fire Prevention Consent .................................................................................................... 7(2) Current Status for the Installation of Fire Protection Equipment etc. .......................................................... 8(3) Fire Protection Equipment Engineers and Fire Protection Equipment Inspectors ...................................... 9(4) Flame Retardancy Regulations ...................................................................................................................... 9(5) Regulations for Equipment and Tools that Use Fire ...................................................................................... 9
7. Inspection System for Fire Protection Machinery and Tools etc. .................................................................... 10(1) Inspections .................................................................................................................................................... 10(2) Self-labeling................................................................................................................................................... 11
8. Performance Inspections of Technical Standard for Fire Protection Equipment etc. .................................... 11
9. Current Status of Investigations into the Causes of Fires................................................................................ 11
10. Promoting Countermeasures to Product Fires ................................................................................................. 12
11. Promoting Fire Prevention Measures at Outdoor Event Venues ..................................................................... 13

Section2

Countermeasures to Disasters at Facilities for Hazardous Materials ..................................... 14[ Current Status and Recent Trends in Disasters at Facilities for Hazardous Materials ] Japanese original P.97 ...... 14
1. Fire Accidents .................................................................................................................................................... 14(1) Number of Fire Accidents at Facilities for Hazardous Materials and the Damage .................................... 14(2) Causative Factors behind the Fire Accidents at Facilities for Hazardous Materials ................................. 14(3) Fire Accidents at Unauthorized Facilities .................................................................................................... 15(4) Fire Accidents during the Transportation of Hazardous Materials ............................................................. 15(5) Fire Accidents during the Temporary Storage or Handling ......................................................................... 15
2. Spillage Accidents ............................................................................................................................................. 15(1) Number of Spillage Accidents at Facilities for Hazardous Materials and the Damage ............................. 16(2) Causative Factors behind the Spillage Accidents at Facilities for Hazardous Materials .......................... 17(3) Spillage Accidents at Unauthorized Facilities ............................................................................................. 17(4) Spillage Accidents during the Transportation of Hazardous Materials ...................................................... 17(5) Spillage Accidents during the Temporary Storage or Handling .................................................................. 17[ Current Status of Hazardous Materials Administration ] ...................................................................................... 17
1. Regulations on Hazardous Materials ................................................................................................................ 17(1) Regulatory Structure for Hazardous Materials ............................................................................................ 17(2) Current Status of Facilities for Hazardous Materials................................................................................... 19(3) Hazardous Material Engineers ..................................................................................................................... 19(4) Safety Systems at............................................................................................................................. 20(5) Safety Inspections ........................................................................................................................................ 20(6) Onsite Inspections and Orders ..................................................................................................................... 20
2. Securing Petroleum Pipelines ........................................................................................................................... 21(1) Safety Regulations for the Petroleum Pipeline Business ............................................................................ 21(2) Ensuring the Safety of Petroleum Pipelines ................................................................................................ 21iSection3Countermeasures to Disasters at Petroleum Industrial Complexes........................................ 22[ Current Status and Recent Trends in Disasters at Petroleum Industrial Complexes] Japanese original P.107........ 22
1. Number of Accidents and Damage.................................................................................................................... 22
2. Characteristics of Accidents.............................................................................................................................. 22(1) Number of General Accidents by Type of Specified Business Establishment............................................ 22(2) Number of General Accidents at Specified Business Establishments by Business Category.................. 23[ Current Status of Damage Countermeasures at Petroleum Industrial Complexes] .......................................... 23
1. Current Status of Special Disaster Prevention Areas........................................................................................ 23
2. Disaster Prevention Structure at Prefectures and Firefighting Agencies......................................................... 23(1) Establishing Disaster Prevention Schemes.................................................................................................. 23(2) Emergency Responses when Disasters Occur............................................................................................ 24(3) Maintaining the Firefighting Capabilities of Municipalities Containing Special Disaster Prevention Areas............... 24
3. Disaster Prevention Structure at Specified Business Establishments............................................................. 24(1) Establishing Disaster Prevention Organizations for Self-defense............................................................... 24(2) Equipping High Capacity Foam System....................................................................................................... 24(3) Enhancing Disaster Prevention Structure for Self-defense......................................................................... 26
4. Layout Regulations for Business Establishments............................................................................................. 26(1) Layout Regulations........................................................................................................................................ 26(2) Status for New Establishment and Other Notifications................................................................................ 26
5. Other Disaster Countermeasures....................................................................................................................... 26(1) Establishing Disaster Response Structure................................................................................................... 26(2) Establishing Green Buffer Zones for Disaster Prevention............................................................................ 27

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Section1 Fire Service Structure /Japanese original P.159......................................................................... 28
1. Fire Defense Organizations................................................................................................................................ 28(1) Standing Firefighting Agencies..................................................................................................................... 28(2) Volunteer Fire Corps...................................................................................................................................... 28
2. Fire and Disaster Defense Facilities................................................................................................................... 29(1) Maintenance of Fire Trucks and Other Equipment....................................................................................... 29(2) Fire Defense Communication Equipment..................................................................................................... 29(3) Water Sources for Firefighting....................................................................................................................... 33

Section 3 Education and Training Structure /Japanese original P.184...................................................... 34
1. Education and Training for Firefighters.............................................................................................................. 34
2. On-the-job Training............................................................................................................................................. 34
3. Education and Training at Fire Academies........................................................................................................ 34(1) Establishment of Fire Academies.................................................................................................................. 34(2) Types of Education and Training................................................................................................................... 34(3) Enhancing and Strengthening the Education and Training at Fire Academies........................................... 34(4) Holding of Education and Training................................................................................................................ 35
4. Education and Training and Technical Assistance at the Fire and Disaster Management College................ 35(1) Facilities and Equipment............................................................................................................................... 35(2) Holding of Education and Training................................................................................................................ 36(3) Technical Assistance for Fire Academies..................................................................................................... 38(4) Special Lectures............................................................................................................................................. 38

Section 4 Ambulance Service System.......................................................................................................... 39
1. Implementation of Ambulance Services............................................................................................................ 39(1) Ambulance Service Dispatch........................................................................................................................ 39(2) People Transported by the Severity of Their Injury or Illness...................................................................... 39(3) People Transported by Ambulance by Age Group and Type of Accident................................................... 39(4) Time Required to Arrive at the Scene........................................................................................................... 41(5) Time Required to Check the Patient into a Hospital.................................................................................... 41(6) First-aid Treatment Administered by Ambulance Team Members............................................................... 41
2. Implementation Structure for Ambulance Services........................................................................................... 44(1) Number of Municipalities Offering Ambulance Services.............................................................................. 44(2) Number of Ambulance Teams, Ambulance Team Members and Associate Ambulance Team Members.......... 44(3) Trends in the Number of EMTs and Ambulance Teams with EMTs.............................................................. 45(4) Number of Ambulances................................................................................................................................. 46ii

(5) Ambulance Services along National and Other Expressways..................................................................... 46
3. Promoting Coordination between Firefighting and Medical Care.................................................................... 46(1) Acceptance of People Using Ambulance Transport at Medical Institutions............................................... 46(2) Standards on Patient Transport and Their Acceptance............................................................................... 47(3) Ambulance Medical Care Structure.............................................................................................................. 48

Section 5 Rescue Activity System /Japanese original P.209...................................................................... 49
1. Implementation Status for Rescue Activities..................................................................................................... 49(1) Number of Rescue Activities and Number of People Rescued................................................................... 49(2) Implementation Status of Rescue Activities by Type of Incident................................................................ 49
2. Implementation Structure for Rescue Activities................................................................................................ 50(1) Number of Rescue Crews and Number of Rescue Crew Members............................................................ 50(2) Ownership Status of Rescue Equipment for Rescue Activities................................................................... 50
3. Holding National Firefighting and Rescue Skills Meets.................................................................................... 51

Section 7	Integrated Fire Service Support and National Fire-Service Team for Disaster Response/Japanese Original P.219............................................................................................................... 52

1. Integrated Support System for Fire Service...................................................................................................... 52		-Omitted2. National Fire-Service Teams for Disaster Response........................................................................................ 52
 reation of National Fire-Service Teams for Disaster Response and Their Enshrinement in	(1) CLaw via Revisions to the Fire Organization Act............................................................................................ 52(2) Organization of and Dispatch Plans for National Fire-Service Teams ........................................................ 54(3) Number of National Fire-Service Registered and Their Equipment............................................................ 57

Attachment

Attachment 1-1-2
Attachment 1-2-1
Attachment 2-1-2
			Extent of fire damage by prefecture /Japanese original P.312............................................... 59
Trends in the number of facilities for hazardous material /Japanese original P.348............ 62
Trends in the number of firefighting agencies and volunteer firefighter/Japanese original P.361............................................................................................................. 63

iii

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

1 Fire Prevention

Section☞ Japanese Original P.69

to the previous year, which is 72.1% of the number
from ten years prior (the number of fires in 2007).
Furthermore, the number of fatalities from fires has also
largely been trending downward since 2007. The numberof fatalities from fires in 2017 came to 1,456, an increaseof 4 (0.3%) compared with the previous year, or 72.6%
that from ten years ago (based on the number of fatalities
from fires in 2007). (Fig. 1-1-1, Table 1-1-1)

Current Status and Recent Trends with Fires
Looking at the number of fires over the past ten
years reveals that this number has largely been trending
downwards since 2007. The number of fires that occurredin 2017 came to 39,373, raising to 2,542 (6.9%) compared

Fig. 1-1-1 Changes in the number of fires and their trends(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “Fire Reports”.
2 The figures for each year are calculation of the fire that occurred between January to December. The same hold true in this section hereafter
unless otherwise noted.
3 See the left axis for the number of fires, number of fatalities, number of fires ratio, building floor area burned ratio, number of fatalities ratio,
and amount of damages ratio, and the right axis for the building floor area burned and the amount of damages.
4 The number of fires ratio, building floor area burned ratio, number of fatalities ratio, and amount of damages ratio are ratios found by taking
the values from 2007 to be 100.

1

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table1-1-1 Status of fires
Classification(During each year)
Unit

No. of fires
Building fires
Forest fires

2016
(A)

2007

Change(B) - (A)
(C)

2017
(B)

Rate of change(C) / (A) X 100(%)

54,582

36,83139,3732,542

6.9

31,24820,991

21,365

374

1.8

2,157

1,027

1,284

257

25.0

5,798

4,053

3,863

△ 190

△ 4.7

Ship fires

123

72

72

0

0.0

Aircraft fires

6

3

6

3

100.0
19.6

Vehicle fires

Fires

15,25010,685

12,783

2,098

No. of buildings burned

Other fires

43,16830,03230,824792

2.6

Totally destroyed

9,483

6,722

6,967

245

3.6
△ 3.0

2,867

1,728

1,677

△ 51

Partially destroyed

Half destroyed

Buildings

12,443

7,968

8,063

95

1.2

Minor fire

18,375

13,614

14,117503

3.7

Building floor area burned㎡

1,387,149

1,026,481

1,069,932

43,451

4.2

Building surface area burned㎡

152,984

112,652

111,304△ 1,348

△ 1.2
144.2

a

71,714

38,41193,80855,397

Fatalities

Forest area burned

People

2,005

1,452

1,456

4

0.3

InjuredPeople

8,490

5,899

6,052

153

2.6

28,686

18,33518,853

518

2.8

6,256

4,064

4,163

99

2.4

No. of households affected
Totally destroyed
Half destroyed

Households

Partially destroyed
No. of people affected

People

2,233

1,253

1,305

52

4.2

20,19713,01813,385367

2.8

71,70440,97041,518548

1.3

Amount of damages

126,162

75,23389,32314,09018.7

Building fires

109,323

68,914

81,59912,685

18.4

237

157

900

743

473.2

2,613

2,293

2,283

△ 10

△ 0.4

302

488

619

131

26.8

9,976

920

43

△ 877

△ 95.3

Other fires

2,654

2,048

3,105

1,057

51.6

Explosions

1,057

412

772

360

87.4

4.3

2.9

3.1

0.2

−

Forest fires
Vehicle fires
Ship fires

Millions

Aircraft fires

Fire outbreak rate

Fires/10,000(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “Fire Reports”.
2 “Building fires” refer to fires that burn buildings or the contents contained therein. The same holds true in this section hereafter unlessotherwise noted.
3 “Forest fires” refer to fires that burn forests, wilderness, or grassland. The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
4 "Vehicle fires” refer to fires that burn automotive vehicles, railway vehicles, trailer vehicles, or their cargo. The same holds true in this section
hereafter unless otherwise noted.
5 “Ship fires” refer to fires that burn ships or their cargo. The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
6 “Aircraft fires” refer to fires that burn aircraft or their cargo. The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
7 “Other fires” refer to fires other than building fires, forest fires, vehicle fires, ship fires and aircraft fires (fires involving vacant land, fields, roads,
flood plains, waste collection sites, outdoor item collection sites, train tracks, utility poles, etc.). The same holds true in this section hereafter
unless otherwise noted.
8 Fatalities includes those people who were injured by fires and passed away within 48 hours. The same holds true in this section hereafter
unless otherwise noted.
9 The fire outbreak rate refers to the number of fires per 10,000 people. The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
10 Amount of damages and so forth include cases that are still under investigation, and so this may change. The same holds true in this section
hereafter unless otherwise noted.
11 The symbol '△' indicates negative numbers. The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
12 Rate of change was found by rounding up less than whole numbers with the displayed units. The same holds true in this section hereafter
unless otherwise noted.
13 The population for 2006 was found from the Basic Resident Register as of March 31, the population for 2015 was found from a Survey on the
Current Status of Fire and Disaster Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures as of March 31 for each year, and the population for 2016
was found from the Basic Resident Register as of January 1.
14 If a fire is spread across more than two types of fires, it is aggregated into the number of fires based on which type had the larger amount ofdamages. For the amount of damages, this is aggregated for each type of fire by the objects damaged in the fire (building, vehicle, forest,
ship, aircraft, or other). The same holds true in this section hereafter unless otherwise noted.
15 The amount of damages from “Explosions” is posted to “Explosions” within “Amount of damages” without regard to the type of fire.
16 The figures in the total column may not align with the totals for each figure due to rounding. The same holds true in this section hereafter
unless otherwise noted.

-omitted-

2

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters☞ Japanese Original P.84

the Committee on Measures to Install Residential Fire
Alarms. Based on the Basic Policy on Measures to Install
Residential Fire Alarms established at this committee,
various initiatives have been deployed to ensure that
residential fire alarms are thoroughly installed andmaintained. This is done by the fire departments throughout
Japan in cooperation with volunteer fire corps, women’s(female) firefighting clubs, voluntary disaster prevention
organizations, and others. As of June 1, 2018, thenationwide installation rate*1 was 81.6% and the ordinancecompliance rate*2 was 66.5%. When viewed by prefecture,
Fukui Prefecture had the highest installation rate, and thehighest ordinance compliance rate. (Table 1-1-15)

Current Status of Fire Prevention Administration
1. Current Status of Residential Fire
Prevention Measures
The number of residential fires in 2017 (10,489,
excluding those from arson) accounted for roughly 50%of the number of building fires (19,730, excluding thosefrom arson). What is more, the number of fatalities fromresidential fires (889, excluding suicides by arson),accounts for roughly 90% of the number of fatalities
from building fires (889, excluding suicides by arson).
In addition, elderly people age 65 or older account for
approximately 70% of the fatalities from residential
fires.
The revision of the Fire Service Act in 2004 mandated
that residential fire alarms be installed in newly-built
residences starting from June 2006. As for existing
residences, it mandated that said alarms be installedin them within all municipalities nationwide based on
the ordinances in each municipality by June 2011. The
Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) held

2. Fire Prevention Properties
The Fire Service Act defines the primary properties
that are eligible for fire prevention administration, such asarchitectural structures, as “fire prevention properties.” Italso mandates that personnel structures for fire prevention
be established, fire protection equipment etc.*3 be installed,
and flame retardant goods be used at those fire prevention
properties listed in Appended Table I of the Ordinance ofEnforcement for the Fire Service Act according to their

Table 1-1-15 Installation rate of residential fire alarms and rate of compliance with the ordinance byprefecture (June 1, 2018)
Prefecture

Installation rate

Ordinance compliance rate

Prefecture

All of Japan

81.6%

66.5%

Mie

77.2%

(36)

68.1%

(16)

Shiga

84.3%

(12)

62.7%

(33)
(13)

Hokkaido

64.8%

(24)

Installation rate

Ordinance compliance rate

82.5%

(16)

Aomori

77.3%

(35)

61.1%

(36)

Kyoto

87.1%

(7)

69.0%

Iwate

86.2%

(8)

66.2%

(22)

Osaka

84.3%

(12)

75.6%

(5)

Miyagi

90.5%

(2)

62.7%

(33)

Hyogo

85.3%

(11)

66.8%

(21)

Akita

81.5%

(20)

68.9%

(14)

Nara

80.0%

(24)

74.8%

(6)

Yamagata

80.0%

(24)

57.6%

(40)

Wakayama

79.8%

(27)

60.6%

(37)

Fukushima

74.6%

(43)

55.7%

(43)

Tottori

82.2%

(18)

64.8%

(24)

Ibaraki

71.8%

(44)

59.4%

(39)

Shimane

82.9%

(14)

65.6%

(23)
(38)

Tochigi

74.8%

(42)

63.8%

(30)

Okayama

75.7%

(40)

60.2%

Gunma

70.6%

(45)

57.4%

(41)

Hiroshima

87.4%

(6)

80.4%

(3)

Saitama

76.6%

(38)

64.0%

(28)

Yamaguchi

78.6%

(31)

69.1%

(12)

Chiba

78.6%

(31)

62.7%

(33)

Tokushima

79.3%

(29)

67.8%

(17)

Tokyo

88.2%

(4)

71.0%

(7)

Kagawa

76.3%

(39)

63.9%

(29)

Kanagawa

82.4%

(17)

69.8%

(9)

Ehime

80.0%

(24)

68.2%

(15)

Niigata

85.6%

(10)

67.5%

(19)

Kochi

67.8%

(46)

51.2%

(45)

Toyama

85.7%

(9)

69.5%

(11)

Fukuoka

80.8%

(21)

69.6%

(10)

Ishikawa

87.9%

(5)

84.3%

(2)

Saga

75.0%

(41)

53.8%

(44)

Fukui

95.1%

(1)

85.7%

(1)

Nagasaki

78.3%

(33)

48.0%

(46)

Yamanashi

77.0%

(37)

67.3%

(20)

Kumamoto

80.5%

(23)

63.3%

(32)
(18)

Nagano

82.6%

(15)

64.1%

(26)

Oita

80.7%

(22)

67.6%

Gifu

79.5%

(28)

63.4%

(31)

Miyazaki

82.2%

(18)

70.7%

(8)

Shizuoka

77.9%

(34)

64.1%

(26)

Kagoshima

88.8%

(3)

80.2%

(4)

Aichi

79.1%

(30)

57.2%

(42)

Okinawa

58.1%

(47)

44.4%

(47)

(Notes) 1 (  ) : The numbers in parenthesis show the rank in order starting with the prefectures with the highest installation rates and so forth.
2 Each number contains a certain error due to sample survey.

*1
*2
*3

The “installation rate” refers to the share of households that have installed residential fire alarms in at least one location of the sections of their homein which they are obligated to do so due to municipal fire prevention ordinances (including households that are exempt from installing residential fire
alarms on account of having installed fire alarm systems, etc.) out of the total number of households.
The “ordinance compliance rate” refers to the share of households that have installed residential fire alarms in every section of their home in which
they are obligated to do so due to municipal fire prevention ordinances (including households that are exempt from installing residential fire alarms on
account of having installed fire alarm systems, etc.) out of the total number of households.
Fire protection equipment etc.: Equipment for extinguishing fires, evacuation, and other fire protection activities (fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems,
automatic fire alarms, fire escape equipment, guide lamps, etc.)3Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

purpose, size, and so forth.
As of March 31, 2018, the number of fire prevention
properties throughout Japan came to 4,119,835 (thisis the number obtained from the Survey on the Actual
Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties (targeting thosefire prevention properties listed in Appended Table I of theOrdinance of Enforcement for the Fire Service Act that arelisted in (1) through (16-3) and have a total area of 150m2
or larger, and those listed in (17) through (19)); the same
hereafter).
Moreover, the number of fire prevention properties in
the 21 major cities (special wards of Tokyo and ordinancedesignated cities) came to 1,137,981, accounting for27.6% of the total fire prevention properties throughout

Japan. Those properties that are particularly concentrated
in urban areas include underground malls (86.9% of thenational total), semi-underground malls*4 (85.7% of thenational total), stores engaged in sex-related businesses,
etc. (49.5% of the national total). (Table 1-1-16)

3. Fire Prevention Management System(1) Fire Protection Managers
The Fire Service Act mandates that people withauthority when it comes to managing fire prevention
properties that contain large numbers of people (hereafterreferred to as “management officials”) undertake theoperations necessary for fire protection management.

Table 1-1-16 Number of fire prevention properties
Classification of fire prevention properties
a Theaters, etc.
(1)b Public halls, etc.
a Cabarets, etc.

(2)

(3)

b Game centers, etc.
c S tores engaged in sex-related
businesses, etc.

Percentage
Classification of fire prevention properties Nationwide
(%)

4,447

654

14.7

(3) Nursery schools, etc.

34,252

7,033

20.5

65,9546,265

9.5(4) Child development support
centers, etc.

2,831

501

17.7

876

126

14.4

(5) Welfare centers fordisabled persons, etc.

19,504

3,307

17.0

10,201

1,912

18.7

216

107

49.5

c
(6)

Subtotald Kindergartens, etc.

d Karaoke box and stores, etc.

2,642

637

24.1

(7)

Schools

2,903

516

17.8

(8)

Libraries, etc.

b Eating and drinking housesa Hotels, etc.

(Asof March
31, 2018)
21 major
Percentage

Nationwide

a Restaurants, etc.

(4) Department stores, etc.
(5)

(As of March 31, 2018)

21 majorcities

83,291

16,88720.3

160,456

28,18617.6(9)

cities(%)

80,33915,08518.8

17,058

4,058

23.8

127,470

28,404

22.3

7,621

860

11.3

a Special bathhouses

1,494

660

44.2

b General bathhouses

4,462

1,085

24.3

59,524

6,631

11.1

(10)

Railroad depots

3,879

1,394

35.9

1,324,052

492,898

37.2

(11)

Temples and shrines, etc.

57,858

11,96620.7(1) H ospitals that they need patient
assistance for evacuation

7,335

1,240

16.9

490,891

68,11613.9(2) C linics with 19 beds or less thatthey need patient assistance for
evacuation

3,896

819

21.0

340

130

38.2

a (3) H ospitals(not including thoselisted in (1)), Clinics with 19 beds
or less(not including those listed in(2)) and Birth center with bed

9,495

2,422

25.5

52,18814,86328.5

 linics with no in-patient capacity,(4) C
Birth center without bed

42,883

7,627

795

102

12.8

Subtotal

63,60912,10819.0

330,781

51,710

15.6(1) Short-term welfare facilities for theelderly

41,393

7,635

18.4

477,090

106,351

22.3

239

33

13.8

 pecified multipurpose firea S
prevention properties

368,134

136,53337.1

b Unspecified multipurpose
fire prevention properties

262,751

118,846

45.2

61

53

86.9

b Apartment houses, etc.

(6)(2) Sheltersb(3) Nurseries(4) Welfare facilities for disabledchildrenca Factories, etc.
(12)b Studiosa Parking lots, etc.
(13)
17.8

b Aircraft hangars
(14)
(15)

(16)

Warehouses
Offices, etc.

137

33

24.1

503

76

15.1

15.4 (16-3) Semi-underground malls(16-2) Underground malls(5) Support facilities for the disabled

6,079

937

7

6

85.7

Subtotal

48,351

8,714

18.0

(17)

Cultural properties

8,809

1,642

18.6

(1) Elderly daycare centers, etc.

23,518

4,198

17.9

(18)

Arcades

1,285

476

37.0

234

46

19.7

(19)

Mountain forests

0

0

−

Total

4,119,835

1,137,981

27.6(2) Rehabilitation facilities(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties” (targeting those fire prevention properties listed in  
Appended Table I of the Ordinance of Enforcement for the Fire Service Act that are listed in (1) through (16-3) and have a total area of 150m2 orlarger, and those listed in (17) through (19); the same hereafter).
2 The 21 major cities refer to the 23 wards of Tokyo and 20 ordinance-designated cities (Sapporo City, Sendai City, Saitama City, Chiba City,  
Yokohama City, Kawasaki City, Sagamihara City, Niigata City, Shizuoka City, Hamamatsu City, Nagoya City, Kyoto City, Osaka City, Sakai City,
Kobe City, Okayama City, Hiroshima City, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka City, and Kumamoto City).

*4

Semi-underground mall: A combination of an underground passage and shops established in the basement of a building that stand in a row facing
this underground passage.

4

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

they do, it is important for not only firefighting agencies
but also personnel from the fire prevention properties,
to perform maintenance for fire prevention with said
properties and strive to comply with fire prevention laws
and ordinances.
Therefore, the Fire Service Act mandates that management
officials at fire prevention properties with certain purposesor structures or the like have people with expert knowledge
when it comes to fire prevention (hereafter referred to as“qualified inspectors of fire prevention properties”) perform
inspections and report the results of these to firefighting
agencies once a year.
These qualified inspectors of fire prevention properties
consist of people with a certain level of knowledge of fire
prevention, such as fire protection equipment engineers*8
with three or more years of practical experience withconstruction work for fire protection equipment etc., orpeople with three or more years of practical experience
as fire protection managers. They must also completea training course offered by a corporation that has
been registered by the Minister of Internal Affairs andCommunications, and have been issued a certificate
attesting that they have acquired the necessary knowledge
and skills when it comes to inspections for fire prevention
properties.
As of March 31, 2018, the number of such inspectors
came to 30,931.
Those fire prevention properties for which periodic
inspection reports have been mandated and which havebeen carrying out management for three or more years
continuously are exempt from the duty to perform
three-year inspections and reports if they meet acertain criterion. This criterion is that they have been
acknowledged as having excellent compliance with thestandards from fire prevention laws and ordinances as aresult of inspections carried out by a firefighting agency on
the basis of an application from the management officials
from said property under fire prevention measures.
Fire prevention properties that have been acknowledged
as being in compliance with the inspection standards
by the inspectors for these properties may display a“Fire Prevention Standard Inspection Certificate ofCompletion.” Those that have been acknowledged ashaving excellent compliance with the standards in fire
prevention laws and ordinances by firefighting agencies
may display a “Fire Prevention Certificate of Excellence.”

These include appointing the fire protection managers*5that form the core of voluntary fire protection management
structures, as well as preparing firefighting plans for fire
protection management *6 that include stipulations on
firefighting, reporting, and holding disaster drills.
As of March 31, 2018, the number of fire prevention
properties that were legally required to establish fire
protection management structures and appoint fire
protection managers came to 1,072,406 nationwide. Of
these, 873,837 properties, which corresponds to 81.5%,
have appointed fire protection managers and havenotified firefighting agencies to this effect. Additionally,
the number of fire prevention properties where the fire
protection manager has prepared firefighting plans for fire
protection management in order to carry out the proper
fire protection management operations for their own
offices and so forth and notified firefighting agencies tothis effect came to 817,447, for 76.2% of the total.
(2) Supervisors of Fire Protection Management
For properties like high-rise buildings (buildings thatare taller than 31m high), underground malls, semiunderground malls, and other specified properties
under fire prevention at or above a certain size*7 wheremanagement authority has been divided up, the Fire
Service Act stipulates that fire protection managers are tobe appointed and carry out fire protection management foreach of the various areas which they have management
authority over. Conversely, it also states that supervisorsof fire protection management are to be appointed inconsultation with them in order to carry out fire protection
management for the building as a whole in an integrated
manner. It mandates that the management officials
strive to prevent fires and maintain the safety of the fire
prevention properties as a whole by preparing firefighting
plans for fire protection management for said properties
on the whole, as well as extinguishing fires, issuingreports, and holding evacuation drills (Supervisory Fire
protection management System: enacted April 1, 2014).
As of March 31, 2018, the number of fire prevention
properties that were required to appoint supervisors offire protection management came to 88,516 nationwide.
Of these, 51,555, which corresponds to 58.2%, haveappointed supervisors of fire protection management
and notified firefighting agencies to this effect. What ismore, the number of fire prevention properties that have
prepared overall fire prevention plans for the sake ofcarrying out fire protection management for the building
as a whole in an integrated manner and that have notified
firefighting agencies to this effect came to 48,078, whichis 54.3% of the total.

4. Disaster Prevention Management
System(1) Disaster Protection Managers
In order to handle imminent threats such as major
earthquakes, the Fire Service Act mandates that thosepeople with authority for the management of large-scaleand high-rise buildings and the like (hereafter referred to(3) Periodic Inspection and Reporting System forFire Prevention Properties
To prevent fires from occurring and mitigate the damage
*5
*6
*7
*8

Fire protection managers: People who have been appointed from among those management officials who have certain qualifications, such as having
completed a training course on fire protection management for fire prevention properties, and who are in a managerial or supervisory position where
they can appropriately carry out the operations necessary for fire protection management at said properties.
Firefighting plans for fire protection management: These are plans that establish matters which are necessary for fire protection management. Saidplans are prepared by fire protection managers, with fire protection management operations carried out on the basis of said plans.
Specified properties under fire prevention measures: Certain properties under fire prevention measures that include department stores, restaurants,
and other properties that can accommodate large numbers of people, as well as hospitals, nursing homes for the elderly, kindergartens, and otherproperties used by people who would require assistance during a disaster.
Fire protection equipment engineer: A person with expert knowledge of fire protection equipment etc. who has been issued a fire protection
equipment engineer certification.

5

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

 . Onsite Inspections and Corrections of5
Violations

as “management officials”) are to establish fire defense
organizations for self-protection. *9 Such organizations
prepare firefighting plans for disaster protection
management*10 suited to earthquake and other disasters,
and appoint disaster protection managers*11 responsible
for emergency response structures concerning significant
damage when earthquakes strike and for holding
evacuation drills. In addition, they carry out the necessary
operations in order to mitigate the damage from fires andother disasters (Disaster Prevention Management System:
enacted June 1, 2009).
As of March 31, 2018, the number of properties underdisaster prevention measures that were legally required
to establish disaster protection management systems
and appoint disaster protection managers came to 9,909
throughout Japan. Of these, 8,461, which corresponds to
85.4%, have appointed disaster protection managers andnotified firefighting agencies to this effect.
What is more, the number of properties under disasterprevention measures at which the disaster protection
manager has prepared firefighting plans for disasterprotection management, in order to carry out theappropriate disaster protection management operations attheir own offices and other establishments, and notified
firefighting agencies to this effect came to 7,836, or 79.1%
of the total. The number of said properties that haveestablished fire defense organizations for self-protection
came to 8,714, or 87.9% of the total.

(1) Current Status for Onsite Inspections andCorrections of Violations
Firefighting agencies enter fire prevention properties toperform onsite inspections pursuant to the regulations ofArticle 4 of the Fire Service Act when it is necessary to doso for the sake of fire prevention.
The number of times onsite inspections were carried out
by firefighting agencies throughout Japan in FY2017 cameto 880,444.
Fire chiefs or fire station chiefs may order measuresthat must be taken with respect to deficiencies in fire
protection management at the fire prevention properties,
fire protection equipment etc. that has not been installedat such properties, or other problems brought to lightthrough the onsite inspections. Such measures include
appointing fire protection managers and installing fire
protection equipment etc. or special fire protection
equipment etc., pursuant to the regulations in Article 8,
Article 8-2, or Article 17-4 of the Fire Service Act. In
cases where this is recognized as posing a hazard for fire
prevention, they can order that the necessary measures betaken, such as repairing or relocating the fire prevention
properties in question or removing the hazards from them,or else question or removing the hazards from them, orelse prohibiting or restricting their use, pursuant to theregulations in Article 5, Article 5-2, or Article 5-3 of theFire Service Act. The act states that they must publicly
announce when they issue orders such as these.
In cases where violations of fire prevention laws orordinances are discovered as a result of these onsite
inspections, the fire chief or fire station chief works toredress these violations to bring them back into legal
compliance, such as by issuing warnings or other remedial
instructions, orders, and so on.
Particularly for specified violating properties (thisrefers to specified fire prevention properties with a floorarea of 1,500m2 or more or unspecified fire prevention
properties with 11 or more floors, excluding the basement,
where sprinkler systems, indoor fire hydrants, or fire
alarm systems have not been installed in a majority of thesections where such equipment must be installed), strict
guidance is imposed based on the severity of the violation,such as those that pose a significant hazard to human lifein the event that a fire should break out.
As of March 31, 2018, there were 240 specified
violating properties, and so therefore it is necessary tocontinue working to thoroughly correct these violations ina focused manner. (Table 1-1-17)(2) Supervisors of Disaster Protection
Management
For those buildings that require disaster protection
management where management authority has been
divided up, the Fire Service Act stipulates that disasterprotection managers are to be appointed and carry out
disaster protection management for each of the various
areas which they have management authority over.
Conversely, it also stipulates that supervisors of disasterprotection management are to be appointed in consultation
with them in order to carry out disaster protection
management for the building as a whole in an integrated
manner. It mandates that the management officials
establish fire and disaster safety for the disaster prevention
properties as a whole (supervisory disaster protection
management system: enacted April 1, 2014).
As of March 31, 2018, the number of fire prevention
properties that were required to appoint supervisors of
disaster protection management came to 2,871 nationwide.
Of these, 2,694, which corresponds to 93.8%, haveappointed supervisors of disaster protection management
and notified firefighting agencies to this effect. What ismore, the number of disaster prevention properties thathave prepared firefighting plans for the sake of carryingout disaster protection management for the building as
a whole in an integrated manner and that have notified
firefighting agencies to this effect, came to 2,613, which is
91.0% of the total.

(2) Fire Safety Certification MarkThis new labeling system, which fire departments
throughout Japan were notified of in October 2013,provides users with information on a building’s
compliance with laws and ordinances related to fire

*9Fire defense organizations for self-protection: These are personal organizations comprised of people like employees at properties under fire
prevention measures. They carry out the operations necessary in order to mitigate the damage from fires and other disasters when they occur basedon the roles established in the firefighting plan.
*10 Firefighting plans for disaster protection management: These are plans that establish matters which are necessary for disaster protection
management.
*11 Disaster protection managers: People who have been appointed from among those management officials who have certain qualifications, suchas having completed a training course on disaster protection management, and who are in a managerial or supervisory position where they canappropriately carry out the operations necessary for disaster protection management at disaster prevention properties.

6Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-1-17 Trends in the improvement status of specified violating properties
Category
By FY

No. of violating properties at thestart of the FY(a)No. of properties that corrected
their violations during the FY(b)Correction rate(%)(c=b/ax100)

FY2009

301

63

20.9%

FY2010

299

69

23.1%

FY2011

389

37

9.5%

FY2012

179

46

25.7%

FY2013

230

54

23.5%

FY2014

249

56

22.5%

FY2015

331

100

30.2%

FY2016

359

125

34.8%

FY2017

392

151

38.5%

FY2018240－－(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties”.
2 “No. of violating properties at the start of the FY” is the sum of properties that remained in violation from two fiscal years before and violating
properties that newly became aware they were in violation during the previous fiscal year at the end of the previous fiscal year for each fiscal
year (as of March 31).
3 “No. of properties that corrected their violations during the FY” is the number of properties that corrected their violation during the fiscal year (itdoes not include those that newly became aware of their violation or that were abandoned).

Table 1-1-18 Process status for fire prevention consent
Gist ofapplication

Breakdown(Cases)Consent
FY2016

Dissent
FY2017FY2016Total
FY2017FY2016FY2017

New construction

214,001

219,94716

15

214,017219,962

Enlargement

19,426

19,2544

6

19,43019,260Reconstruction

757

653

1

0

758

653

Relocation

123

138

0

0

123

138

Repair

124

130

0

0

124

130

Remodeling

112

126

0

0

112

126

4,021

4,094

0

4

4,021

4,098

Change of purpose
Other

3,238

3,074

1

2

3,239

3,076

Total

241,802247,41622

27

241,824

247,443(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties”

prevention and construction. Applications began
being tendered and received on April 1, 2014, andhotels, Japanese-style hotels, and other facilities begansequentially putting the silver display marks out on
display starting from August 1, 2014.
In addition, those hotels and other facilities that havebeen issued silver display marks for three years in a
row and which meet the standards related to laws andordinances on fire protection and construction are allowed
to display a gold display mark.
Visitors to the FDMA’s website can check to confirm
hotels that have been issued the Fire Safety Certification
Mark throughout Japan (reference URL: http://www.fdma.
go.jp/kasai_yobo/hyoujiseido/index.html).

April 2015.
What is more, fire departments overseeing populationsof 200,000 people or more are started utilizing thispublic announcement system starting from April 2018.
Information on things like the implementation statusof the public announcement system and its scheduled
implementation period for municipalities throughout
Japan can be confirmed via the FDMA’s website (reference
URL: http://www.fdma.go.jp/publication/index.html).

6. Fire Protection Equipment etc.
(1) Current Status of Fire Prevention Consent
Fire prevention consent is a system that was establishedwith the goal of boosting the safety of buildings by having
personnel from firefighting agencies get involved in fire
prevention for buildings starting from the design stage intheir capacity as experts on fire prevention.
When it comes to the operation of this system, thefirefighting agencies offer finely-detailed examinations
and instructions based on legal regulations related tobuilding fire prevention from the perspective of fire
prevention safety and firefighting activities. They also
work to enhance structures and strengthen cooperation for
ensuring that this work is handled promptly.
The number of cases processed regarding fire
prevention consent work throughout Japan in FY2017(3) Initiation of a System for Publicly Announcing
Violating Properties
The System for Publicly Announcing Violating
Properties, which came about through a notification from
December 2013, is a system for announcing the details oflegal violations on the websites of municipal governments
based on the ordinances of said municipalities. Thisis aimed at specified properties under fire prevention
measures that have not yet installed sprinkler systems,
indoor fire hydrants, or fire alarm system, despite being
obligated to do so. This announcement system wasinitiated in all ordinance-designated cities starting from7

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

came to 247,443, with only 27 of these failing to receive
consent. (Table 1-1-18)

2018, the installation rate for sprinkler systems (number
installed/number that needs to be installed) was 99.7%,
while that for automatic fire alarms was 99.0%. (Table
1-1-19)With respect to the technical standards pertaining
to fire protection equipment etc., regulations are being
successively set in place in accordance with technologicalprogress and societal demands. In recent years, a fireoccurred at a medical clinic in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka
Prefecture in October 2013 (which left ten people deadand five injured). In light of this, it was mandated that
Clinics with 19 beds or less/Hospitals that they needpatient assistance for evacuation must install sprinkler(2) Current Status for the Installation of Fire
Protection Equipment etc.
The Fire Service Act states that the relevant personnel
from fire prevention properties must install and properly
maintain the necessary fire protection equipment etc.
according to the purpose, size, structure, and capacity ofthe property in question.
A look at the installation status for primary fire
protection equipment etc. in specified fire prevention
properties throughout Japan reveals that, as of March 31,

Table 1-1-19 Installation status for sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems at specified properties
under fire prevention measures throughout Japan(As of March 31, 2018)
Equipment typeClassification ofproperties
under fire prevention measures
(1)

(2)

(3)
(4)

Violations

Violations

Installation
rate (％)

Theaters, etc.

784

783

1

99.9

3,754

3,744

10

99.7

Public halls, etc.

538

537

1

99.8

31,286

31,225

61

99.8

a

Cabarets, etc.

5

5

0

100.0

490

448

42

91.4

b

Game centers, etc.

708

701

7

99.0

9,305

9,279

26

99.7

c

Stores engaged in sex-related businesses,
etc.

1

1

0

100.0

164

160

4

97.6

d

Karaoke box and stores, etc.

10

10

0

100.0

2,657

2,624

33

98.8

a

Restaurants, etc.

2

2

0

100.0

2,106

2,057

49

97.7

b

Eating and drinking houses

118

118

0

100.0

35,22034,723

497

98.6

7,520

7,498

22

99.7

87,01686,357

659

99.2

a

Hotels, etc.

2,116

2,110

6

99.7

57,05656,233823

98.6

Hospitals that they need patient assistance(1)
for evacuation

3,659

3,653

6

99.8

6,612

6,598

14

99.8

Clinics with 19 beds or less that they needpatient assistance for evacuation

1,158

1,151

7

99.4

3,269

3,261

8

99.8

Hospitals(not including those listed in (1)),(3) Clinics with 19 beds or less(not including
those listed in (2)) and Birth center with bed

3,403

3,401

2

99.9

8,970

8,959

11

99.9

Clinics with no in-patient capacity, Birthcenter without bed

199

198

1

99.5

20,541

20,473

68

99.7

(4)

b

Subtotal

8,419

8,403

16

99.8

39,39239,291101

99.7(1) Short-term welfare facilities for the elderly

38,821

38,73883

99.8

41,39941,345

54

99.9
99.6

(2) Shelters

192

192

0

100.0

247

246

1

(3) Nurseries

116

116

0

100.0

136

134

2

98.5

(4) Welfare facilities for disabled children

419

418

1

99.8

527

526

1

99.8

(5) Support facilities for the disabled

5,386

5,346

40

99.3

6,442

6,424

18

99.7

44,93444,810124

99.7

48,751

48,675

76

99.8

1,375

1,374

1

99.9

15,03814,99048

99.7(2) Rehabilitation facilities

17

17

0

100.0

206

204

2

99.0

(3) Nursery schools, etc.

109

102

7

93.6

28,53428,52113

100.0＊
99.0

Subtotal(1) Elderly daycare centers, etc.

c

(16)

Installed

a

a

(9)

Number of Automatic fire alarm systems
Installation Needs to berate (%)
installed

b

(2)

(6)

Installed

Department stores, etc.

(5)

Number of Sprinkler systems

Equipment Needs to becondition
installed(4) Child development support centers, etc

45

45

0

100.0

1,369

1,355

14

(5) Welfare centers for disabled persons, etc.

563

558

5

99.1

14,306

14,23967

99.5

Subtotal

2,109

2,096

13

99.4

59,45359,309

144

99.8

d

Kindergartens, etc.

214

214

0

100.0

14,861

14,8547

100.0＊aSpecial bathhouses

17

17

0

100.0

1,387

1,384

3

99.8

a

Specified multipurpose fire prevention
properties

19,30019,23565

99.7

201,252

197,678

3,574

98.2

(16-2) Underground malls

59

59

0

100.0

61

61

0

100.0

(16-3) Semi-Underground malls

4

4

0

100.0

7

7

0

100.0

Total

86,85886,603

255

99.7

594,218

588,109

6,109

99.0

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties”.
2 For the installation rate, the digits in the second decimal place were rounded off (The* symbol indicate that the results of the rounding came to100%).

8

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

systems as a general rule, regardless of their floor area.
The installation of these sprinkler systems has been inforce since April 1, 2016 as a result of the Partial Revisionof the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act andother legislation (promulgated on October 16, 2014).
At the time of enforcement, transitional measures that
equipment should be installed by June 30, 2025 were set
for existing facilities.
Moreover, large urban area fire occurred in Itoigawa
City, Niigata Prefecture in December 2016 (which left
30,213.45㎡ burned floor area). In light of this, it was
mandated that restaurants with equipment or appliancesthat use fire must install fire extinguishing equipment as a
general rule, regardless of their floor area. The installationof these has been carried out since October 1, 2019 as aresult of the Partial Revision of the Order for Enforcementof the Fire Service Act and other legislation (promulgatedon March 28, 2018).
Regarding properties that violate the Fire Service Act,
such as violation of the obligation to install fire protection
equipment, etc., the government will proactively issue
Administrative Order and other measures based on
the Fire Service Act and proceed prompt and effective
violations correction operation.

and 146,517 Class 2 inspectors (for electrical systems).
Programs for displaying that inspections have been
performed, in which inspection certificates of completionverifying that inspections of fire protection equipment
etc. have been properly carried out are posted, havebeen independently instituted at the prefectural level.
This is done in an effort to clarify the responsibilities for
performing inspections and have the relevant personnel
from fire prevention properties perform the proper
inspections.
(4) Flame Retardancy Regulations
A. Usage Status for Flame Retardant Goods
Using goods that resist catching fire for various
objects that tend to be easily flammable within buildings
prevents fires from breaking out and simultaneously
checks the spread of fires during their initial stages when
they do occur. As such, this is extremely effective whenit comes to preventing fires. Therefore, fire prevention
properties that must give forethought to fire prevention
due to their structural features or configuration, suchas high-rise buildings and underground malls, as wellas fire prevention properties like theaters, hotels, andhospitals that are used by large unspecified numbers ofpeople and people requiring special consideration havebeen designated as “flame retardancy and fire prevention
properties.” The Fire Service Act mandates that theseproperties use goods with the prescribed flame retardant
performance (hereafter referred to as “flame retardant
goods”) for the curtains, stage curtains, plywood display
boards, carpets, and other goods used (hereafter referred
to as “goods under the flame retardancy requirement”).
As of March 31, 2018, the number of flame retardancy
and fire prevention properties came to 967,993. The
conformance rate (share of the flame retardancy andfire prevention properties where flame retardant goods
are used for all of the goods under the flame retardancy
requirements at said properties) at flame retardancy andfire prevention properties using curtains and stage curtains
came to 86.4%, while it was 86.2% at those using carpets,and 82.7% at those using plywood display boards. (Table
1-1-20)B. Public Awareness of Flame Retardant Goods for
Bedding and Other Goods
Aside from those goods under the flame retardancy
requirement stipulated in the Fire Service Act suchas curtains and carpets, using fireproof goods forfutons, pajamas, the body covers for automobiles andmotorcycles, and more is also extremely effective forpreventing fires. Therefore, the FDMA spreads publicawareness of these by uploading videos detailing theeffects from these flame retardant goods to its website(reference URL: http://www.fdma.go.jp/html/life/yobou_
contents/materials/).

						

(3) Fire Protection Equipment Engineers and Fire
Protection Equipment Inspectors
Efforts are made to ensure the performance of fire
protection equipment etc. via inspection system for fire
protection machinery and tools. However, if there are
deficiencies or defects at the installation stage, then such
equipment will be rendered incapable of performing
properly when a fire does occur. To prevent suchcircumstances, the installation and maintenance of certain
fire protection equipment etc. can only be performed byfire protection equipment engineers.
What is more, fire protection equipment etc. must be
properly maintained on a daily basis to ensure that it iscapable of performing at any and all times. As a result, it
has been mandated that periodic inspections be performed
and the results of these be reported. These inspections
premised on maintaining the equipment require
knowledge and skills with regards to the fire protection
equipment etc.. Therefore, the relevant personnel fromthe fire prevention properties must have fire protection
equipment engineers or fire protection equipment
inspectors (people who have completed certain training
courses offered by corporations that have been registeredby the Commissioner of the FDMA and been issued a fire
protection equipment inspector certificate) perform theinspections on the fire protection equipment etc..
Efforts are made to improve the quality of these fire
protection equipment engineers and fire protection
equipment inspectors by mandating that they undergo retraining at certain fixed intervals after they have received
their license in order for them to acquire new knowledge
and skills concerning the fire protection equipment etc..
Moreover, these people will be ordered to return theirlicense or face a similar punishment in the event that they
violate any of the fire prevention laws or ordinances.
As of March 31, 2018, the total number of fire protection
equipment engineers came to 1,174,632. In addition, thenumber of fire protection equipment inspectors came to
700 special inspectors (for special fire protection equipmentetc.), 155,221 Class 1 inspectors (for mechanical systems)(5) Regulations for Equipment and Tools that Use
Fire
From the perspective of fire prevention, the location,
construction, management, and handling of equipment andtools that use fire, including home gas burners, stoves, hotwater heaters, fireplaces, kitchen equipment, and saunaequipment, are regulated via the fire prevention ordinances
established by each municipality. These are establishedpursuant to the Ministerial Ordinance EstablishingStandards for Enacting Ordinances on the Location,

9

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-1-20 Number of flame retardancy and fire prevention properties and usage status of flame
retardant goods(As of March 31, 2018)
No. of flame
retardancy
Categories of flame retardancy and fireand fire
prevention properties
prevention
properties
(1)

(2)

(3)

Properties on theleft using all of thegoods under the flame
retardancy requirement

Use ofcurtains,
stage
curtains,
etc.

Properties on theleft using all of thegoods under the flame
retardancy requirement

Use ofcarpets

Compliance
rate (%)

Compliance
rate (%)

Properties on theleft using all of thegoods under the flame
retardancy requirement

Use ofplywooddisplayboardsCompliance
rate (%)

a

Theaters, etc.

4,232

2,497

2,376

95.2%

1,878

1,770

94.2%

448

427

95.3%

b

Public halls, etc.

63,47838,483

34,61790.0%

22,701

19,967

88.0%

3,924

3,368

85.8%

a

Cabarets, etc.

837

311

223

71.7%

349

276

79.1%

44

41

93.2%

b

Game centers, etc.

9,793

4,299

3,824

89.0%

4,109

3,753

91.3%

615

551

89.6%

c

S
 tores engaged in sexrelated businesses, etc.

179

99

79

79.8%

80

65

81.3%

8

6

75.0%

d

Karaoke box and stores, etc.

2,569

1,246

1,111

89.2%

1,057

969

91.7%

166

151

91.0%

a

Restaurants, etc.

2,811

1,473

1,220

82.8%

1,378

1,157

84.0%

155

123

79.4%

b

Eating and drinking houses

80,18632,706

26,05779.7%

20,18016,344

81.0%

3,678

3,102

84.3%

(4)

Department stores, etc.

152,898

57,15951,621

90.3%

29,86826,407

88.4%

7,024

5,941

84.6%

(5)

a

Hotels, etc.

56,68941,98838,19291.0%

34,89531,963

91.6%

2,627

2,312

88.0%

a

Hospitals, etc.

60,43942,00439,40893.8%

23,82822,175

93.1%

3,744

3,374

90.1%

b

S
 pecial elderly nursing
homes, etc.

46,77336,66034,762

94.8%

21,21420,072

94.6%

3,528

3,263

92.5%

c

Elderly daycare centers, etc.

77,26753,16149,301

92.7%

30,186

27,414

90.8%

5,034

4,524

89.9%

d

Kindergartens, etc.

16,423

11,854

10,973

92.6%

6,212

5,679

91.4%

990

883

89.2%

(9)

a

Special bathhouses

1,444

965

840

87.0%

953

862

90.5%

65

54

83.1%

(12)

b

Studios

823

506

494

97.6%

477

469

98.3%

68

51

75.0%

a

Specified multipurpose fire
prevention properties

316,826

112,858

84,93675.3%

76,71158,89276.8%

13,443

9,543

71.0%

 nspecified multipurpose fireb U
prevention properties

20,203

2,539

1,881

74.1%

1,803

1,323

73.4%

704

520

73.9%

61

43

31

72.1%

39

30

76.9%

14

12

85.7%

7

4

2

50.0%

4

3

75.0%

1

1

100.0%(6)(16)(16-2) Underground malls(16-3)

Semi-underground malls
High-rise buildings
Total

54,05520,00916,43482.1%

18,50515,804

85.4%

3,462

2,868

82.8%

967,993

460,864

398,382

86.40%

296,427

255,39486.20%

49,742

41,115

82.7%(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Conditions of Fire Prevention Properties”.
2 High-rise buildings (buildings that are taller than 31m) are not classified within Appended Table I of the Ordinance of Enforcement for the Fire
Service Act. Moreover, fire prevention properties that correspond to high-rise buildings were counted in the “High-rise buildings” field withinthe “Classification of fire prevention properties” column.

Construction, and Management of Eligible Equipment that
Uses Fire and the Handling of Eligible Tools that Use Fire
(2002 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Ministerial Ordinance No. 24; hereafter referred to as the“Ministerial Ordinance on Eligible Equipment and Tools
that Use Fire”).

specifications established in ministerial ordinances) and“model compliance inspections” (inspections conducted toconfirm that the shape and other factors of the individualmachinery and tools subject to inspection are identicalto the shape and so forth for models of said equipmentthat have received model approval). Moreover, formachinery and tools subject to inspection with regard to
the development of new technologies, inspections canbe carried out via the technical specifications establishedby the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications
for those items that conform to the technical standards
established by said ministerial ordinance in terms of
their shape or the like, or those acknowledged as having
performance that meets or exceeds this level. Throughthis, the aim is to enhance the inspection system so as topromote technological innovation with these machineryand tools subject to inspection.
Regarding the inspection system, it came to light thatcases of misconduct occurred in October 2008, including
test samples being secretly switched out during model
compliance inspections for fire hoses. Moreover, in March2010 it was discovered that fire-extinguishing foam usedin the compressed air foam apparatuses on fire trucks
that had not been inspected was being sold. As part ofthe public service corporation program review carried

7. Inspection System for Fire Protection
Machinery and Tools etc.
(1) Inspections
Fire protection machinery or tools that are subject toinspection (hereafter referred to as “machinery and tools
subject to inspection”) are prohibited from being sold,displayed for commercial purposes, and so forth unlessthey pass inspections and include a label indicating thispursuant to the regulations of Article 21-2 of the Fire
Service Act.
The machinery and tools subject to inspection include
the 12 items stipulated in Article 37 of the Order for
Enforcement of the Fire Service Act, including fire
extinguishers and enclosed sprinkler heads.
These inspections consist of “model approval”(approval indicating that the shape and other factorsof the machinery and tools conform with the technical

10Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

8. Performance Inspections of TechnicalStandard for Fire Protection Equipment etc.

out in May 2010, evaluation results were issued to theeffect that reassessments were to be made with a view
towards expanding both voluntary screenings and theincreased involvement of the private sector when it comesto inspections. Based on this, the Act for Partial Revisionof the Fire Service Act was promulgated on June 27,
2012. This established collection orders via the Ministerof Internal Affairs and Communications and strengthened
penal provisions in cases where machinery and tools
subject to inspection not in compliance with the standards
or which lacked labels indicating their compliance were
circulating on the market.
It also relaxed requirements in order to promote theentry of private companies into the registered inspection
body market, among its other stipulations. Moreover, thePartial Revision of the Order for the Enforcement of theFire Service Act (promulgated on March 27, 2013) mademachinery and tools subject to inspections, mainly the fire
hoses and couplers used by firefighting agencies and theelectric leak alarms, for which there has been declining
need due to changes in the configurations of buildings,
items that are subject to self-labeling. At the same time,it also newly added residential fire alarms, which arerequired to be installed in all homes, to the machinery andtools subject to inspection (entered into force on April 1,
2014).

When it comes to the technical standards for fire
protection equipment etc., oftentimes details like materials
or dimensions are prescribed in specification documentsor the like. This makes it difficult for new technologies
to gain acceptance, even when they offer satisfactory
performance. Therefore, technical development for thefields of fire and other disaster prevention is promoted andperformance regulations are adopted to ensure that evenmore effective fire prevention and safety measures can beestablished.
The basic philosophy behind this is to judge whether
equipment offers performance that is at or above thelevel of performance of the installed fire protection
equipment etc. based on the conventional technicalstandards. Equipment that has been confirmed to be at or
above the conventional performance level is approved
for installation in place of the existing fire protection
equipment etc..
The performance demanded of fire protection equipment
etc. is divided up into three categories. These are “initial
spread inhibition performance,” which is performancefor inhibiting the spread of fires during the initial stages,“evacuation safety support performance,” which is
performance that supports safely evacuating during fires,and “firefighting activity support performance,” whichis performance that supports the activities of firefighting
teams.
A certain body of knowledge has been gained regardingthese, on which their equivalence is evaluated via
objective verification methods (methods of objectively
and impartially verifying newly developed technologies
and technical innovations) and so forth.
At the same time, a certification system via the
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications has been
established aimed at equipment for which evaluationsof its equivalence cannot be performed solely throughthe existing objective verification methods (such as
special fire protection equipment etc.). Under thissystem, applications are made for each property underfire prevention measures regarding special fire protection
equipment etc. for which general inspection standards
have not have established. The Minister of Internal Affairs
and Communications will then perform an examination
based on the evaluation results from a performance
evaluation agency (the Japan Fire Equipment Inspection
Institute or a registered inspection body), and equipmentthat has been acknowledged as having the necessary levelof performance can be installed. As of March 31, 2018,
67 cases have received certification thus far as special fire
protection equipment etc..
The expectation is that, by applying these regulations,
new equipment that uses new technologies will be
proactively developed and disseminated.

(2) Self-labelingWith the self-labeling system, it is the responsibilityof the manufacturers to confirm their compliance withspecifications on their own according to the regulations in
Article 21-16 (3) of the Fire Service Act. The system also
gives approval for labeling models that have been reported
to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications inadvance.
Machinery and tools that are subject to self-labeling(hereafter referred to as “machinery and tools subject toself-labeling”) are prohibited from being sold, displayedfor commercial purposes, and so forth unless they include
a label pursuant to the regulations of Article 21-16 (2) ofthe Fire Service Act.
Similar to machinery and tools subject to inspection,
the Act for Partial Revision of the Fire Service Act(promulgated on June 27, 2012) established collectiono r d e r s v i a t h e M i n i s t e r o f I n t e r n a l A ff a i r s a n dCommunications and strengthened penal provisions
for machinery and tools subject to self-labeling not incompliance with the standards or which lacked labels
indicating their compliance.
Items that fall under the category of machinery andtools subject to self-labeling include power fire pumps
and fire suction hoses. Furthermore, as a result of thePartial Revision of the Order for Enforcement of the Fire
Service Act (promulgated on March 27, 2013) and otherlegislation, the fire hoses, couplers, and electric leakalarms that had previously been counted as machineryand tools subject to inspection, as well as the disposable
aerosol fire extinguishers that are generally in widespread
circulation but which frequently suffer from rupture
accidents and the like, were newly added to this category(entered into force on April 1, 2014).
The number of reports from manufacturers in FY2017
came to 36 for power fire pumps, 37 for fire hoses, 0 for
fire suction hose, 14 for couplers, 0 for disposable aerosol
fire extinguishers, and 4 for electric leak alarms.

9. Current Status of Investigations into
the Causes of Fires
Advances in science and technology have brought about
increasing sophistication for industry and changes in social
conditions. This has resulted in a tendency for fires thatare large in scale and which assume aspects of complexity
to occur with great frequency, and so investigating the11Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-1-21 Investigations into the causes of fires by the Commissioner of the FDMA that wererecently conducted and responses based on the results of these№

Date of fire

Location

Building purpose, etc.

Responses by FDMA1

May 13, 2012

Fukuyama City,
Hiroshima Prefecture

Hotel(10 casualties)

Revised the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act and other legislation, andstrengthened installation standards for automatic fire alarms.
Also restructured and began applying a labeling system that provides users withinformation on that conform to the fire prevention standards in fire
prevention laws and ordinances.

2

February 8, 2013

Nagasaki City,
Nagasaki PrefectureGroup home
(12 casualties)

Revised the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act and other legislation.
Strengthened installation standards for sprinkler systems and mandated that
automatic fire alarms and fire notification alarms be interlinked.

3

August 15, 2013

Fukuchiyama City,
Kyoto Prefecture

Fireworks festival(59 casualties)

Revised the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act and the Fire Prevention
Ordinance (Example). Mandated the submission of plans related to operations
necessary for fire prevention at outdoor event venue at or above a certain size, andmandated that fire extinguishers be prepared.

4

October 11, 2013

Fukuoka City,
Fukuoka Prefecture

Medical clinic(15 casualties)

Revised the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act and other legislation.
Reassessed the installation standards for fire extinguishing equipment, indoor fire
hydrants, sprinkler systems, power fire pump equipment, and fire alarms that notify
firefighting agencies.

causes behind these requires sophisticated expertise.
What is more, investigating the causes of fires andilluminating the extent of the damage caused by both fires
and firefighting are crucial when it comes to examining
modalities for subsequent fire prevention administration.
Investigating the causes of fires is unequivocally therole of local governments, but it is the duty of the national
government to complement them in this. In cases where
there has been a request from a firefighting agency, or theCommissioner of the FDMA has deemed that there is aparticular necessity in doing so, an investigation into thecauses of a fire can be carried out by the Commissionerof the FDMA. Investigation teams formed from personnel
from the FDMA according to the type of fire carry out
the investigations into the causes of the fire through thissystem in coordination with firefighting agencies. Reviews
are conducted based on the knowledge and data obtained
from the investigations, and this is reflected in policies forfire defense administration. Cases where responses such asrevising fire prevention laws and ordinances were carriedout based on the results of investigations into the causes offires by the Commissioner of the FDMA that were carriedout recently are shown in Table 1-1-21.
In an effort to improve the effectiveness of investigations
into the causes of fires regarding product fires, the Act for

Partial Revision of the Fire Service Act (Law No. 38 from2012) granted firefighting agencies the right to issue anorder to submit materials to manufacturers and importers
and the right to collect information from them (entered into
force on April 1, 2013).

10. Promoting Countermeasures to
Product Fires
In recent years, as the causes of fires has grown
extremely diverse, the products close to the generalpublic in their daily lives have begun causing fires as
well, including automobiles and other vehicles, electronic
appliances, and burning appliances. Given the strong
demands to ensure consumer safety and peace of mind,
the FDMA has been strengthening its initiatives to combat
these product fires.
For such fires, the FDMA has established a structure
whereby it collects fire information from firefighting
agencies in a comprehensive manner and aggregates thenumber of fires for each type of product which serveas the ignition source. It then provides the public withwarnings and alerts quickly and effectively by announcing
information like the names of faulty products and their
manufacturers every quarter.

Fig. 1-1-19 Trends in the survey results on product fires over the past five years(As of May 31, 2018)

786

839
649

725

703

356

386
300

363

318

388

364

366

294

249

67

(Note) See the FDMA website for details (URL : http://www.fdma.go.jp/neuter/topics/fieldList4_7.html).

12

65

55

88
43

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

Fires that firefighting agencies deemed to have beencaused by defects in automobiles and other vehicles, aswell as electronic appliances and burning appliances,that occurred in 2017 (January - December 2017) were
aggregated. From this, it was discovered that of the totalof 703 product fires, 192 were fires deemed to have beencaused by product defects, 423 were fires that could
not be determined to have occurred from a defect in a
specified product as the direct cause although the cause
was identified, and fires where the cause could not be
identified, and 188 were fires that are still currently underinvestigation. (Fig. 1-1-19)
The results of these investigations are reported to
firefighting agencies throughout Japan. Furthermore, thecollected fire information is shared between the Consumer
Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism, and the National Institute of Technology
and Evaluation (NITE), which work together to promote
countermeasures to product fires.
What is more, with respect to investigations into
the causes of fires carried out by firefighting agencies
throughout Japan, efforts are also being made to improve
the investigation skills of the firefighting agencies.
Examples of this include providing them with technicalsupport such as scientific investigation based on the expert
knowledge and equipment and materials of the National

Research Institute of Fire and Disaster and so forth. In
addition to working to enhance investigations into thecauses of fires and the structures for this, the FDMA
also strives to proactively collect information on productfires and strengthen collaborations with the relevant
agencies. Through this, it is moving forward with ensuringconsumer safety and peace of mind, while also preventing
fire accidents caused by products.

11. Promoting Fire Prevention Measures
at Outdoor Event Venues
In August 15, 2013, a fire broke out at the venue fora fireworks show in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto, thatinvolved enormous human suffering in the sense that
3 people died and 56 were injured. Following this, theOrder for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act wasrevised in December 2013 and the Fire Prevention
Ordinance (Example) was revised in January 2014 inorder to promote fire prevention measures at outdoor
event venues. These mandated initiatives like preparing
fire extinguishers when handling equipment that use fireat outdoor event venues and the like, and appointing
managers for fire prevention at those large-scale outdoor
and similar events that have been specially designated byfire chiefs. It also mandated that plans for the operations
necessary for fire prevention be prepared and submitted.

-omitted-

13

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

2

SectionCountermeasures to Disasters at
Facilities for Hazardous Materials☞ Japanese Original P.97

(1) Number of Fire Accidents at Facilities for
Hazardous Materials and the Damage
The number of fire accidents that occurred at facilities
for hazardous materials in 2017 came to 195 (20 lessthan the previous year), the amount of damages came to2,668 million yen (an increase of 1,391 million yen yearon-year), and they resulted in 2 deaths (the same as theprevious year) and 51 people injured (a decrease of 2
people year-on-year). (Fig. 1-2-2)
Moreover, looking at the number of fire accidents that
occurred by type of facility for hazardous materials reveals
that the majority occurred at general outlets, followed bymanufacturing facilities and fuel supply depots in thatorder. The total for these 3 facility classifications accountfor 98.1% of the total accidents. (Fig. 1-2-3)
Conversely, 89 of the 195 fire accidents (or 45.6% of
the total) were cases where a hazardous material served as
the causative agent for the fire. (Fig. 1-2-4)

Current Status and Recent Trends in Disasters
at Facilities for Hazardous Materials
Accidents at facilities for hazardous materials (see P.18
*2) are broadly classified into fires (including explosions)and spills of hazardous materials (see P.18 *1). The numberof fire and spillage accidents at facilities for hazardous
materials have been trending upward since 1994. In 2017
(January 1 - December 31, 2017), there were 195 fires and369 spills for a total of 564 accidents. This represents a
decrease of 7 accidents compared with the previous year,
and accidents are still holding steady at a high level. (Fig.
1-2-1)

1. Fire Accidents
The number of fire accidents that occurred at facilities
for hazardous materials in 2017 rose by roughly 1.8-times
compared with the 107 such accidents in 1993, which had
the lowest number of fire accidents since 1989, despite thefact that the number of facilities for hazardous materials
has decreased. Accidents attributable to human factors
such as inadequate maintenance and inadequate operating
checks account for the majority of the primary causes forthese. However, accidents caused by physical factors suchas deterioration such as corrosion fatigue are also on an
upswing.

(2) Causative Factors behind the Fire Accidents
at Facilities for Hazardous Materials
A look at the causative factors behind the fire accidents
at facilities for hazardous materials that occurred in 2017
reveals that human factors accounted for 48.2%; physicalfactors accounted for 35.4%; and the total for othercauses, unknown, and under investigation came to 16.4%.
(Fig. 1-2-5)
When viewed by ignition source, those ignited by hightemperature surface heat were most common at 35 (anFig. 1-2-1 Trends in the number of fire and spillage accidents at facilities for hazardous materials(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous Materials”.
2 In order to get a grasp of trends regarding the number of accidents that occur in each year, accidents are listed by splitting them up into thenumber of accidents caused by earthquakes with a seismic intensity of six-lower or greater (since September 1996 this was changed to aseismic intensity of six or greater) and the number attributable to other causes.

14

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Fig. 1-2-2 Number of fire accidents at facilities for hazardous materials and the damage(Notes)

Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous Materials”.

Fig. 1-2-3 Number of fire accidents by type of
facility for hazardous materials

Fig. 1-2-4 Number of fire accidents by causative
agent for the fire

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.         2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

increase of 5 year-on-year), followed by 24 from ignition
due to overheating (a decrease of 3 year-on-year) and 22
from static electricity sparks (a decrease of 6 year-onyear). (Fig. 1-2-6)(4) Fire Accidents during the Transportation ofHazardous Materials
In 2017, 1 fire accidents during the transportation of
hazardous materials occurred (a decrease of 1 year onyear).

(3) Fire Accidents at Unauthorized Facilities
The number of fire accidents that occurred at facilities
which were supposed to receive authorization as facilities
for hazardous materials yet which failed to do so (hereafterreferred to as “unauthorized facilities”) in 2017 came to 1
(a decrease of 7 year-on-year), and they left 0 people dead(the same as the previous year) and 0 injured (a decreaseof 4 year-on-year).

(5) Fire Accidents during the Temporary Storage
or HandlingContinuing on from 2016, no fire accidents during the
temporary storage or handling of hazardous materials
occurred in 2017.

2. Spillage Accidents
The number of spillage accidents involving hazardous

15

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Fig. 1-2-5 Number of fire accidents by causative
factorFig. 1-2-6 Number of fire accidents by ignition
source(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.         2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

materials that occurred at facilities for hazardous materials
in 2017 rose by roughly 2.1-times compared with the 174
such accidents in 1994, which had the lowest number of
spillage accidents since 1989, despite the fact that the
number of facilities for hazardous materials has decreased.
As for the primary causative factors, accidents attributableto human factors and those caused by physical factors both
occur in large numbers. However, of those accidents causedby physical factors, the number caused by age-related
deterioration, such as corrosion fatigue, are on the rise.

materials that occurred at facilities for hazardous materials(which did not turn into fires) in 2017 came to 369 (anincrease of 13 year-on-year), the amount of damages cameto 434 million yen (an increase of 163 million yen yearon-year), and they 0 people dead (the same as the previousyear) but left 29 people injured (an increase of 1 people
year-on-year). (Fig. 1-2-7)
Moreover, looking at the number of spillage accidents
that occurred by type of facility for hazardous materials
reveals that the majority occurred at general outlets,
followed by outdoor storage tank facilities and mobiletank storage facilities in that order. (Fig. 1-2-8)
Conversely, 98.6% of the number of spillage accidents
at facilities for hazardous materials involved spills of(1) Number of Spillage Accidents at Facilities for
Hazardous Materials and the Damage
The number of spillage accidents involving hazardous

Fig. 1-2-7 Number of spillage accidents at facilities for hazardous materials and the damage(Nots) Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous Materials”.

16Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Fig. 1-2-8 Number of spillage accidents by typeof facility for hazardous materials

Fig. 1-2-9 Number of spillage accidents bymaterial spilled(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.         2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the   totals may not be consistent.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the   totals may not be consistent.

Fig. 1-2-10 Number of spillage accidents by
causative factor

Class 4 hazardous materials, which consist primarilyof petroleum products. Viewing this item type reveals
that Class 1 petroleums (gasoline, etc.) accounts formost of these, followed by Class 2 petroleums (light oil,etc.), Class 3 petroleums (heavy oil, etc.), and Class 4
petroleums (gear oil, etc.) in that order. (Fig. 1-2-9)(2) Causative Factors behind the Spillage
Accidents at Facilities for Hazardous Materials
A look at the causative factors behind the spillage
accidents at facilities for hazardous materials that occurredin 2017 reveals that human factors accounted for 33.9%,
physical factors accounted for 55.0% and the total forother causes, unknown, and under investigation came to
11.1%. When viewed by causative factor, those caused bydeterioration such as corrosion fatigue were most common
at 121 (a decrease of 14 year-on-year), followed by 42
from inadequate operating checks (an increase of 1 yearon-year) and 42 damage (an increase of 19 year-on-year).
(Fig. 1-2-10)(3) Spillage Accidents at Unauthorized Facilities
The number of spillage accidents that occurred atunauthorized facilities in 2017 came to 3 (a decreaseof 3 year-on-year), with no casualties occurring as acontinuation from 2016.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the   totals may not be consistent.

(4) Spillage Accidents during the Transportationof Hazardous Materials
The number of spillage accidents that occurred during
the transportation of hazardous materials in 2017 came to13 (an increase of 2 year-on-year), and while there were
no deaths as a continuation from 2016, 5 people were
injured (an increase of 3 year-on-year).

Current Status of Hazardous Materials Administration
1. Regulations on Hazardous Materials(1) Regulatory Structure for Hazardous Materials
The Fire Service Act designates substances withproperties such as: (1) Carrying a significant risk of
causing a fire, (2) Carrying a significant risk of spreadinga fire once one starts, and (3) Being difficult to extinguishwhen a fire does break out, as “hazardous materials.”*1
Enacting safety regulations for the storage, handling(5) Spillage Accidents during the Temporary
Storage or HandlingContinuing from 2016, no spillage accidents during
the temporary storage or handling of hazardous materials
occurred in 2017.

17

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

designated quantities (the quantity at which authorizationis necessary to store or handle a material as designatedby the Fire Service Act) cannot be stored or handled at
locations other than facilities for hazardous materials.
Persons attempting to establish a facility for hazardous
materials must ensure it is in compliance with thestandards regarding its location, structure, andequipment specified by law, and receive authorizationfrom the municipal mayor for this.
The transportation of hazardous materials must
be carried out in accordance with the standards for
ensuring safety specified in law, regardless of how
large or small the quantity is.
Standards for the storage and handling of hazardous
materials in volumes less than the designated quantities
are to be established via municipal ordinances.

and transportation of these hazardous materials has been
posited as a move that will prevent fires; protect the lives,
health, and property of the public from fires; and mitigate
the damage from fires.
Regulations concerning hazardous materials havebeen instituted in a uniform manner throughout Japanthrough the partial revisions to the Fire Service Act of1959 and by enacting cabinet orders on regulations forhazardous materials. Since then, efforts like revising therelevant legislation to ensure that it contains content likeestablishing necessary and sufficient technical standards
that are safer for facilities for hazardous materials*2 havesequentially been carried out in striving to thoroughly
ensure safety at such facilities. An overview of theregulations on hazardous materials is shown below. (Fig.
1-2-11)
Hazardous materials of volumes at or above theFig. 1-2-11 Regulatory structure
Storage andhandling

For quantities at or over those listed in Appended Table III of
the Cabinet Order on Control of Hazardous Materials

For quantities less than those listed in Appended Table III of
the Cabinet Order on Control of Hazardous Materials
Transport*1

Regulated via the Fire Service Act as facilities forhazardous materials
Regulated via the Fire Service Act as temporary storage
or handling in the event it is stored or handled on an
extraordinary basis
Regulated via municipal ordinances

Regulated via the Fire Service Act regardless of quantity

Hazardous materials: The Fire Service Act (Article 2-7) defines them as such: “The term ‘hazardous materials’ means the materials listed in theNames of Items column of Appended Table 1, which have the properties listed in the Nature column of said table according to the Categories
specified in said table.” Moreover, the properties of each hazardous material are defined for each type in the “Remarks” to Appended Table I of theFire Service Act.
[Hazardous materials listed in Appended Table I and their characteristics]
Category

NatureProperties

Representative substances

Category 1 Oxidizing solids

These are solids that do not burn themselves, but which have the property of
causing other substances to oxidize powerfully. When mixed with inflammablematerials, they degrade as a result of heat, impacts, or friction, and give rise to
extremely intense combustion.

Sodium chlorate, potassium nitrate,
ammonium nitrate

Category 2 Combustible solids

These are solids that easily ignite from fire or solids that easily catch fire at
relatively low temperatures (less than 40℃). They easily catch fire, are quick to
combust, and are difficult to extinguish.

Red phosphorous, sulfur, ironpowder, solid alcohol, lacquer putty

Spontaneously combustible
These substances spontaneously combust when exposed to air, or either combust Sodium, alkyl aluminum, yellow
Category 3 substances and water-reactive
or generate combustible gasses when they come into contact with water.
phosphorous
substances*2

Category 4 Inflammable liquids

These are liquids that are inflammable.

Gasoline, kerosene, light oil, heavy
oil, acetone, methanol

Category 5 Self-reactive substances

These are solids or liquids that generate large quantities of heat at relatively low
temperatures or promote explosive reactions as a result of thermolysis and otherreactions.

Nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene,hydroxylamine

Category 6 Oxidizing liquids

These are liquids that do not burn themselves, but which have the property ofpromoting the combustion of other flammable substances they are mixed with.

Perchloric acid, hydrogen peroxide,
nitric acid

Facilities for hazardous materials: These are facilities that have received authorization from municipal mayors and similar officials as facilities that
store or handle hazardous materials at or above the quantities specified in the Fire Service Act. As described below, they are classified into three
types: manufacturing facilities, storage facilities, and handling facilities
Classification
Manufacturing facilities

Storage facilities

Handling facilities

Details
Facilities that manufacture hazardous materials (Ex.: Chemical plants, oil refineries)

Indoor storage facilities

Store hazardous materials inside buildings

Outdoor storage tanks

Store hazardous materials in tanks located outdoors (Ex.: oil tanks)

Indoor storage tanks

Store hazardous materials in tanks located indoors

Underground storage tanks

Store hazardous materials in tanks located below the ground’s surface

Simple storage tanks

Stores hazardous materials in small tanks less than 600 L

Transfer storage tanks

Store hazardous materials in tanks that have been affixed to vehicles (Ex.: Tanker trucks)

Outdoor storage facilities

Store certain hazardous materials in containers in outdoor locations

Fuel supply depots

Handling facilities that fuel vehicles and the like (Ex.: Gas stations)

Sales handling facilities

Stores that sell containers full of hazardous materials

Transfer handling facilities

Handling facilities that transfer hazardous materials through pipes (Ex.: Pipelines)

General outlets

Handling facilities other than the three types of handling facilities above (Ex.: Boilers, private power generators)

18

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-2-1 Trends in the number of facilities for hazardous material
Year

Facility
Manufacturing facilities

2014
(A)

2015

2017
(B)

2016

(As of March of each year)
Rate of change (%)

2018
(C)

(C/A-1)×100(C/B-1)×100

5,154

5,106

5,088

5,096

5,093

△1.2

△0.1

Indoor storage facilities

50,88850,55350,20150,02349,811△2.1△0.4

Outdoor storage tanks

64,20663,09362,12061,12460,360△6.0△1.2

Indoor storage tanks

11,296

11,021

10,802

10,586

10,386△8.1△1.9

Underground storage tanks

87,83185,49983,341

81,41779,723△9.2△2.1

Simple storage tanks

1,060

1,019

1,002

986

961

△9.3

△2.5

Transfer storage tanks

67,66567,49867,17066,73365,806△2.7△1.4

Outdoor storage facilities

10,59810,351

10,213

9,994

9,832

△7.2

△1.6

Subtotal

293,544

289,034

284,849

280,863

276,879

△5.7

△1.4

Fuel supply depots

63,22262,26961,40160,58559,715△5.5△1.4

Class 1 sales handling facilities

1,245

1,209

1,178

1,138

1,107

△11.1

△2.7

Handling Class 2 sales handling facilities
facilities Transfer handling facilities

529

518

510

499

493

△6.8

△1.2

1,142

1,127

1,111

1,098

1,084

△5.1

△1.3

Storagefacilities

General outlets

63,70562,766

62,097

61,37260,867△4.5△0.8

Subtotal

129,843

127,889

126,297

124,692

123,266

△5.1

△1.1

428,541

422,029

416,234

410,651405,238

△5.4

△1.3

Total

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so in some cases the totals may not be consistent.

(2) Current Status of Facilities for Hazardous
Materials
A. Number of Facilities for Hazardous Materials

the maximum storage quantity or the maximum handlingquantity) of the total number of facilities for hazardous
materials as of March 31, 2018, those facilities forhazardous materials that hold 50-times the designatedquantities or less account for 75.7% of the total. (Fig. 1-213)

The total number of facilities for hazardous materials(number of facilities for construction permits) as of March
31, 2018 came to 405,238. (Table 1-2-1)
A look at the share of facilities by their classification
reveals that storage facilities account for the majority at
68.3%, followed by handling facilities at 30.4% and thenmanufacturing facilities at 1.3%. (Fig. 1-2-12)
B. Composition of Facilities for Hazardous
Materials by Size
As for the number of facilities by size (according to(3) Hazardous Material Engineers
Hazardous material engineers are classified into
three types. Class A engineers can handle all hazardous
materials, Class B engineers can handle types of hazardous
materials for which they have obtained approval, andClass C engineers can handle designated hazardous
materials from among the type 4. When hazardous

Fig. 1-2-12 Number of facilities for hazardous
materials by classification

Fig. 1-2-13 Composition rate of facilities forhazardous materials by size

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on Regulation Work ofHazardous Materials”.        2 The factors are multiples obtained dividing the largest
quantities stored or the largest quantities handled by the
specified quantities stipulated in Appended Table Ⅲ of the
Cabinet Order on Control of Hazardous Materials.
             3 The second decimal places were rounded up, so in somecases the totals may not align.

19Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters(4) Safety Systems at Offices
As of March 31, 2018, the total number of businessestablishments that owned facilities for hazardous
materials came to 185,419 throughout Japan. In an effort toestablish safety systems at business establishments, it has
been mandated that the owners of facilities for hazardous
materials that store or handle hazardous materials at or
above certain quantities must carry out certain obligations.
These include appointing hazardous materials security
superintendents, appointing safety officers for facilities
for hazardous materials (1,653 business establishments),
and preparing fire and disaster prevention rules (44,304
business establishments). Moreover, it has been mandated
that said business establishments that own certain facilities
for hazardous materials and that store or handle hazardous
materials at or above certain quantities must establish
fire defense organizations for self-protection (74 businessestablishments) and appoint hazardous material safety
supervising managers (198 business establishments).

material engineers or someone else handles hazardous
materials at facilities for hazardous materials, a Class A
or Class B hazardous material engineer must be present toensure safety.
As of March 31 2018, the (cumulative) total numberof people who have passed the hazardous material
engineer test since the hazardous material engineer
system was launched came to 9,442,416 people. They
play a significant role in ensuring safety at facilities forhazardous materials.
A. Hazardous Material Engineer Tests
Hazardous material engineer tests were held 3,404
times throughout Japan in FY2017 (a decrease of 4 yearon-year). They were taken by 381,403 people (a decreaseof 7,462 people year-on-year), with 160,378 people
passing (an increase of 15,362 people year-on-year) foran average pass rate of roughly 42.1% (an increase of 4.8
points year-on-year). (Fig. 1-2-14)
Viewing the situation by test type and category reveals
that 67.3% of the people took the test for Class B, Type4, followed by Class C at 8.7% of the total. These twotest types accounted for 76.0% of the total. The numberof people who passed these two test types accounted for
65.5% of the total.
B. Safety Training Courses
As a general rule, the hazardous material engineers
engaged in handling hazardous materials at facilities forhazardous materials must take a training course on safety
for handling hazardous materials offered by prefectural
governors (safety training courses) within each threeyear period (starting from April 1, 2012, within three
years from the first April 1 since the date on which thehazardous material engineer license was issued or the datethey took the safety training course).
In FY2017, safety training courses were held a total of
1,460 times throughout Japan (a decrease of 7 times yearon-year), and were attended by 170,287 people (a decreaseof 7,715 people year-on-year). (Table 1-2-2)(5) Safety Inspections
It has been mandated that the owners of outdoor storage
tanks and transfer handling facilities at or over a certain
size must undergo inspections on the safety of facilities
for hazardous materials performed by municipal mayors
and similar officials (safety inspections) at regular fixedintervals according to factors like the facilities’ size.
In FY2017, 225 safety inspections were performed, of
which 220 involved outdoor storage tanks and 5 involved
transfer handling facilities.
(6) Onsite Inspections and Orders
Municipal mayors and similar officials can perform
onsite inspections on facilities for hazardous materials
and other such facilities to ensure that their installation,
construction, and establishment of equipment, as well
as storage or handling of hazardous materials, are incompliance with the standards established in the Fire

Fig. 1-2-14 Holding of tests for hazardous material engineers(Note) Prepared based on “The Statistical Table for the Testing and Certification of Hazardous Material Engineer” and “The Fire Protection Engineers by
the Japan Fire Engineering Qualification Center”.

20Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-2-2 Number of attendees at safety training courses for hazardous material engineers and a
breakdown of this by type of hazardous material engineer certifications(As of March 31 of each FY)
Category

FY

No. ofattendees

Class AClass B
Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

SubtotalClass CTotal
by typeNo. of training
courses2013

164,296

13,703

8,969

9,655

7,948

148,714

9,367

10,278

194,931

24,910233,544

1,374

2014

162,977

14,002

9,032

10,046

8,294

146,800

9,476

10,388

194,036

27,502

235,540

1,363

2015

178,843

14,2809,507

10,554

9,008

152,324

10,362

11,248203,003

25,473242,756

1,407

2016

178,002

14,182

10,702

11,581

10,129153,091

11,452

11,991

208,946

24,660247,788

1,467

2017

170,287

14,21910,536

11,511

9,739

142,322

11,125

11,664

196,897

23,815234,931

1,460

Fig. 1-2-15 Trends in orders for measures related to facilities for hazardous materials(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Regulation work of Hazardous Materials”.

Service Act. These can be carried out when said official
deems it necessary to prevent fires that arise consequent
upon the storage or handling of hazardous materials.
In FY2017, onsite inspections were carried out atotal of 204,347 times at 183,832 facilities for hazardous
materials. In cases where violations of the Fire Service
Act were discovered as a result of the onsite inspections,these municipal mayors and other officials can issue avariety of different orders to the owners of said facilities
for hazardous materials. These include orders to comply
with regulations on storage and handling, orders to takemeasures related to standards for installing, constructing,or establishing equipment, and more.
In FY2017 municipal mayors or similar officials issued
such orders to take measures in 254 cases. (Fig. 1-2-15)

Transport and Tourism)must formulate basic plans andlisten to the opinions of the Minister of Internal Affairs
and Communications regarding business licenses inorder to ensure safety pursuant to the Petroleum Pipeline
Business Act enacted in 1972. What is more, the Ministerof Internal Affairs and Communications provides licenses
for construction plans, performs completion inspections,provides licenses for safety regulations, performs safety
inspections, and more.
The facilities to which the Petroleum Pipeline BusinessAct apply currently only include the pipelines transporting
airplane fuel to Narita International Airport, with otherpipelines regulated as transfer handling facilities under theFire Service Act.
(2) Ensuring the Safety of Petroleum Pipelines
Safety inspections are carried out periodically on thepipelines transporting airplane fuel to Narita International
Airport pursuant to the Petroleum Pipeline Business Act.
In addition, the business operators must do everything
they possibly can to ensure safety, such as having
maintenance and inspections carried out in accordancewith the technical standards established by law.

2. Securing Petroleum Pipelines(1) Safety Regulations for the Petroleum Pipeline
Business
Regarding those petroleum pipelines which are used
to transport petroleum in response to general demand,the competent minister (The Minister of Economy, Tradeand Industry and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure,-omitted-

21

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

3

SectionCountermeasures to Disasters at
Petroleum Industrial Complexes☞ Japanese Original P.107

that have occurred reveals that these had been on adownswing since the enactment of the Act on thePrevention of Disaster in Petroleum Industrial Complexes
and Other Petroleum Facilities. However, in recent years
they have been trending at a high level of around 250
accidents a year.
The number of casualties from general accidents that
occurred in 2017 came to 0 death and 15 injuries.
What is more, looking at the causes behind general
accidents reveals that corrosion and other types ofdeterioration accounted for 62 (24.5%), while inadequate
maintenance accounted for 40 (15.8%) and inadequate
operation for 33 (13.1%).

Current Status and Recent Trends in Disasters
at Petroleum Industrial Complexes
1. Number of Accidents and Damage
The total number of accidents that occurred at specified
business establishments *1 in petroleum industrial
complexes and other special disaster prevention areas(hereafter referred to as “special disaster prevention
areas”) in 2017 came to 252 as same as the previous
year. In addition, four earthquakes with a maximum
seismic intensity of just over 5 occurred during 2017, butthere were no accidents from earthquakes and tsunamis(hereafter referred to as “earthquake-induced accidents”),
all of 252 accidents were not earthquake-induced(hereafter referred to as “general accidents”). (Fig. 1-3-1)
Looking at this by type of accident reveals there were
130 fires (an increase of 10 year-on-year), 1 explosion(a decrease of 5 year-on-year), 115 leaks (a decrease of
6 year-on-year), and 6 other accidents (an increase of 1
year-on-year). (Table 1-3-1)
Looking at trends in the number of general accidents

2. Characteristics of Accidents(1) Number of General Accidents by Type ofSpecified Business Establishment
Looking at the number of general accidents by typeof specified business establishments reveals that Class 1
business establishments accounted for 203 (185 of whichwere at layout business establishments*2), which accountfor 80.6% of the total. (Table 1-3-2)

Fig. 1-3-1 Trends in the number of accidents that occurred at petrochemical complexes(Note) Prepared based on “The Overview of Accidents at Specified Business Establishments in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Special
Disaster Prevention Areas(2017)”.
*1*2

Specified business establishments: These refer to Class 1 business establishments (business establishments where 10,000 kiloliters of petroleum
or more are stored or handled, or where 2 million cubic meters of high-pressure gas or more are processed) and Class 2 business establishments(business establishments where 1,000 kiloliters of petroleum or more are stored or handled, or where 200,000 cubic meters of high-pressure gas ormore are processed).
Layout business establishments: Business establishments from among Class 1 business establishments that handle both petroleum and highpressure gases. Said business establishments are subject to layout regulations stipulating that their sites must be segmented off into six types ofsections according to their purpose, with these including manufacturing facility sections and storage facility sections (see P.105).

22

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Table 1-3-1 Occurrence of Accidents at Petrochemical Complexes(During each year)

Accidents in 2017
Type

Fires
Explosions
Leaks
DamageOther

Accident not corresponding
to above
Total

General accidents

Accidents in 2018
Earthquake-induced
accidents

General accidents

Earthquake-induced
accidents

130

130

−

120

120

−

(51.6%)(51.6%)(−％)(47.6%)(48.0%)

(−％)

1

1

−

6

6

−

(0.4%)(0.4%)(−％)(2.4%)(2.4%)

(−％)

115

115

−

121

119

2

(45.6%)(45.6%)(−％)(48.0%)(48.0%)(100.0%)

6

6

−

5

5

−

(2.4%)(2.4%)(－％)(2.0%)(2.0%)

(－％)

−

−

−

−

−

−

(−％)

(−％)

(−％)

(−％)

(−％)

(−％)

252

252

0

252

250

2

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Overview of Accidents at Specified Business Establishments in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Special
Disaster Prevention Areas in 2017”.
2 Of the accidents that occurred in 2016, two were earthquake-induced accidents.

Table 1-3-2 Number of General Accidents by Type of Specified Business Establishment
Type of business establishment
Class 1 business establishments

No. of businessestablishments(A)

No. of accidents(Ｂ)

Share of the total No. of
accidents(%)(During 2017)

No. of accidents per businessestablishments
(B/A)

353

203

80.6

0.58

Layout business establishments

168

185

73.5

1.10

Other business establishment

185

18

7.1

0.10

326

49

19.4

0.15

679

252

100.0

0.37

Class 2 business establishments
Total(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Overview of Accidents at Specified Business Establishments in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Special
Disaster Prevention Areas in 2017”.
2 The number of business establishments is current as of April 1, 2017.

(2) Number of General Accidents at Specified
Business Establishments by Business Category
As for the number of general accidents at specified
business establishments by business category, there
were 71 chemical industry-related accidents (28.2%),
71 petroleum and coal products manufacturing industryrelated accidents (28.2%), 64 steel industry-related
accidents (25.3%), and 16 electrical industry-related
accidents (6.3%).

1. Current Status of Special Disaster
Prevention Areas
As of April 1, 2018, 83 areas in which large quantitiesof petroleum or high pressure gas at or above certain
quantities have been designated as special disasterprevention areas in 102 municipalities in 32 prefectures
based on the Act on the Prevention of Disaster inPetroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum
Facilities. (Fig. 1-3-2) These special disaster prevention
areas are under the jurisdiction of 90 fire departments.
The “Tokyo International Airport Area” was designatedas a special disaster prevention area on August 31, 2018,
by A Cabinet Order that partially revises a Cabinet Order
designating a special disaster prevention area such as anoil complex.
What is more, 672 business establishments serve as
specified business establishments subject to the regulationsof the Act on the Prevention of Disaster in Petroleum
Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities. Of
these, 344 are Class 1 business establishments (including
160 layout business establishments) and 328 are Class 2
business establishments.

Current Status of Damage Countermeasures
at Petroleum Industrial Complexes
In order to prevent disasters from occurring andspreading at special disaster prevention areas, wherelarge quantities of petroleum and high pressure gasses areconcentrated, efforts are made to establish comprehensive
disaster prevention structures for these. This includes byapplying the various regulations from the Fire Service Act,the High Pressure Gas Safety Act, the Industrial Safety
and Health Act, the Act on Prevention of Marine Pollution
and Maritime Disasters, and others, as well as by applying
the regulations from the Act on the Prevention of Disasterin Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum
Facilities regarding issues like the arrangements ofthe various facility sections and disaster prevention
equipment.

2. Disaster Prevention Structure at
Prefectures and Firefighting Agencies(1) Establishing Disaster Prevention Schemes
The prefectures that contain special disaster prevention

23

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

areas are establishing disaster prevention structures in acomprehensive and systematic manner based on the Act
on the Prevention of Disaster in Petroleum Industrial
Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities. This is being
done through concerted efforts together with relevant
agencies centering primarily on disaster prevention
headquarters at petroleum industrial complexes and otherlocations (hereafter referred to as “disaster prevention
headquarters”).
The disaster prevention headquarters carry out
operations such as preparing disaster prevention plansfor petroleum industrial complexes and other locations(hereafter referred to as “disaster prevention plans”),
liaising and coordinating with relevant agencies whendisasters strike, and promoting research studies on disasterprevention.

Service Teams, and carries out research and development
on sophisticated firefighting robots.

3. Disaster Prevention Structure atSpecified Business Establishments(1) Establishing Disaster Prevention
Organizations for Self-defense
The Act on the Prevention of Disaster in Petroleum
Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities
mandates that those operators that establish specified
business establishments that contain special disasterprevention areas (specified business operators) must set up
disaster prevention organizations for self-defense, prepare
fire protection equipment, appoint disaster protection
managers, formulate disaster prevention regulations, andso forth. It also stipulates that they are to establish joint
disaster prevention associations,*3 wide-area joint disasterprevention associations,*4 and special disaster prevention
area councils for petroleum industrial complexes and thelike (hereafter referred to as “area councils”)*5.
As of April 1, 2018, disaster prevention organizations
for self-defense had been established at every specified
business establishment (672 business establishments), and73 joint disaster prevention associations, 11 wide-area
joint disaster prevention associations, and 55 area councils
had also been established. These disaster prevention
organizations for self-defense, joint disaster prevention
associations, and wide-area joint disaster prevention
associations are equipped with 5,420 disaster prevention
personnel, 84 large chemical fire trucks, 45 large, elevatedwater trucks, 129 foam solution transport vehicles, 116large, elevated chemical water trucks, 24 high capacity
foam cannons, 24 oil recovery vessels, and more.
What is more, the law states that these specified
business establishments must establish embankments
to prevent oil spills, outdoor water supply equipment
for firefighting, and emergency notification systems
according to their size. As of April 1, 2018, 140 businessestablishments had installed embankments to prevent oil
spills, 497 had installed outdoor water supply equipment
for firefighting, and 463 had installed emergency
notification systems, respectively.

(2) Emergency Responses when Disasters Occur
When disasters occur in special disaster prevention
areas, emergency responses consist of initiatives carriedout in a concerted manner by the prefecture, municipality,
related agencies, specified business operators andothers under the leadership of the disaster prevention
headquarters, as stipulated by the disaster prevention plan.
When disasters occur, firefighting agencies carry out
defense activities, give instructions regarding the activities
of disaster prevention organizations for self-defense, andcarry out other important roles.
(3) Maintaining the Firefighting Capabilities
of Municipalities Containing Special Disaster
Prevention Areas
There is the concern that disasters that occur within
special disaster prevention areas will be large in scaleand of a specialized type. Therefore, it is important tomaintain firefighting capabilities in order to respond to
said disasters.
As of April 1, 2018, 69 large chemical firetrucks, 56
large elevated water trucks, 89 foam solution transport
vehicles, 28 large elevated chemical water trucks,
3,030kL of 3% fire-extinguishing foam, 746kL of 6%
fire-extinguishing foam, 23 fireboats, and other such
equipment had been allocated to firefighting agencies
in municipalities containing special disaster prevention
areas. Likewise, 27 foam solution storage facilities, 5portable foam cannons, and other such equipment has
been allocated to prefectures containing special disasterprevention areas in order to supplement their municipal
firefighting capabilities, as well as enhance and strengthen
the disaster prevention structures of said special disasterprevention areas.
In addition, the FDMA has instituted the Emergency
Response Unit for Energy/Industrial Disaster (“Dragon
Hyper Command Unit”) structure under National Fire*3*4*5(2) Equipping High Capacity Foam System
During the Tokachi-Oki Earthquake that occurred in
September 2003, damage that included damage to and oilleaks from numerous outdoor storage tanks occurred atan oil refining business establishment in Tomakomai City.
In addition, approximately 54 hours after the earthquake
struck all of the floating roof outdoor storage tanks caught
fire when the floating roof sank.
Before this disaster struck, it had been assumed thatthe fires that would occur at floating roof outdoor storage

Joint disaster prevention associations: Disaster prevention associations jointly established by the specified business operators involved with specified
business establishments containing a single special disaster prevention area in order to carry out some of the tasks of the disaster prevention
organization for self-defense.
Wide-area joint disaster prevention associations: Joint disaster prevention associations covering a wide area jointly established by specified business
operators involved with specified business establishments containing areas in which there are two or more special disaster prevention areas to carryout tasks related to disaster prevention activities by using large volume foam cannons and other equipment.
Special disaster prevention area councils for petroleum industrial complexes and the like: These are councils established with the objective of having
specified business operators related to specified business establishments located in a single special disaster prevention area come together to jointly
draft independent standards related to preventing disasters from occurring and carrying out joint disaster prevention drills.

24

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Fig. 1-3-2 Designation Status for Special Disaster Prevention Areas(As of April 1, 2018)

Special disasterprevention areas

No.

No.

Special disasterprevention areas

Special disasterprevention areas

No.

No.

Special disasterprevention areas

No.

Special disasterprevention areas

1

Kushiro14

North Keiyo coast

34

Kinuura50

Etajima68

Ainoura2

Tomakomai

15

Central Keiyo coast

35

Port of Nagoya coast

51

Nomi

69

Kamigoto

2-2Ishikari

16

South Keiyo coast

36

Yokkaichi coast

52

lwakuni/Otake

70

Yatsushiro

3

Muroran19

Keihin coast

37

Owase

53

Kudamatsu

71

Oita

4

Hokuto20

Negishi coast

38

Osaka North Port

54

Shunan71-2 Sendai

4-2

Shiriuchi

21

Port of Niigata (East)

39

Sakai Senboku coast

55

Ube/Onoda

71-3 Kushikino

4-3

Mutsuogawara

22

Port of Niigata (West)40

Kansai International

57

Mutsurejima71-4 Kagoshima

5

Aomori23

Naoetsu

41

Misaki

58

Anan

72

6

Hachinohe24

Toyama

42

Kobe

59

Bannosu

72-2 Shibushi

6-2

Kuji

25

Fuchu

43

Higashiharima

60

Niihama

73

Henza

7

Shiogama

26

Shinminato

44

Himeji coast

61

Namikata

75

Onaha

8

Sendai27

Fushiki

44-2 Ako

62

Kikuma9

Oga

28

Port of Nanao,Mimuro

45

Northern coast in north
Wakayama

63

Matsuyama

64

Buzen

65

Kitakyushu

10

Akita

29

Kanazawa Port north46

Central coast in north
Wakayama

11

Sakata30

Fukui coast

47

Southern coast in north
Wakayama

11-2 Hirono

31

Shimizu

47-2 Gobo65-2 Shirashima

12

Iwaki

32

Atsumi48

Mizushima coast

66

Fukuoka13

Kashima coast

33

Tahara49

Fukuyama/Sasaoka

67

Fukushima

25

Kiire

*83areasChapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters

activities. In addition, the disaster prevention personnel
responsible for said activities require extensive knowledge
and skills.
The FDMA details the disaster prevention activities
of disaster prevention organizations for self-defense
and others in reports like “the Introduction to
Disaster Prevention Activities for Disaster Prevention
Organizations for Self-defense”, “Guidelines for
Education and Drills for Disaster Prevention Personnel”,“Disaster Prevention Activities Using High Capacity
Foam Systems”, and more. In FY2017 the FDMA issued
standardized educational texts and enhancing both humanresource development for disaster prevention personnel
and disaster prevention structures.

4. Layout Regulations for Business
Establishments(1) Layout Regulations
Just regulating each individual facility at the businessestablishments is not enough and other measures must
be taken by business establishments on the whole fromthe perspective of mitigating damage. Because disasters
are particularly likely to spread at layout businessestablishments that handle large amount of petroleum andhigh-pressure gases.
Therefore, the Act on the Prevention of Disaster inPetroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum
Facilities mandates that layout business establishments
must establish certain standards related to establishingfacility areas on their sites and ensuring passageways.
It also mandates that in cases like where businessestablishments are newly established or change theirfacility area layouts, they must provide notification of theplans for this. It also stipulates that they must undergo
confirmation after these have been completed to determine
whether or not they are consistent with the relevant plans.

Spraying drills through the use of the high capacity foam systemtanks would be ring fires.*6 But out of consideration for
the risk of earthquakes occurring in Japan, the assumption
for a disaster had to be that a fire would spread to all of
the tanks.
In light of this, the Act on the Prevention of Disasterin Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum
Facilities was revised in June 2004 and the order forthe enforcement of this law was revised in November
2005 to strengthen and enhance disaster prevention
structures. Furthermore, it was mandated that specified
business establishments must equip themselves withhigh capacity foam systems, which were a new type offirefighting equipment then, by November 2008 in orderto respond to fires that fully envelop floating roof outdoor
storage tanks. High capacity foam systems are a type offirefighting equipment that consist of high capacity foam
cannons, feed pumps, foam mixers, and hoses. They havethe capacity to spray more than 10,000 liters of foam per
minute. A single high capacity foam cannon is capableof spraying anywhere from three to ten times as muchfoam as a conventional three-part set (consisting of a large
chemical firetruck, large, elevated water truck, and a foam
solution transport vehicle).
At present, high capacity foam systems with thecapacity to spray anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 liters
per minute are stationed at 12 wide-area joint disasterprevention associations throughout Japan.

(2) Status for New Establishment and Other
Notifications
The number of notifications for new establishments ofor changes to layout business establishments in FY2017
came to 8, while the number of confirmations in the same
year came to 8. (Fig. 1-3-3)

5. Other Disaster Countermeasures(1) Establishing Disaster Response Structure
The Act on the Prevention of Disaster in Petroleum
Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities statesthat specified business operators must report to firefighting
agencies or locations specified by municipal mayors
immediately when any abnormal phenomena occurs.*7 It
also mandates that disaster prevention organizations for
self-defense, joint disaster prevention associations, andwide-area joint disaster prevention associations must takethe necessary measures in order to prevent disasters fromoccurring and spreading.

(3) Enhancing Disaster Prevention Structure for
Self-defense
The fact that petroleum industrial complexes handle
large quantities of hazardous materials and the likeand have equipment that is complexly interconnected
makes disaster prevention activities difficult, and as suchcarries the risk that this will result in enormous damage.
Therefore, when such disasters occur, disaster prevention
organizations for self-defense and joint disaster prevention
associations must carry out precise disaster prevention*6*7

Ring fires: Fires that occur at floating roof outdoor storage tanks all the way around the tank in the gap between the floating roof and the tank’s sidepanel before spreading out in a ring pattern.
Abnormal phenomena: Fires, explosions, spills of oil and other substances, and other such abnormal phenomena at specified businessestablishments.

26

Chapter 1 Current Status and Challenges for Disasters
Fig. 1-3-3 Status for the notification and confirmation of new business establishments subject tolayout regulations
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Notification

Confirmation

FY2013

Notification

Confirmation

Notification

FY2014

Confirmation

FY2015

Notification

Confirmation

FY2016

Notification

Confirmation

FY2017(Notes) 1 Prepared based on the number of notifications issued pursuant to the regulations of Article 5 and Article 7 of the Act on the Prevention ofDisaster in Petroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities.
2 Prepared based on the number of confirmations performed pursuant to the regulations of Article 11 of the Act on the Prevention of Disaster inPetroleum Industrial Complexes and Other Petroleum Facilities.
3 Since a certain length of time for construction work is needed from the time notification is issued for the new establishment or the like until
confirmation can be performed, the number of notifications and the number of confirmations in each fiscal year do not align.

(2) Establishing Green Buffer Zones for Disaster
Prevention
Regulations were established in the Act on thePrevention of Disaster in Petroleum Industrial Complexes
and Other Petroleum Facilities in relation to matters like
drafting installation plans, the share of costs to be borneby business operators, and special financial measures forgreen buffer zones for disaster prevention established by
local governments in the vicinities around special disasterprevention areas in order to prevent damage in said areasfrom spreading to the surrounding regions.

-omitted-27

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

1 Fire Service Structure

Section☞ Japanese Original P.159

correspond to 65.6% of the total number of municipalities
that have switched to a standing fire defense structure.
What is more, the number of municipalities outsourcing
this work comes to 143 (37 cities, 86 towns, and 20
villages), which corresponds to 8.5% of the total numberof municipalities that have switched to a standing fire
defense structure. (Fig. 2-1-2)

1. Fire Defense Organizations(1)Standing Firefighting Agencies
Standing firefighting agencies refer to the fire
departments and fire stations established in municipalities
that are staffed by full-time personnel. As of April 1, 2018,
there were 728 fire departments and 1,719 fire stations
established throughout Japan. (Table 2-1-1) There are
164,873 firefighters, of which 5,069 are women. (Table
2-1-1, Fig. 2-1-1)
The current fire service structures found inmunicipalities can largely be categorized into: [1]Municipalities with both fire departments and fire stations(so-called standing fire defense) as well as volunteer fire
corps (so-called non-standing fire defense), and [2] Towns
and villages with only volunteer fire corps.
As of April 1, 2018, 1,690 municipalities had switchedover to a standing fire defense structure, whereas 29 towns
and villages had failed to do so. This brings the percentage
of municipalities that have switched over to a standing
fire defense structure (standing ratio) to 98.3% (100% for
cities and 96.9% for towns/villages). This conversion has
taken place virtually nationwide, barring some towns andvillages in mountainous regions or on remote islands, with
99.9% of the population now covered by standing fire
defense structures.
Of these, there have been 289 fire departments
established by special district authorities or extended
associations (22 of which were established by extended
associations). The 1,108 municipalities that haveorganized these (368 cities, 600 towns, and 140 villages)(2)Volunteer Fire Corps
Volunteer fire corps are municipal, non-standing
firefighting agencies. The volunteer firefighters thatcomprise their members have other main occupations,and engage in fire and disaster defense activities basedon their love for their hometown and a desire to protect it
under the thinking that they should be the ones to protect
their own communities themselves. They do this as local
government employees in special part-time positions
vested with authority and responsibility.
As of April 1, 2018, the number of volunteer fire corps
throughout Japan came to 2,209, while their volunteer
members numbered 843,667. They have been establishedin every municipality. (Table 2-1-1, Fig. 2-1-1)
Volunteer fire corps have the unique qualities of being:• Rooted in local communities (volunteers live or workwithin the jurisdiction)• Able to dispatch personnel (there are roughly 5.1-times
the number of volunteers as there are regular firefighters)• Able to respond immediately (volunteers acquire theskills and knowledge to respond to disasters throughroutine education and training)
By harnessing these qualities, they are able to engage in
the initial firefighting when fires break out and deal withany residual fires, as well as sound warnings and carry out

Table 2-1-1 Current status of municipal fire defense organizations
Classification

As of April 1, 2017

Fire departments

Rate of change (%)

728

△4

△ 0.5

Cities

390

387

△3

△ 0.8

Towns/villages

52

52

0

0.0

290

289

△1

△ 0.3

Fire station

1,718

1,719

1

0.1

Branch offices

3,111

3,117

6

0.2

No. of firefighters

163,814

164,873

1,059

0.6

4,802

5,069

267

5.6

Volunteer fire corps

2,209

2,209

0

0.0

Divisions22,45822,422

△ 36

△ 0.2

850,331

843,667△ 6,664△ 0.8

24,94725,981

1,034

4.1

Individual

Special district authorities, etc.

Of which, No. of female firefighters

Volunteer fire corps

Comparison
Change732

Breakdown
Fire departments

As of April 1, 2018

No. of volunteers
Of which, No. of female volunteers(Note) Prepared based on the Survey of “The Current Status of Fire Prevention” and “Earthquake Countermeasures” and “The Report on Personnel
Changes concerning Fire Departments and Volunteer Fire Corps”.

28

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig. 2-1-1 Trends in the number of Firefighters and Volunteer Fire Corps(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures”.
2 Due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of firefighters and volunteer firefighters in Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi
Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture in 2011 were tabulated using the numbers from the previous year (as of April 1, 2010).
3 Due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the numbers for Onagawa Town, Oshika District, Miyagi Prefecture from 2012 weretabulated using the numbers from the previous year (as of April 1, 2010).

Fig. 2-1-2 Breakdown of the establishment method for fire departments
Municipalities

No. of fire departments

individual

Special districtauthorities, etc.

Cities

Towns

Standing/non-standing

Villages728

1,690 municipalities

1,690

792

737

439

439 municipalities

439

387

51

1,108 municipalities

1,108

368

600

140

143 municipalities

143

37

86

20 Outsourced

29

―

7

1,719

792

744

289

(As of April 1, 2018)

161 Municipalities with standing structures
1 Individual
Establishment
Comprised of special
methoddistrict authorities, etc.

22 Municipalities with non-standing structures
183

Total

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Report on Personnel Changes concerning Fire Departments and Volunteer Fire Corps”.
2 The 23 wards of Tokyo were tabulated as a single city for individual fire defense departments.
3 Extended associations are included under "Special district authorities."

2. Fire and Disaster Defense Facilities

rescue activities when storm and flood disasters occur. In
addition, when large-scale disasters occur, they engage
in activities like assisting with resident evacuations
and safeguarding against disasters, as well as giving
instructions to evacuated residents in cases where theysafeguard civilians. Volunteer fire corps play a major rolein ensuring the safety and security of their communities,
such as by overseeing fire defense activities in an acrossthe-board manner.
This is particularly true in towns and villages withouta standing fire defense structure, where fire departments
and fire stations have not been established. What ismore, the volunteer fire corps engage in activities
that are rooted in local communities during times ofnormalcy, such as raising awareness of fire prevention anddisseminating first-aid treatment. They also play a majorrole in improving local fire prevention capabilities andrevitalizing local communities.

(1)Maintenance of Fire Trucks and Other
Equipment
Fire departments and fire stations are equipped with thefire pump vehicles, ladder-equipped vehicles (including
vehicles with folding ladders), chemical fire trucks,
ambulances, rescue vehicles, fire protection helicopters,
and other equipment that they need for their firefighting
activities.
In addition, volunteer fire corps are equipped withvehicles such as fire pump vehicles, small power pumptransport vehicles, and transport vehicles for rescue
supplies. (Table 2-1-2)(2)Fire Defense Communication Equipment
In order to minimize the damage from fires and otherdisasters, it is important to quickly become aware of29

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-1-2 Number of firefighting vehicles owned(As of April 1, 2018) (Units: vehicles, ships, machines)
CategoryFiredepartments

Volunteerfire corps

Total

Fire pump vehicles

7,774

14,054

21,828

Ladder-equipped vehicles

1,159

0

1,159

959

6

965

Ambulances

6,329

0

6,329

Command vehicles

1,809

898

2,707

Rescue vehicles

1,237

0

1,237

Other firefighting vehicles

8,768

1,956

10,724

Small power pumps

3,615

50,52954,144460

35,647

36,107Equipped on wheeled platforms

1,863

2,754

4,617

Other than those above

1,292

12,12813,420Firefighting boats

42

18

60

Fire protection helicopters

33

0

33

Chemical fire trucks

Equipped on vehicles
Breakdown(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire Prevention and Earthquake
Countermeasures”, “The Survey on the Implementation Status of Emergency Services”,
and “The Survey on the Implementation Status of Rescue Work”.

reports to firefighting agencies has been set as “119” asper regulations on telecommunication numbers.
The number of incidents reported to 119 throughout
2017 came to 8,442,390. A breakdown of the reported
details shows that the number of reported cases related to
medical emergencies and rescues accounted for 70.9% of
the total. (Fig. 2-1-3)
Following the recent popularization of cell phones andIP phones*1 (hereafter referred to as “cell and other typesof phones”), the number of reports to 119 from cell andother types of phones have risen, with their share versus
the total number of reports coming to 42.6% and 24.4%,
respectively. (Fig. 2-1-4)

said fires and disasters and have firefighting agencies
rapidly arrive at the scene. In addition, it is also important
to collect information and quickly and clearly issue
instructions and orders at the scene of the incident. Fire
defense communication equipment plays an enormousrole in such contexts. Such equipment includes dedicatedphone lines for reporting fires, fire defense communication
networks, and more.
A. Calls to 119
Dedicated phone lines for reporting fires refer todedicated phone lines whereby firefighting agencies canreceive emergency reports related to fires and medical
emergencies from people providing notification.
The telecommunication number related to emergency
Fig. 2-1-3 Number of reports to 119 (by thereported details)

Fig. 2-1-4 Number of reports to 119 (by type of
connection)(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire
Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures”.

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire
Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures”.

*1

IP (Internet Protocol) phones: A voice call service offered through the use of IP technology at the contact point between the telephone network andthe phone terminals.

30

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig. 2-1-5 Net119 report flow(A) Location Information Notifications for Emergency
Reports to 119
The firefighting agencies that receive reports from119 hear out the status at the scene of the disaster andinformation on the disaster through their back-andforth with the person providing notification. Firefighting
agencies that have adopted advanced fire defense
command centers can display location information such as
the reported location on a map over a monitor when theyreceive reports to 119.
The Location Information Notification System, which
notifies firefighting agencies of the location informationfrom the scenes where calls to 119 originate from cell
phones and other sources, began operating in April 2007.
The Integrated Location Information Notification System,
which integrates this Location Information Notification
System with the New Origin Location Display System*2that had been operating since before to provide
notifications from landline phones, began operating in
October 2009.
As of April 1, 2018, the number of fire departmentsthat are now able to determine the location information
when they receive 119 reports from cell and other typesof phones is now 711 (of which 595 headquarters use theIntegrated Location Information Notification System) as
a result of the Location Information Notification System
and Integrated Location Information Notification System.

with FAX machines, and that it takes time to convey theaddress and status of the person providing the report.
Therefore, the FDMA held meetings of the Committee on
the Diversification of 119 Reports between FY2015 andFY2016. This committee considered modalities for a new
system (Net 119 Emergency Report System) whereby
persons with hearing or speech impairments can easily
provide reports nonverbally at anytime and from anywhere
through the use of smartphones or similar devices. In
March 2017, the committee compiled together standard
specifications for a system that should be adopted by fire
departments throughout Japan in the future.
The Net119 Emergency Report System allows you toconnect to the fire department immediately by accessing
the reporting website from your smartphone, etc. withentering your location and a request, "AMBULANCE"or "FIRE" that needs fire department to determine where
Ambulance crew or Firefighting squad be dispatched.
Then detailed information will be confirmed in a chatbetween the fire department and the caller. (Fig. 2-1-5)"In the case of report from registered home, ① Report→ ② Ambulance → ③ Home. As described above,the 119 call can be made with three button operations."
By registering your home address etc. in advance, it ispossible to convey the exact place even indoors where
GPS signals do not reach. (Fig. 2-1-6)
On the other hand, in the case of a report from an
unregistered place, such as when going out, the fire
department is notified of location information measured
by the GPS function.
If the chat is interrupted on the way, the fire department
can send a return e-mail to a pre-registered e-mail address
and resume chatting with the fire department from the
URL described there. In addition, in order to quickly
communicate with the fire department, fixed questions areprepared in advance, and you can answer by selecting theanswer button without entering characters. (Fig. 2-1-7)(B) Nonverbal Reports
Reports to 119 are predicated on being communicatedverbally. As such, when persons with hearing or speech
impairments report emergencies, they are accommodated
via alternative, nonverbal means through the use of FAX
or email.
However, there are a number of problems with these
sorts of alternative means, such as the fact that in somecases reports can only be provided from locations equipped*2

New Origin Location Display System: This is a system that notifies fire departments of the location information (address information) of the person
making a report with regards to 119 reports from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West
Corporation landline phones.

31

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig. 2-1-6 Operation screen image

If it is difficult to make a report on your own, you can
ask someone around you to make a 119 call instead.
In addition, you can experience the same operation
as the actual report by the practice report (This practicereport is not sent to the fire department).
The goal of the Net119 emergency report system
is to be introduced by all fire departments by FY2020
in the Basic Plan for Persons with Disabilities, which
was approved by the Cabinet in March 2018. FDMA is
promoting the introduction of the Net119 emergency
report system at each fire department and working with
the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to disseminate
and educate persons with disabilities. As of the end ofJune 2018, 142 out of 728 fire departments have been
introduced (about 19.5%).
(C) Report form foreigner
The 119 multi-language service using 3 Way Telephone
Interpretation provided by the Telephone Interpretation
Center will be available 24/7 in major languages to
respond promptly and accurately when calling 119 froma foreigner or at an emergency site where a foreigner ispresent.
The FDMA has notified each fire departments of"Promotion of multi-language service using 3 Way
Telephone Interpretation provided by the Telephone
Interpretation Center (notification)" (Notice of Fire andAmbulance Service Division's Manager, the FDMA Issue
No. 8 on January 25, 2017), and is promoting multilanguage service at the time of call 119, etc. using joint
contracts with prefectural fire departments or telephoneinterpreting centers already contracted by prefectures.
As of the end of June 2018, 279 out of 728 fire
departments (about 38.3%) have introduced. By the 2020
Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the FDMA aims
to be introduced at all fire departments that foreigners,
including foreign tourists visiting Japan, can receive
firefighting and ambulance services without language
interference, regardless of the dialing number 119 fromanywhere in Japan. (Fig. 2-1-8)

Fig. 2-1-7 Chat screen image

Fig. 2-1-8 3 Way Telephone Interpretation flow

32

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
B. Fire Defense Communications Networks
Fire and emergency radios are an important piece ofequipment. They are considered necessary for situations
where a fire department needs to provide instructions tofire brigades, rescue crews, and others who are activeat the scenes of disasters, or for situations where orders
are to be given and information collected at the scenesof fires. What is more, fire defense phone lines are
dedicated phone lines that are used for communications
such as simultaneously relaying information and orders
when reports are received between fire departments, firestations, and branch offices.
On the other hand, the image information recorded by
the cameras equipped on fire protection helicopters areused nationwide and in local regions through the use ofsatellite communication networks.

been seismically-reinforced against earthquakes has been
actively promoted as a countermeasure for water sources
for firefighting to combat large-scale earthquakes. In 2014
the Standards for Water Sources for Firefighting (theFDMA Bulletin No. 7 from 1964) were revised to allow
for their installation in a systematic manner. (Table 2-1-3)
In recent years, in addition to the aforementioned
concerns about seismic performance, due to concerns about
the aging of firefighting water source system, the demand
for new fire protection systems in densely populated
wooden buildings, etc., by the Notice “Reinforcement offirefighting water source Maintenance Promotion” (Issue
No. 272, Fire and Ambulance Division's Manager, theFDMA on November 24, 2017) Municipalities are trying
to promote the improvement by setting numerical targets
for short-term, medium-term, and long-term for the
maintenance of firefighting water source)."
What is more, with natural water sources it is often
the case that water can be taken in over a long periodof time without any restrictions on the amount that canbe taken. As such, these sources play an important role
as a water source for firefighting together with artificial
water sources. The other side of the coin is that there aresometimes cases where these water sources cannot be
used due to the season, or where restrictions are placed onwhere the water can be drawn from or the like. Therefore,
an appropriate combination of both artificial and natural
water sources must be established when it comes to setting
in place water sources for firefighting.

(3)Water Sources for Firefighting
Water sources for firefighting are an absolutely crucialcomponent, together with fire trucks and other equipment,
when it comes to carrying out firefighting activities.
Generally speaking, these are categorized into artificial
sources like fire hydrants and fire cisterns, as well as
natural sources like rivers, ponds, oceans, and lakes.
With artificial sources, a certain amount of water canbe drawn up at any time from near the location where thefire breaks out, and so they are frequently used as water
sources for firefighting during such activities. Ever since
the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in particular, theinstallation of fire cisterns and other equipment that has

Table 2-1-3 Number of water sources for firefighting installed(mainly artificial water sources)(As of April 1 of each year)
Category

2017

Comparison

2018

Difference

Percent change(%)

No. installed nationwide

2,453,451(100.0)2,470,022(100.0)16,571

0.7

Fire hydrants

1,903,782(77.6)

1,919,018(77.7)

15,2360.8Fire cistern

529,109(21.6)

531,057(21.5)

1,948

0.4

20㎥-less than 40 ㎥

103,873

103,487

△ 386

△ 0.4

40㎥-less than 60 ㎥

379,961

381,669

1,708

0.4

60 ㎥ or more

45,27545,901

626

1.4

Wells

20,560(0.8)

19,947
(0.8)

△ 613

△ 3.0

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures”.
2 The numbers in parentheses show the proportion, and their unit is %.

-omitted-

33

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

3 Education and Training Structure

Section☞ Japanese Original P.184

As of April 1, 2018, fire academies had been establishedin all 47 prefectures, seven ordinance-designated cities(Sapporo, Chiba, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, andFukuoka), and in the Tokyo Fire Department for a totalof 55 such academies throughout Japan (in the Tokyo
Metropolitan Region, there are two schools that have been
jointly established: The Tokyo Metropolitan Fire Defense
Training Center and the Tokyo Fire Department’s Fire
Academy).
The FDMA has established the Standards for the
Establishment, Personnel, and Operation of Fire
Academies with the objective being to work to establish
and run fire academies. It also makes progress in ensuring
and improving the level of education and training at thefire academies.

1. Education and Training for
Firefighters
It is essential to improve the knowledge and skills offirefighters to enable them to appropriately handle theincreasingly diverse disaster and emergency services andincreasing sophistication of fire prevention services. As
such, education and training for firefighters is incredibly
important.
Education and training for firefighters is offered by eachfire departments, fire stations, and volunteer fire corps, aswell as by the national government through the Fire andDisaster Management College and the fire academies inthe various prefectures. In addition to these, there are also
emergency medical technician (EMT) training institutes
that offer education designed to have rescue workers
from around the country acquire national qualifications as
EMTs.
As this indicates, the national government, prefectures,municipalities, and others each undertake their own
respective functions as they work together in a cooperative
manner to provide education and training for firefighters.

(2) Types of Education and Training
The Education and Training Standards for Fire
Academies have been established to serve as standards
for the education and training offered at fire academies.
The fire academies formulate specific curricula out of
respect for the “Attainment objectives” stipulated in thestandards and by using the “Standard subjects and classhours” found therein as reference guidelines. The types of
education and training offered include initial education,
specialized education, management education, and special
education for firefighters, as well as basic education,
specialized education, management education, and special
education for volunteer firefighters.

2. On-the-job Training
Every firefighting agency carries out systematic
education and training (on-the-job training) based on theirrespective regional characteristics on a routine basis. In
particular, those firefighters who are required to perform
rigorous team activities based on instructions and orders
at the scenes of dangerous disasters require a sense of duty
and abundance of energy and vigor in order to carry out
their professional duties. Therefore, fire departments work
to improve their knowledge and skills and lift their morale
through various types of education and training.
The firefighting agencies work to promote training
activities that are safe and effective. This is done throughefforts like the establishment of standards for on-thejob training at the FDMA in the form of the Standards
for Fire Development Training Etiquette, Standards
for Firefighting Techniques, and Standards for Fire andRescue Techniques, as well as safety management manuals
both for during drills and during security activities.

• Initial education refers to foundational education andtraining offered to all newly-hired firefighters. The
standards designate that 800 hours of class time is required
for this.
• Basic education refers to basic education and training
offered to those people who must acquire knowledge andskills as volunteer firefighters after joining a volunteer
fire corps due to their limited experience. The standards
designate that 24 hours of class time is required for this.
• Specialized education refers to expert education andtraining related to specific fields offered to active duty
firefighters and mainly those volunteer firefighters who
have completed their basic education.
• Management education refers to the education andtraining that is generally required for fire defense
management, and is offered to management personnel
and prospective candidates expected to advance onto
management.
• Special education refers to education offered for special
objectives that fall outside the bounds of the educationand training mentioned above.

3. Education and Training at Fire
Academies(1) Establishment of Fire Academies
The provisions of Article 51 of the Fire Organization
Act mandate that prefectures must establish fire academies
independently or jointly, except in cases where financial
circumstances or other special circumstances prevent
them from doing so. In addition, the provisions stipulatethat ordinance-designated cities can also establish fire
academies independently or jointly together with theprefectures.

(3) Enhancing and Strengthening the Education
and Training at Fire Academies
Sophisticated firefighting activities are required
due to the increasing size and complexity of disasters.
In addition, prevention work also continues to growincreasingly sophisticated and specialized as a result of34

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

revisions to fire defense laws and ordinances.
Against this background, the knowledge and skills
that firefighters need in order to properly carry out theirprofessional duties must be further improved upon.
Therefore, partial revisions were made to both theStandards for the Establishment, Personnel, and Operationof Fire Academies and the Education and Training
Standards for Fire Academies in March 2015 with the goalof working to enhance and strengthen the education andtraining offered at fire academies.
As part of the revisions, facilities capable of holding
practical training by simulating actual disasters (simulated
firefighting training equipment, earthquake training
facilities, etc.) were added as facilities that should be
set in place as standard practice. In addition, the method
for calculating the number of teaching personnel at fire
academies was revised out of consideration for safety
management aspects, and revisions were also carried out
regarding the proper allocation of class subjects and classhours based on the challenges of and need for fire defense.

Table 2-3-1 Holding of education and training
aimed at firefighters(people)(4) Holding of Education and Training
In FY2017 a total of 30,991 firefighters attended
education and training at fire academies. (Table 2-3-1)
As for volunteer firefighters, in FY2017 a total of 42,275
attended education and training either at fire academies
or through the dispatch of teachers from said academies.
(Table 2-3-2)
Since volunteer firefighters each have their own main
occupations, in cases where it is determined that it will
be difficult to adequately provide them with educationand training at a fire academy, it has been stipulated thatteachers from said academies can be dispatched locallyto provide education and training. Many of the fire
academies have adopted this approach.
What is more, education and training is also provided
by fire academies to people other than volunteer fire corps
members to the extent that doing so does not interferewith the education and training of said members. In
FY2017, education and training were provided to a totalof 18,386 people, from local voluntary disaster prevention
organizations and others.

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Education and Training at Fire
Academies”.

FY2016FY2017

Initial education

6,094

5,386

Specialized education

10,26910,244

Fire Suppresion Class

969

940

Special Disaster Class

608

699

Preventive Inspection Class

954

1,003

Hazardous Material Class

388

496

Fire Inspection Class

1,054

1,326

Ambulance Class

4,454

4,096

−

8

Rescue Class

1,842

1,676

Management education

Associate Ambulance Class

3,736

3,182

Introductory Management Class

2,415

1,950

Intermediate Management Class

905

893

Advanced Management Class

416

339

13,125

12,17933,22430,991

Special education
Total

4. Education and Training and Technical Assistanceat the Fire and Disaster Management College
The Fire and Disaster Management College provides theadvanced education and training needed for management
to the personnel engaged in firefighting operations at thenational and prefectural level, as well as to municipal
volunteer fire corps members. In addition, it also provides
the necessary technical assistance related to education andtraining for fire academies at the prefectural level.
(1) Facilities and Equipment
The Fire and Disaster Management College's educationand training facilities consist of a main building, asecondary building, training facilities, and a dormitory.
The main building contains a large classroom that canaccommodate 250 people, three regular classrooms, anaudiovisual classroom, a scientific combustion laboratory,

Table 2-3-2 Holding of education and training aimed at volunteer firefighters
FY2016

Category(people)FY2017

School education

Teacher dispatch

School education

Teacher dispatch

Basic education

4,672

4,753

9,425

4,243

3,351

7,594

Specialized education

2,150

13

2,163

2,344

0

2,344

769

13

782

1,093

0

1,093

1,381

0

1,381

1,251

0

1,251

6,973

567

7,540

7,367

122

7,489

1,821

322

2,143

2,263

69

2,332

2,486

13

2,499

2,413

53

2,466

2,666

232

2,898

2,691

0

2,691

Fire Suppression Class
Machinery Operation ClassManagement education
IntroductoryManagement Class
Branch Supervisor
CourseSupervisory
Local commandManagement Class
Course(Graduate)
Special education
Total

Total

Total

(601)

(2)

(603)

(722)

(0)

(722)

8,527

14,043

22,570

7,522

16,321

24,84822,322

19,376

41,69821,476

19,79442,275(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Education and Training at Fire Academies”.
* Graduates of both the Local Command Course and the Branch Supervisor Course were counted as having completed the Supervisory Management
Class.
* The Intermediate Management Class was replaced with the Supervisory Management Class through the partial revisions to the education and training
standards for fire academies from March 2014.

35

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities(2) Holding of Education and Training
The Fire and Disaster Management College turnedout 1,122 graduates from its comprehensive classes andspecialized classes, and 673 graduates from its practicalcourses in FY2017. This brings the total number of
its graduates from the time it was founded up throughFY2017 to 60,978.
What is more, its capacity numbered 2,012 people in
FY2018. (Table 2-3-3)
The college's classes were substantially reorganized in
FY2006, following which reviews have been carried out
where appropriate based on the needs of the attendees. As
a result, in FY2017, 22 classes and 12 practical courses
were held throughout the year.
Regarding the contents of the education and training
for each course (lesson subjects), harassment prevention,
mental health, coping with critical incident stress, crisis
management, public relations, and handling litigation havebeen incorporated as subjects designed to cope with the
new challenges that have arisen as a result of changes insocial conditions according to the objectives of each class.
What is more, efforts are being made to round-out thecontents of the curriculum, such as by adding in trainingthat simulates commanding during a fire, simulation
training for receiving assistance during a large-scale
earthquake, and other such drills that make using of
information systems. Other examples of this include drills
on firefighting activities in environments that are similar to
those of an actual fire through the use of training facilities
that simulate the experience of being in an actual fire (hotand a library. In addition, it also contains disaster response
training rooms and other facilities for fostering trainees
with the ability to it has been equipped with dedicatedfacilities for women, assess situations and give commands
as leaders by experiencing a variety of simulated disaster
scenarios.
The secondary building contains an auditorium that
can accommodate 300 people, as well as rescue training
rooms, special classrooms, an indoor training ground, andmore.
The training facilities consist of an indoor fire defense
training building and an 11-story aboveground, multistory training tower where trainees can run drills in anenvironment where there is thick smoke and hot air
through the combined use of steam and smoke machines.
In addition, these also include a training facility wheretrainees can experience a real fire in which they experience
the same changes in the environment that occur at thescene of an actual fire in which wood is burning inside acontainer.
The dormitory has a south wing that can accommodate
172 people and a north wing that can accommodate 52.
In addition, it has been equipped with dedicated facilities
for women, including the bathrooms, restrooms, changing
rooms, and lounges women need for dormitory life.
As for education and training vehicles, the college
is equipped with command vehicles, ordinary pumpvehicles, pump vehicles equipped with water tanks, rescue
work vehicles, special disaster response chemical vehicles,
disaster support vehicles, and high-grade emergency
vehicles.

Drill on responding to mass casualties

Training that simulates the experience of being in an actual fire
(hazardous material fire)

NBC disaster response drill

Training that simulates the experience of being in an actual fire
(hot fire training)36

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-3-3 Education and training implementation status
Category

FY2017 (actual performance)
No. ofNo. ofGraduates
Capacity
times held
times held(people)(people)(times)(times)

FY2018 (planned)
Time

Educational goals

Comprehensive education
ClassesSpecialized education

Management Class

4

292

4

294

To foster human resources suitable for becoming senior firefighting
2 months management by having them learn advanced knowledge and skills
related to firefighting in a comprehensive manner.

AdvancedManagement Class

1

54

1

54

2 weeks

To improve the qualifications of people currently serving as senior
firefighting management by having them learn advanced knowledge andskills related to firefighting in a comprehensive manner.

New Fire
Chief/Principal
Orientation Class

2

54

2

120

2 weeks

To have newly-appointed fire chiefs and fire academy principles
learn the knowledge and skills they will need for their positions in acomprehensive manner.

Volunteer Fire
Corps Management
Class

2

64

2

72

1 weekTo have senior management at volunteer fire corps learn the knowledge
and skills they will need for their positions in a comprehensive manner.

Guard Class

2

120

2

120

To improve the qualifications of educational instructors on guard duty by
2 months having them learn advanced knowledge and skills related to guard duty
in a specialized manner.

Rescue Class

2

120

2

120

To improve the qualifications of educational instructors on rescue duty
2 months by having them learn advanced knowledge and skills related to rescue
duty in a specialized manner.

Emergency Medical
Service Class

1

48

1

48

1 monthPrevention Class

2

96

2

96

To improve the qualifications of educational instructors on prevention by
2 months having them learn advanced knowledge and skills related to prevention
in a specialized manner.

Hazardous
Substances Class

1

39

1

42

1 monthFire Survey Class

2

96

2

96

To improve the qualifications of educational instructors on fire survey
2 months work by having them learn advanced knowledge and skills related to fire
survey work in a specialized manner.

New Teacher
Orientation Class

1

79

1

60

2 weeks

To have newly-appointed personnel in charge of education and training
at fire academies learn the knowledge and skills they will need for theirpositions in a comprehensive manner.

In-service teachers

2

60

2

72

1 weekThis improves the skills of the in-service teaching personnel in charge ofproviding education and training at fire academies and the like to enable
them to provide comprehensive instruction on operational management
planning, preventative operations, and security operations.

Subtotal

To Improve the qualifications of rescue work instructors by having
emergency rescue team leaders and others acquire advanced
knowledge and skills in a comprehensive manner (including education
for fostering EMTs to offer instruction).

To improve the qualifications of educational instructors on hazardous
material safety by having them learn advanced knowledge and skills
related to hazardous material safety in a specialized manner.

1,122

22

1,194

2

76

2

96

2 weeks

To have the command support leaders of Emergency Fire Response
Teams learn the knowledge and skills they will need for their work.

Advanced
Rescue/Special
Advanced Rescue
Course

1

67

1

66

2 weeks

To have the leaders of advanced rescue teams and special advanced
rescue teams learn the knowledge and skills they will need for theirwork.

NBC Course

1

66

1

66

3 weeks

To have NBC disaster personnel on Emergency Fire Response Teamslearn the knowledge and skills they will need for NBC disaster response
duties.

Air Corps Officer
Course

1

56

1

84

2 weeks

To have firefighting and fire defense air patrol commanders learn theknowledge and skills they will need for their work.

CrisisManagement/Public
Protection Course

1

69

1

96

1 weekTo have crisis managers, fire defense managers, and those in chargeof protecting the public at local public bodies learn the knowledge andskills they will need for their work.

Voluntary Disaster
Prevention
Organization
Training Course

1

64

1

72

1 weekTo have those in charge of training at voluntary disaster prevention
organizations learn the knowledge and skills they will need for theirwork.

Short-term Voluntary
Disaster Prevention
Organization
Training Course

2

90

2

128

2 daysTo have the personnel in charge of the task of training voluntary disasterprevention organizations learn the basic knowledge and skills they willneed for their work.

Volunteer Fire
Corps Revitalization
Course

1

47

1

96

1 weekTo have those involved in volunteer fire corps duties and education/
training learn the knowledge and skills they will need for their work.

Courses encouraging
the active involvementof women

1

60

1

60

2 weeks

To support the career development of female firefighting officials who are
candidates for management positions and have them learn knowledge
and skills with the goal of expanding their career opportunities.

Inspection operations
management course

−

−

1

48

1 weekThis instills persons at or above the section head-level who supervise
preventive operations at fire departments with the knowledge and skills
needed in order to perform management for inspection operations as awhole, such as handling violations.

Emergency Fire Response

22

Commanding Officer
CoursePractical courses

Crisis management/firefighting education

Subtotal
Total

12

673

12

818

34

1,795

34

2,012

37

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

training).
Moreover, some of the classes incorporate advancelearning over the internet (e-learning) in an effort toprovide efficient education and training within a limited
period of time.
And to support the career development of female
firefighting officials, the framework for giving priority
to female firefighting officials by reserving 5% of theenrollment slots for each class has been established for
women to encourage their matriculation. The practicalcourse promoting the active involvement of women washeld with the main objective of supporting the careerdevelopment of female firefighting officials in an effort
to expand training opportunities for women and the Fireand Disaster Management College Forum with the themeof promoting the active involvement of women was also
held.
Furthermore, for the holding of large-scale international
events (such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic
Games), the FDMA has increased the number of days of
education for its NBC Course from 10 to 15 up throughFY2020, when the Olympics was held, to contribute toenhancing NBC disaster response capabilities.
FY2017 classes were newly established with theobjective of improving their capabilities to enable themto provide comprehensive instruction on operational
management planning, and preventative operations or
security operations for in-service fire academy teachers
and the inspection operation management course
was established for those people who are involved inpreventative operations at fire departments with theobjective being to instill in them the knowledge and skills
needed in order to perform management for inspection
operations as a whole.

academy principals and teachers is provided via classes
for newly-appointed fire chiefs and school principals, aswell as classes for newly-appointed teachers, respectively.
What is more, the classes for newly-appointed teachers
and in-service teachers provide education centered mainly
around learning teaching techniques. In addition, they also
incorporate practices in which the teachers actually givelectures, and provide training for educational leaders at
the fire academies.
The classes for people other than newly-appointed
teachers and in-service teachers also strive to foster
educational leaders as one of their objectives, and offer
learning on teaching techniques and practice with giving
lectures as part of this.
B. Dispatch of Lecturers
Lecturers on fire suppression duty, prevention,
ambulance service, rescue, and other forms of fire service
administration and firefighting techniques are dispatchedin response to requests from fire academies in orderto enhance the educational content at said academies.
Lecturers were dispatched a total of 123 times in FY2017.
C. Editing Firefighting Textbooks
The FDMA edits the textbooks for beginners that areused at the fire academies. As of April 2018, it had issued
21 types of textbooks.
D. Providing Information on Lecturers, etc.
The FDMA provides a roster of the names of graduatesfrom the Fire and Disaster Management College,
information on lecturers, and more. This is designed
to secure lecturers who have acquired a certain levelof knowledge and skills in specialized areas, as wellas to contribute to further improving the quality of theeducation and training offered by the fire academies.

(3) Technical Assistance for Fire Academies
The education and training provided at prefectural fire
academies must be enhanced and strengthened owing to
the increasing diversity and growing scale of the situations
resulting from natural disasters, fires, and accidents. The
Fire and Disaster Management College provides thefollowing sorts of technical assistance in order to achieve
this.

(4) Special Lectures
The FDMA is planning special lectures in anticipation
for the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the 2020 Tokyo
Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held for four years
in the prefectures where the venues for these events arelocated at 16 sites. In FY2018, special lectures on topics
like safety management, responding to mass casualties,
and NBC responses were held at four locations in Tokyo,
Aichi, Osaka and Oita Prefecture.

A. Education and Training for Fire Academy
Principals and Teachers
Education and training for newly-appointed fire

38

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

4 Ambulance Service System

Section

1. Implementation of Ambulance
Servicesthe previous year), and 2,578 people were transported bythem (2,816 the previous year).

(1) Ambulance Service Dispatch
The number of times ambulance service dispatch
were sent out via ambulances nationwide in 2017 came
to 6,342,147 (an increase of 132,183, or 2.1%, from theprevious year). This has consistently continued to trend
upward since the year 2004, when the number of cases
exceeded 5 million for the first time. The number of times
ambulance service dispatches were sent out taken as adaily average is approximately 17,376 (this was 16,967
in the previous year), meaning that ambulance service
teams were dispatched at a rate of once every 5.0 seconds
or so (this was 5.1 seconds the previous year). What ismore, the number of people transported by ambulance
has also consistently continued its upward swing, coming
to 5,736,086 people (an increase of 114,868 people, or
2.0%, from the previous year). This means that one outof every 22 people of the public has been transported byan ambulance service team (this was one out of every 23
people in the previous year). Looking at this by the type of
accident that led people to be transported by an ambulance
reveals that 3,686,438 people (64.3%) suddenly took
ill, 883,375 people (15.4%) suffered an ordinary injury,
466,043 people (8.1%) suffered a car accident, and so on.
(Table 2-4-1, and Table 2-4-2)
The number of times fire and disaster protection
helicopters were dispatched came to 3,370 (this was 3,664(2) People Transported by the Severity of Their
Injury or Illness
Of the 5,736,086 people transported by ambulancesin 2017, the majority were people with minor injuries orillnesses that did not require hospitalization (outpatientcare) or other cases (cases where a doctor did not provide
a diagnosis, etc.). (Table 2-4-3)(3) People Transported by Ambulance by Age
Group and Type of Accident
Viewing a breakdown of the 5,736,086 people
transported by ambulance in 2017 by age group reveals
that 13,417 of them were newborn infants (0.2%), 265,257
were young children (4.6%), 202,386 were youths (3.5%),
1,883,865 were adults (32.8%), and 3,371,161 were
elderly people (58.8%). As the aging of society advances,
the share accounted for by elderly people will continue totrend upwards year by year (this was 57.2% the previousyear). (Figure 2-4-1)
What is more, elderly people accounted for the largest
percentage of the people transported by ambulance forsudden illnesses (2,277,924 people, or 61.8%), while
the largest percentage transported for traffic accidents
consisted of adults (288,320 people, or 61.9%) and thelargest percentage for ordinary injuries consisted ofelderly people (595,512 people, or 67.4%).

Table 2-4-1 Trends in the number of ambulance services and number ofpeople transported
CategoryYear

No. of ambulance service dispatch
Total No. of Of which
No. viaambulance
ambulanceservicedispatch(Ａ)

Of which
No. via fire
protection
helicopter(During each year)

People transported

Difference/rate ofchange(%) fromprevious year

Total No.
of people
transported

Of which
No. via fire
Of whichand disasterNo. viaambulance protection
helicopter

Difference/rate ofchange (%)
from previous year

Of(A), No. of
dispatch due tosudden illness(B)

Ratio of(B) to (A)
(%)

2003

4,832,900

4,830,813

2,087

274,951( 6.0 )

4,577,403

4,575,325

2,078

245,486( 5.7 )

2,819,620

58.4

2004

5,031,464

5,029,108

2,356

198,564( 4.1 )

4,745,872

4,743,469

2,403

168,469( 3.7 )

2,953,471

58.7

2005

5,280,428

5,277,936

2,492

248,964( 4.9 )

4,958,363

4,955,976

2,387

212,491( 4.5 )

3,167,046

60.0

2006

5,240,478

5,237,716

2,762▲39,950(▲0.8)

4,895,328

4,892,593

2,735▲63,035(▲1.3)

3,163,822

60.4

2007

5,293,403

5,290,236

3,167

52,925( 1.0 )

4,905,585

4,902,753

2,832

10,257( 0.2 )

3,223,990

60.9

2008

5,100,370

5,097,094

3,276▲193,033(▲3.6)

4,681,447

4,678,636

2,811▲224,138(▲4.6)

3,102,423

60.9

2009

5,125,936

5,122,226

3,710

25,566( 0.5 )

4,686,045

4,682,991

3,054

4,598

( 0.1 )

3,141,882

61.3

2010

5,467,620

5,463,682

3,938

341,684( 6.7 )

4,982,512

4,979,537

2,975

296,467( 6.3 )

3,389,044

62.0

2011

5,711,102

5,707,655

3,447

243,482( 4.5 )

5,185,313

5,182,729

2,584

202,801( 4.1 )

3,562,208

62.4

2012

5,805,701

5,802,455

3,246

94,599( 1.7 )

5,252,827

5,250,302

2,525

67,514( 1.3 )

3,648,074

62.9

2013

5,918,939

5,915,683

3,256

113,238( 2.0 )

5,348,623

5,346,087

2,536

95,796( 1.8 )

3,732,953

63.1

2014

5,988,377

5,984,921

3,456

69,438( 1.2 )

5,408,635

5,405,917

2,718

60,012( 1.1 )

3,781,249

63.2

2015

6,058,190

6,054,815

3,375

69,813( 1.2 )

5,481,252

5,478,370

2,882

72,617( 1.3 )

3,851,978

63.6

2016

6,213,628

6,209,964

3,664

155,438( 2.6 )

5,624,034

5,621,218

2,816

142,782( 2.6 )

3,975,380

64.0

2017

6,345,517

6,342,147

3,370

131,889( 2.1 )

5,738,664

5,736,086

2,578

114,630( 2.0 )

4,061,989

64.0(Note) Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service” and ”The Survey on the Current Status of Fire and Disaster Prevention andEarthquake Countermeasures”.

39Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-4-2 Trends in the number of ambulance dispatch by type of accident and the number of people
transported(During each year)
During 2016
By type of accident

No. of dispatch(People transported)

During 2017

Composition rate(％)

No. of dispatch(People transported)

YoY

Composition rate(％)

Rate of change(%)

Difference

Sudden illness

3,975,380(3,607,942)

64.0(64.2)

4,061,989(3,686,438)

64.0(64.3)

86,609(78,496)

2.2
(2.2)

Traffic accident

488,861(476,689)

7.9
(8.5)

481,473(466,043)

7.6
(8.1)

-7,388(-10,646)-1.5(-2.2)

Ordinary injury

926,356(847,871)

14.9(15.1)

965,376(883,375)

15.2(15.4)

39,020(35,504)

4.2
(4.2)

Self-inflicted injury

54,302(37,054)0.9(-0.7)

52,347(35,377)

0.8
(0.6)

-1,955(-1,677)-3.6(-4.5)

Work-related injury

52,168(50,791)

0.8
(0.9)

53,579(52,189)

0.8
(0.9)

1,411
(1,398)2.7(2.8)

Assault

35,217(27,445)

0.6
(0.5)

33,754(25,957)

0.5
(0.5)

-1,463(-1,488)-4.2(-5.4)

Sports/athletics

41,031(40,692)

0.7
(0.7)

42,356(41,950)

0.7
(0.7)

1,325
(1,258)

3.2
(3.1)

Fire

22,132(5,337)0.4(0.1)

23,169(5,331)

0.4
(0.1)

1,037
(-6)

4.7
(-0.1)

Flood

5,184
(2,341)

0.1
(0.0)

5,060
(2,327)

0.1
(0.0)

-124
(-14)

-2.4
(0.6)

827
(655)

0.0
(0.0)

755
(524)

0.0
(0.0)

-72
(-131)-8.7(-20.0)

Other

608,506(524,401)

9.8
(9.3)

622,289(536,575)

9.8
(9.4)

13,783(12,174)

2.3
(2.3)

Total

6,209,964(5,621,218)

100
(100)

6,342,147(5,736,086)

100
(100)

132,183(142,848)

2.1
(2.0)

Natural disaster(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so in some cases the totals may not be consistent.

Table 2-4-3 Number of people transported by ambulance by type of accident and severity of their injury/ illness(During 2017)
Category

Type ofincident

Serious(Lengthy
hospitalization)

Death

Moderate(Hospitalization)

Minor(Outpatient care)

Other

Total

Sudden illness

62,504(1.7)

287,201(7.8)

1,563,264(42.4)

1,772,174(48.1)

1,295
(0.0)

3,686,438(100)

Traffic accident

2,001
(0.4)

18,226(3.9)

91,272(19.6)

354,233(76.0)

311(0.1)

466,043(100)

Ordinary injury

5,711
(0.6)

57,283(6.5)

300,849(34.1)

519,070(58.8)

462(0.1)

883,375
(100)

Other

7,468
(1.1)

119,975(17.1)

432,022(61.7)

139,681(19.9)

1,084
(0.2)

700,230
(100)

Total

77,684(1.4)

482,685(8.4)

2,387,407(41.6)

2,785,158(48.6)

3,152
(0.1)

5,736,086(100)(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service”.
2 The severity of injuries or illnesses at the time of the initial medical examination are classified as follows.
(1) Dead: Persons confirmed to be dead at the time of the initial medical examination(2) Severe condition (lengthy hospitalization): Persons whose injury or illness is so severe that they require hospitalization lasting three weeks
or longer(3) Moderate condition (hospitalization): Persons whose injury or illness are neither severe nor mild(4) Mild condition (outpatient care): Persons whose injury or illness does not require hospitalization(5) Other: Persons who have not been diagnosed by a physician, persons for whom the extent of their injury or illness is not clear, or persons
who were transported to another location
  * Since the extent of injuries or illnesses are categorized by using the amount of hospitalization required as the criteria, mild condition
includes persons who required treatment at a hospital in the early stages and persons who required treatment at a hospital on a regularbasis.
3 The numbers in parentheses show the proportion, and their unit is %.
4 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so in some cases the totals may not be consistent.

40

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities(4) Time Required to Arrive at the Scene
Looking at a breakdown of the 6,342,147 cases inwhich ambulances were dispatched in 2017 by the timerequired to arrive at the scene (time it took to arrive at thescene after the 119 report was received) reveals that in
the majority of cases it took between five and ten minutes(3,921,653 cases, or 61.8% of the total). (Fig. 2-4-2)
Moreover, the average time required to arrive at thescene came to 8.6 minutes (8.5 minutes, the previousyear), which is 1.9 minutes longer than it was ten years
ago (2006). (Fig. 2-4-4)(Fig. 2-4-3)
In addition, the average time required to check thepatient into a hospital came to 39.3 minutes (39.3 minutes,
the previous year), which is 5.9 minutes longer than it wasten years ago (2007). (Fig. 2-4-4)(6) First-aid Treatment Administered by
Ambulance Team Members
Of the 5,736,086 people transported by ambulances in
2017, ambulance team members administered first-aid
treatment to 5,600,512 patients (97.6%). This brings thetotal number of cases in which ambulance crew members
administered first-aid treatment to 21,667,385.
What is more, the total number of cases in which first-aid
treatment was administered by ambulance crew members
since their expansion in 1991 (items with * symbol inTable 2-4-4) came to 15,232,969 (a 3.5% increase year-onyear (YoY)). Of these, the number of cases in which EMTs
administered first-aid treatment in order to resuscitate apatient (defibrillation*1 (including cases administered by(5) Time Required to Check the Patient into a
Hospital
Looking at a breakdown of the 5,736,086 people
transported by ambulance in 2017 by the time required
to check the patient into a hospital (time required tocheck the patient into a hospital after the 119 report wasreceived) reveals that the majority of people were checkedin between 30 and 60 minutes at 3,586,376 people (62.5%).

Fig. 2-4-1 Trends in the composition rate for people transported by age group(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service”.
2 The age groups are divided up as follows:(1) Newborn infants: People who are less than 28 days old(2) Young children: People between the ages of 28 days and 7 years(3) Adolescents: People between the ages of 7 and 18 years(4) Adults: People between the ages of 18 and 65 years(5) Elderly people: People age 65 or older
3 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so in some cases the totals may not be consistent.

41

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

non-EMT ambulance crews), ensuring respiratory tracts
using laryngeal masks, etc.,*2 tracheal intubation, ensuring
intravenous channels,*3 drug administration,*4 Use of selfinjectable adrenaline preparations, *5 measuring blood

sugar, *6 and administration of grape sugar *7) came to215,821 (188,533 the previous year), which is a roughly
14.5% increase year on year.

Fig. 2-4-2 No. of dispatch by time required forthe ambulance to arrive at the scene

Fig. 2-4-3 No. of people transported by ambulanceby time it took to check them into a hospital(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials”.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

Fig. 2-4-4 Trends in the amount of time it takes ambulances to arrive at the scene and the time it takes
to check the patient into a hospital(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on Emergency Service Implementation Status”.
2 Due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the figures were totaled by excluding data from the Kamaishi Ootsuchi District
Administrative Office Fire Department and the Rikuzentakata City Fire Department from 2010 and 2011.

*1
*2
*3
*4
*5
*6
*7

Defibrillation: This refers to the application of electrical shock to lethal arrhythmia (ventricular fibrillation) whereby minor tremors in the heart, such asheart spasms, make it impossible for blood to flow, as a means of dispelling said tremors.
Laryngeal mask: This is a type of ventilation tube used to ensure the openness of the respiratory tract. It is fastened in place so as to cover the larynx
to ensure open breathing channels.
Ensuring intravenous channels: A process of securing transfusion channels by inserting needles or tubes intravenously. Ensuring intravenous channels
makes it possible to administer medications intravenously right away when they are needed.
Drug administration: This refers to administering epinephrine (also called adrenaline; simply called “epinephrine” hereafter) under the specificinstructions of a doctor.
Measuring blood sugar: The measurement of blood sugar levels in sick or injured patients with impaired consciousness.
Administration of grape sugar: This refers to the act of administering grape sugar under the specific instructions of a doctor.
Use of self-injectable adrenaline preparations: In cases where sick or injured patients whose lives are at risk from anaphylactic shock have beenprescribed self-injectable adrenaline formulations in advance, EMTs will administer said adrenaline via self-injectable adrenaline preparations.

42

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-4-4 First-aid Treatment Administered by Ambulance Team Members
Type of incident

Sudden illness

No. of people transported who were given first-aid treatment

Traffic accident(During 2017)

Ordinary injury

Other

Total

3,608,080

451,768

858,130

682,534

5,600,512

Stanching bleeding

22,712(0.2)

22,101(1.3)

78,646(2.5)

16,860(0.7)

140,319(0.6)

Covering

25,771(0.2)

82,629(4.7)

191,206(6.0)

37,038(1.4)

336,644(1.6)

Immobilization

40,983(0.3)

204,520(11.6)

162,927(5.1)

47,838(1.9)

456,268(2.1)

Keeping warm

1,058,974(7.5)

88,932(5.0)

223,911(7.1)

180,074(7.0)

1,551,891(7.2)

Oxygen inhalation

795,985(5.6)

36,566(2.1)

58,028(1.8)

194,669(7.6)

1,085,248(5.0)

Artificial respiration

30,287
(0.2)

804
(0.0)

3,187
(0.1)

4,653
(0.2)

38,931(0.2)

Pressure on sternum

9,036
(0.1)

292
(0.0)

999
(0.0)

1,124
(0.0)

11,451(0.1)

Of which, cases involving automatic heart massagers
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Of which, cases involving automatic heart massagers

2,421

58

292

225

2,996

99,980
(0.7)

2,954
(0.2)

11,632(0.4)

11,276(0.4)

125,842(0.6)

Items for which first-aid treatment were administered

11,821

288

1,430

1,262

14,801

32,659
(0.2)

285
(0.0)

2,950
(0.1)

3,177
(0.1)

39,071
(0.2)

83
(0.0)

12
(0.0)

28
(0.0)

20
(0.0)

143
(0.0)

*Measuring blood pressure

3,317,751(23.4)

432,481(24.5)

791,839(24.9)

625,511(24.3)

5,167,582(23.8)*Listening for heartbeat/sounds of breathing

1,127,514(8.0)

135,890(7.7)

164,233(5.2)

145,405(5.6)

1,573,042(7.3)*Measuring blood oxygenation levels

3,420,045(24.2)

439,135(24.9)

822,487(25.9)

652,996(25.4)

5,334,663(24.6)*ECG measurements

2,158,648(15.3)

120,032(6.8)

260,660(8.2)

325,852(12.7)

2,865,192(13.2)

160,654
(1.1)

4,702
(0.3)

16,818(0.5)

19,135(0.7)

201,309(0.9)
10,583*Continuation of home medical treatment*Medical Anti-shock trousers

Ensuring respiratory tracts*Of which, nasal airways

8,486

142

867

1,088

*Of which, laryngoscope, forceps, etc.

5,272

112

3,249

442

9,075

*Of which, laryngeal mask, etc.

34,878

739

3,063

2,664

41,344

7,125

160

2,466

873

10,624*Defibrillation*Of which, tracheal intubation

11,776
(0.1)

180
(0.0)

516
(0.0)

756
(0.0)

13,228(0.1)*Ensuring intravenous lines

53,733
(0.4)

1,898
(0.1)

5,543
(0.2)

4,322
(0.2)

65,496(0.3)*Of which, cases before CPA

17,069

1,067

963

936

20,035*Of which, cases after CPA

37,303

855

4,567

3,386

46,111*Drug administration

21,570
(0.2)

564
(0.0)

2,778
(0.1)

1,872
(0.1)

26,784(0.1)*Measuring blood sugar

47,722
(0.3)

440
(0.0)

1,266
(0.0)

900
(0.0)

50,328(0.2)*Administration of grape sugar

7,642
(0.1)

24
(0.0)

44
(0.0)

50
(0.0)

7,760
(0.0)

*Self-injectable adrenaline preparation

187
(0.0)

10
(0.0)

37
(0.0)

23
(0.0)

257
(0.0)

1,707,725(12.1)

191,647(10.9)

374,250(11.8)

302,314(11.7)

2,575,936(11.9)

Total

14,151,437(100)

1,766,098(100)

3,173,985(100)

2,575,865(100)

21,667,385(100)

Expanded first-aid treatments, etc.

10,269,333

1,132,450

2,063,748

1,767,438

15,232,969

Other treatments(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service”.
2 Since there are cases in which several types of first-aid treatment were administered to one person, the totals for the number of people
transported who received first-aid treatment and the items on first-aid treatment by type of incident do not align.
3 The numbers in parentheses show the proportion, and their unit is %.
4 The * symbol indicates first-aid treatment items that were expanded in 1991.
5 Shows the first-aid treatments administered to sick and injured patients transported by ambulance.

Table 2-4-5 Trends in the number of municipalities offering ambulance services
Category(As of April 1 of each year)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

No. of municipalities

3,136

3,048

2,352

1,784

1,769

1,753

1,742

1,692

1,689

1,685

1,685

1,686

1,689

1,690

1,690

1,690

Municipal implementation
rate (%)

98.3

98.3

98.2

98.0

98.0

98.0

98.0

97.9

97.9

98.0

98.0

98.0

98.3

98.3

98.3

98.3

Population coverage rate
(%)

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

99.9

Group

(Note) Prepared based on “The Annual Report on Ambulance Service”.

43Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

2. Implementation Structure forAmbulance Services

Fig. 2-4-5 Breakdown of the configurations bywhich ambulance services are offered(1) Number of Municipalities Offering Ambulance
Services
The number of municipalities offering ambulanceservices as of April 1, 2018 came to 1,690 municipalities(792 cities, 737 towns, and 161 villages) (the special
wards of Tokyo were counted as one city; the same
hereafter).
A m b u l a n c e s e r v i c e s a r e o ff e r e d i n 9 8 . 3 % o fmunicipalities (same as last year), and cover 99.9% of thetotal population (same as last year; the population used isfrom the 2015 national census; the same hereafter), whichmeans that ambulance services can be received in virtually
every region. (Table 2-4-5)
When viewed by the configuration through which said
ambulance services were offered, 439 municipalities
offered them independently, 143 did so by outsourcing
them, and 1,108 did so through special district authorities
and extended associations. (Fig. 2-4-5)(Note)(2) Number of Ambulance Teams, Ambulance
Team Members and Associate Ambulance Team
Members
As of April 1, 2018, 5,179 ambulance teams (anincrease of 39 YoY) had been established. (Fig. 2-4-6)
Since ambulance team members are engaged in theimportant duty of saving people’s lives, they mustcomplete at least 135 hours’ worth of training courses on
ambulance services (the former Ambulance I Course). As
of April 1, 2018, the number of firefighters who fulfilled
this eligibility requirement came to 124,429 (an increase of
2,575 YoY). Of these, 62,771 were engaged in ambulanceservices as ambulance team members (including not only

1 Prepared based on “The Accident Reports on Hazardous
Materials.
2 Digits in the second decimal place were rounded off, so insome cases the totals may not be consistent.

full-time ambulance team members, but also ambulanceteam members who have been appointed as such and who
concurrently serve on firefighting vehicles such as pumpvehicles by riding along with them). (Fig. 2-4-7)
What is more, of the firefighters who fulfilled theeligibility requirements to be ambulance team members,
the number who had completed 250 hours’ worth ofambulance courses to enable them to provide evenmore advanced first-aid treatment (including the former
Ambulance Standard Course and former Ambulance II
Course) came to 83,497 people (an increase of 1,537
YoY) nationwide as of April 1, 2018. Of these, 34,122

Fig. 2-4-6 Trends in the number of ambulance teams(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Emergency Service Implementation Status”.

44Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig. 2-4-7 Trends in the number of ambulance team members(Note) Prepared based on the Survey on Emergency Service Implementation Status.

(3) Trends in the Number of EMTs and AmbulanceTeams with EMTs
As a result of the increasing sophistication of
ambulance services, the FDMA promotes the fostering of
EMTs and the setting in place of structures for making useof them. The objective is a structure where at least one
EMT is stationed with every ambulance team.

are engaged in ambulance services as ambulance teammembers.
As of April 1, 2018, 19 associate ambulance teammember (full-time fire department personnel excluding
firefighters who have completed the basic training
course (92 hours) on ambulance services) are engaged inambulance services in nationwide.

Fig. 2-4-8 Trends in the number of ambulance teams with EMTs

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Emergency Service Implementation Status”.

45

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig. 2-4-9 Trends in the number of EMTs

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on Emergency Service Implementation Status”.

The number of fire departments making use of EMTs
as of April 1, 2018 came to 727 of the total of 728 fire
departments throughout Japan, for a usage rate of 99.9%(same as the previous year). The number of ambulanceteams with EMTs came to 5,132 (an increase of 50 YoY),
which corresponds to 99.1% of the 5,179 ambulanceteams throughout Japan (98.9% the previous year), withthis rising year by year. What is more, there were 37,413
fire departments personnel with EMT qualifications (anincrease of 1,368 people YoY). Of these, 26,581 had been
put to use as EMTs (an increase of 709 people YoY), withthis number steadily increasing year by year. (Fig. 2-4-8,
Fig. 2-4-9)

along national and other expressway were provided bymunicipal firefighting agencies over every section of
the 8,893 km of the length of expressway currently inuse. The expressway companies bear a certain extent of
the financial burden that is placed on the municipalities
providing ambulance services.

3. Promoting Coordination between
Firefighting and Medical Care
(1) Acceptance of People Using Ambulance
Transport at Medical Institutions
Reports were received on cases in which problems
arose in choosing medical institutions to receive patientsduring ambulance transport in regions all over Japan.
Based on these, in October 2007 the FDMA performed thefirst survey on the actual state of acceptance for pregnant
or perinatal patients transported from 2004 to 2006.
Moreover, for the survey on the actual acceptance status
regarding ambulance transport in 2007, the survey was
carried out not only on pregnant and perinatal patients, butalso focused on patients with severe conditions or worse,young patients, and patients transported to critical carecenters.
The Survey on the Actual Acceptance Status at Medical
Institutions for Ambulance Transport in 2017 werecompared with the same survey in 2016. "In the numberof cases in which four or more acceptance inquiries, thenumber rose for cases in which patients were transported
to critical care centers and fell for cases in which patientswith severe condition or worse were transported, cases inwhich pregnant or perinatal patients were transported andcases in which young patients(under 15) were transported.
The percentage fell for every category. (Table 2-4-6)
In the number of cases where the time spent at thescene was 30 minutes or longer, the number rose for cases
in which patients with severe condition or worse weretransported and cases in which patients were transported
to critical care centers but fell for cases in which pregnant(4) Number of Ambulances
The number of ambulances owned by fire departments
throughout Japan as of April 1, 2018 came to 6,329 (anincrease of 58 YoY), including those for emergency use.
Of these, the number of high-standard ambulances came
to 6,105 (an increase of 128 YoY), which corresponds to
96.5% of the total.
(5) Ambulance Services along National and Other
Expressways
When it comes to ambulance services along national
expressways, the Seto-Chuo Expressway, and the KobeAwaji-Naruto Expressway (hereafter referred to as“national and other expressways”), the East Nippon
Expressway Company, Central Nippon Expressway
Company, West Nippon Expressway Company, andHonshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company (hereafterreferred to as “expressway companies”) are responsible
for road management operations and offering centralized,
independent ambulance services. Moreover, themunicipalities along said expressways are responsible forhandling ambulance services as per the provisions of theFire Service Act. So it has been stipulated that both parties
are to work together to properly and efficiently safeguard
human life. As of March 31, 2018, ambulance services

46

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-4-6 Trends in the number of cases in which four or more acceptance inquiries were made to
medical institutions
2013
No.

2014

Percentage

No.

2015

Percentage

No.

2016

Percentage

No.

2017

Percentage

No.

Percentage

cases in which patients withsevere conditions or worse
were transported

15,132

3.4%

14,114

3.2%

11,754

2.7%

10,039

2.3%

9,834

2.2%

cases in which pregnant
or perinatal patients weretransported

678

4.3%

617

3.8%

549

3.7%

540

3.5%

475

3.3%

cases in which young
patients(under 15) weretransported

9,528

2.7%

8,708

2.4%

8,570

2.4%

7,527

2.0%

6,442

1.7%

cases in which patients weretransported to critical carecenters

27,5283.9%

26,7403.6%

25,411

3.3%

20,248

2.6%

20,2622.5%(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Acceptance Status at Medical Institutions for Emergency Transport in 2017”.
2 There is some overlap.
3 The percentage is the percentage versus the total number of people transported from each respective category.

Table 2-4-7 Trends in the number of cases where the time spent at the scene was 30 minutes or longer
2013
No.

2014

Percentage

No.

2015

Percentage

No.

2016

Percentage

No.

2017

Percentage

No.

Percentage

cases in which patients withsevere conditions or worse
were transported

23,950

5.4%

23,5005.3%

22,3795.2%

22,104

5.0%

22,6205.0%

cases in which pregnant
or perinatal patients weretransported

1,333

8.4%

1,267

7.8%

1,194

7.9%

1,161

7.5%

1,112

7.8%

cases in which young
patients(under 15) weretransported

11,986

3.5%

11,423

3.2%

12,0393.4%

12,237

3.2%

11,515

3.1%

cases in which patients weretransported to critical carecenters

41,777

5.9%

45,208

6.1%

47,030

6.1%

40,213

5.1%

42,491

5.2%(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Actual Acceptance Status at Medical Institutions for Emergency Transport in 2017”.
2 There is some overlap.
3 The percentage is the percentage versus the total number of people transported from each respective category.

or perinatal patients were transported and cases in whichyoung patients(under 15) were transported. The percentage
rose for cases in which pregnant or perinatal patients weretransported and cases in which patients were transported
to critical care centers, leveled off for cases in which
patients with severe condition or worse were transported
and fell for cases in which young patients (under 15) weretransported. (Table 2-4-7)

on the acceptance standards. Then, based on this, it ishoped that they will tie the results of this in with making
improvements to the acceptance standards and so forth.
For its part, the FDMA works to get a grasp of thestatus of initiatives by and challenges for each of theprefectures. It also makes efforts to follow-up, such as bybroadly getting a grasp of and introducing case examples
of initiatives by local regions that are striving to operate
this effectively.
Each prefecture and local region brings together
firefighting agencies and medical organizations (including
hospital departments other than those offering ambulanceservice) and sometimes just medical organizations, as wellas healthcare centers, welfare, police, and other relatedorganizations according to the local circumstances inorder to thoroughly discuss and share their awareness ofproblems through ex-post inspections of transport andacceptance conditions. In addition, through the creation of“relationships with a visible face” on an everyday basis,
it is important that they continue to draft more specificand effective rules (revisions to acceptance standards,etc.) geared towards smooth transport and acceptance.
Each group is being called upon to make greater efforts
regarding such initiatives. For its part, the FDMA has
resolved to continue carrying out the necessary surveys
and providing information to contribute to improving theapplication of the acceptance standards at the prefectural(2) Standards on Patient Transport and Their
AcceptanceIn light of the occurrence of cases in which it isdifficult to select an accepting medical institution during
ambulance transport, in 2009 the FDMA worked together
with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to enact
the Standards on Patient Transport and Their Acceptance(hereafter referred to as the “acceptance standards”) for the
prefectures. It also revised the Fire Service Act to include
content mandating the establishment of committees
concerning the acceptance standards (hereafter referred
to as “legally-mandated committees”). The revised Fire
Service Act was enacted on October 30, 2009. At present,
committees have been established in every prefecture, andacceptance standards have been formulated as well.
The hope is that through the legally-mandated
committees, the prefectures will survey and verify thetransport of patients and their acceptance status based47

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

committees and to discussions over revisions to them.
In light of the revisions to the Fire Service Act and thefact that emergency transport is carried out based upon
the acceptance standards, local governmental financial
measures are being taken through special tax grants withrespect to the costs entailed by the assistance rendered to
private secondary ambulance institutions*8 by local publicbodies in an effort to enhance ambulance medical carestructures in local regions.

joint-use hospitals have been established (as of March
31, 2017), and so have 289 critical care centers (as of
September 24, 2018) by way of the tertiary medical carestructure. Moreover, among the critical care centers areadvanced critical care centers capable of handling patientswith specific illnesses or injuries, such as extensive burns,
severed digits and limbs, and acute poisoning, of which
41 locations have been set in place (as of September 24,2018).
Approval for ambulance hospitals and ambulanceclinics is provided through ambulance reporting structures,
while the installation of initial, secondary, and tertiary
ambulance care structures is performed in an integrated
manner under the medical care plans established by
prefectural governors.
Under these ambulance care structures and through theacceptance standards enacted by the prefectures throughthe provisions of the Fire Service Act, a list of medical
institutions that can provide medical care according topatients’ conditions has been compiled. Firefighting
agencies use this list when carrying out ambulancetransport operations.

(3) Ambulance Medical Care StructureWith regards to the notification status of ambulance
hospitals and ambulance clinics, which constitute theprimary destinations to which patients are taken, as ofApril 1, 2018 there were 4,191 such locations throughout
Japan.
There are 563 weekend and nighttime ambulancecare centers (as of March 31, 2017) that ensure that
initial medical care can be received on weekends and atnights, which serve as the initial ambulance medical carestructure. By way of the secondary medical care structure,
2,896 hospitals on a hospital-group rotating system and*8

Among secondary medical institutions, ambulance service notice institutions (excluding national and public medical institutions and public
institutions).

-omitted-

48

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

5 Rescue Activity System

Section☞ Japanese Original P.209

accidents caused by buildings (a decrease of 780, or 3.3%,
YoY) and the number of people rescued is due to thedecrease in accidents caused by buildings (a decrease of
608 people, or 2.8%, YoY).

1. Implementation Status for Rescue
Activities(1) Number of Rescue Activities and Number ofPeople Rescued
The life-saving rescues performed by firefighting
agencies refer to activities whereby human or machinepower is used to extricate people from dangerous
situations and transport the victims to safe locations.
Examples of such dangerous situations include fires,
traffic accidents, water accidents, natural disasters, andaccidents due to machines.
As for the implementation status for rescue activities
throughout Japan in 2017, 56,315 rescue activities werecarried out (a decrease of 833, or 1.5% decrease, YoY)
and 57,664 people were rescued (this refers to the numberof people rescued through rescue activities; a decrease of291, or 0.5% decrease, YoY). (Table 2-5-1)
As part of this, the primary reason for the decrease isdue to the decrease in the number of rescue activities for(2) Implementation Status of Rescue Activities byType of Incident
Looking at the status of rescue activities by type ofincident reveals that the numbers for accidents caused bybuildings and traffic accidents remain high in terms ofboth the number of rescue activities and the number ofpeople rescued.
Accidents caused by buildings has been the type ofincident with the greatest number of rescue activities since2008. In terms of the number of people rescued, accident
caused by buildings became the type with the most people
rescued since 2013.
The number of rescue workers dispatched (which refers
to the total number of people dispatched in order to carryout rescue activities) came to 1,402,360 in total.
Of these, the number of firefighters dispatched came
to 1,326,912 in total, of which 29.1% were dispatched

Table 2-5-1 Trends in the number of rescue activities and number of people rescued
Category

No. of rescue activities
No.

Year

No. of people rescued

Change YoY (%)

No.

Change YoY (%)

During 2013

56,915

1.4

57,659△ 2.8During 2014

56,695△ 0.4

57,8090.3

During 2015

55,966△ 1.3

59,1902.4

During 2016

57,1482.1

57,955△ 2.1

During 201756,315△ 1.5

57,664△ 0.5(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Implementation Status of Rescue Activities”.
2 This includes the number of activities by volunteer fire corps in municipalities where fire departments/fire stations
have not been established. The same holds true for the following data in this section.

Fig.2-5-1 Number of rescue activities by type ofincident

Fig.2-5-2 Number of people rescued by type ofincident(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on the Implementation Status ofRescue Activities”.

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on the Implementation Status ofRescue Activities”.

49Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-5-2 Number of dispatches and status of activities by type of incident
Category

Fires

Year

Traffic
accidents

Water
accidents

Storms,floods, andother(During 2017)

Accidents
due tomachines

Accidents
due tobuildings

Gas/lackof oxygenaccidents

Raptureaccidents

Other

Total

No. of rescue activities

4,049
(7.2)

14,665(26.0)

2,563
(4.6)

320
(0.6)

1,051
(1.9)

22,749(40.4)

331
(0.6)

2
(0.0)

10,585(18.8)

56,315(100.0)No. of people rescued

1,460
(2.5)

19,701(34.2)

2,747
(4.8)

1,242
(2.2)

1,216
(2.1)

21,342(37.0)

299
(0.5)

1
(0.0)

9,656
(16.7)

57,664(100.0)No. of rescue workers
dispatched

140,354(10.6)

351,263(26.5)

73,899(5.6)

17,231(1.3)

24,224(1.8)

386,722(29.1)

10,503
(0.8)

82
(0.0)

322,634(24.3)

1,326,912(100.0)No. of people who engaged
in rescue activities

56,309(10.1)

147,999(26.6)

36,322(6.5)

15,087(2.7)

10,581(1.9)

191,889(34.4)

3,584
(0.6)

17
(0.0)

95,475(17.1)

557,263(100.0)No. of rescue workers
dispatched

53,894(71.4)

1,430
(1.9)

3,040
(4.0)

144
(0.2)

125
(0.2)

2,239
(3.0)

100
(0.1)

20
(0.0)

14,456(19.2)

75,448(100.0)No. of people who engaged
in rescue activities

10,356(71.8)

138
(1.0)

1,676
(11.6)

113
(0.8)

7
(0.0)

60
(0.4)

0
(0.0)

0
(0.0)

2,078
(14.4)

14,428(100.0)

16.5

10.1

14.8

47.5

10.1

8.4

10.8

8.5

9.2

10.2

Firefighters

Volunteer
firefighters

No. of people who engaged in rescue
activities per incident(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on the Implementation Status of Rescue Activities”.
2 The numbers in parenthesis show the proportion (%). Less than whole units were rounded up, so in some cases the totals may not be
consistent.
3 “No. of rescue workers dispatched” refers to the total number of people dispatched in order to carry out rescue activities.
4 “No. of people who engaged in rescue activities” refers to the number of people who actually engaged in rescue activities out of the number
dispatched.
5 “Accidents due to buildings” refer to accidents caused by the collapse of buildings, gates, fences, walls, and other facilities ancillary tobuildings or equivalent structures; accidents in which people were trapped within buildings; and accidents from people being caught between
buildings.
6 “Other” refers to accidents other than the types listed above that necessitated rescue by firefighting agencies.

for “Accidents due to buildings”, while 26.5% weredispatched due to “Traffic accidents”. At the same time,
the number of volunteer fire corps members dispatchedcame to 75,448 in total, of which 71.4% were dispatchedon account of fires.
Next, the number of people who engaged in rescue
activities (this refers to the number of people who actuallyengaged in rescue activities out of the number dispatched)came to 571,691 in total. This means that 10.2 people
on average took part in each individual rescue activity.
What is more, in terms of the number of people engaged
in each individual rescue activity by type of incident
except storms, floods and other natural incidents which
will increase or decrease year by year depending on the
dispatch of National Fire-Service Team, fires had thegreatest number at 16.5 people on average, followed bywater-related accidents at 14.8 people. (Fig. 2-5-1, Fig.
2-5-2, Table 2-5-2)

well as rescue and relief supplies and the rescue vehicles
equipped with these needed for rescue activities. They
are categorized into four classifications: rescue crews,
special rescue crews, advanced rescue crews, and special
advanced rescue crews. *1
As of April 2018, 1,432 crews had been establishedwithin 711 fire departments, and the number of rescue
crew members came to 24,473 people.
This means that on average, roughly 2.0 rescue crews
have been established at each fire departments, with anaverage of 17.1 rescue crew members stationed on eachcrew. The number of fire departments have been droppingas they spread out to cover broader areas, but the numberof rescue crews have been trending upward.
(2) Ownership Status of Rescue Equipment for
Rescue Activities
Rescue equipment for rescue activities includes
equipment for removing heavy objects such as
hydraulic spreaders, cutting equipment like hydrauliccutters, detection and measurement equipment suchas inflammable gas measuring instruments, and more.
Advanced, specialized equipment has been deemednecessary for them to guard against the large-scale
earthquake disasters and terrorist disasters that could
potentially occur. As such, the FDMA makes efforts topromote the establishment and maintenance of rescue
work vehicles and rescue equipment by taking advantage
of grants for equipping National Fire-Service Teams, aswell as tax measures allocated to local governments andmore. (Table 2-5-3)

2. Implementation Structure for Rescue
Activities(1) Number of Rescue Crews and Number ofRescue Crew Members
Rescue crews are established in municipalities that havefire departments and fire stations pursuant to the Ministerial
Ordinance Establishing Standards for the Organization,
Outfitting, and Establishment of Rescue Crews (Ministerial
Ordinance No. 22 of the Ministry of Home Affairs from
1986; hereafter referred to as the “Rescue Ordinance”).
They consist of members who have received specialized
education related to lifesaving (140 hours’ worth), as*1

The Rescue Ordinance stipulates that municipalities with a population of 100,000 people or more and a standing fire defense structure must establish
a special rescue crew. Core cities and the like must have one or more special rescue crews that serve as advanced rescue crews, and the Tokyo Fire
Department and ordinance-designated cities must have one or more advanced fire crews that serve as special advanced rescue crews.

50Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-5-3 Ownership status of rescue equipment for rescue activities and board vehicles for carrying
rescue crews(As of April 1, 2018)

Major rescue equipment

Ministerial
ordinanceannex 1

Ministerial
ordinanceannex 2
Ministerial
ordinanceannex 3

Boarding vehicles

ThreePart
ladders
7,631
Mat air jacks
2,740
Image searchequipment

Lifeline throwing
guns
1,848

Hydraulicspreader2,162

Large hydraulic Large hydraulicspreaderscutters
2,243

Hydraulic cutters Portable winches Engine cutters
2,000
Rock drills

4,396

1,672

1,910

Underground Thermal imaging
noise detectors
devices

Night visionequipment

Earthquake
alarms

350

212

326

1,402

Rescue work
vehiclesLadder-equipped
vehiclesFolding ladderequipped
vehicles

1,237

406

99

Fire pumpvehicles
255

6,388

6,796

Rope climbing
Hammers/ drills
machines

Air saws

2,247

617

Chainsaws

3,022

Gas cutters

Inflammablegas measuring
instruments

1,311

5,748

Ventilators

1,651

2,245

Electromagnetic Carbon dioxidewave detectors
detectors

UnderwaterprobesFire cisternequipped
vehicles120
Chemicalvehicles395

63Special disastervehicles121

23

Breathingapparatus
50,298

Simple image
search machines
932

Oxygen masks
3,424

84
Other

Total
466

3,002

(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey on the Implementation Status of Rescue Activities”.

3. Holding National Firefighting and
Rescue Skills Meets

is divided up into a land division and a water division.
For each division, a number of types of training are
carried out. There is basic training where individual crew
members practice basic skills, coordinated training wherecrew members practice their individual skills together withcooperation with other crew members, as well as skills
training where participating crew members demonstrate
everything from training assumptions to rescue methods
using creativity and ingenuity without stipulations as tothe equipment or training skills that will be used.
The 47th meet which was planned on August 24, 2018
in Kyoto city, Kyoto Prefecture was canceled due to thetyphoon approach. The 48th meet will be held Okayama
city, Okayama Prefecture.

The National Firefighting and Rescue Skills Meet has
been held every year except for the year that was canceled
due to disasters since 1972 (sponsored by the Japan
Firefighters Association, with the backing of the FDMA
and others). Its goal is to foster the physical strength,
mental toughness, and technical capabilities needed for
rescue activities, as well as to gather rescue crew members
from throughout Japan together to cultivate crew members
who can serve as examples to others through competitionand learning.
The National Firefighting and Rescue Skills Meet-omitted-

51

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

7

Integrated Fire Service Support and National
Fire-Service Team for Disaster Response

Section☞ Japanese Original P.219

effective manner.
The system is structured so that during times ofnormalcy, National Fire-Service Teams focus all of
their energies on carrying out firefighting duties in theirrespective local regions. But once a large-scale disasteroccurs somewhere in Japan, firefighting teams dispatch
in a concentrated manner to the afflicted region fromthroughout the country to respond to said disaster at therequest or instructions of the Commissioner of the FDMA.
There they engage in firefighting activities, including
lifesaving and rescue activities.
When they were first launched, National Fire-Service
Teams consisted of 376 teams registered with the FDMA
to provide domestic assistance for firefighting. They werecomprised of rescue crews, ambulance crews, and more.
There were also 891 out-of-prefecture assistance teams
that engaged in activities between neighboring prefectures,
which consisted of firefighting teams and others. Thisbrought the total to 1,267 teams. In January 2011, a
registration system for fire teams was introduced in orderto enhance the dispatch structure for National Fire-Service
Teams and response capabilities for various disasters.
What is more, a number of new types of teams were
established in order to handle increasingly complicatedand diverse disasters. These included special disaster1. Integrated Support System for Fire
Service-omitted-

2. National Fire-Service Teams for
Disaster Response(1) Creation of National Fire-Service Teams for
Disaster Response and Their Enshrinement in
Law via Revisions to the Fire Organization Act
A. Creation of National Fire-Service Teams
National Fire-Service Teams were created in June
1995 through the cooperation of fire departments fromthroughout Japan in order to create an assistance structure
through the mutual cooperation of firefighting agencies
from around the country. This was based on the lessons
from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake from January
17, 1995, and designed to make it possible to carry out
lifesaving rescue activities when large-scale disasters
such as earthquakes occur within Japan in a faster, more

Table 2-7-1 Actual track record regarding dispatches of wide-area aerial medical support teams basedon the Implementation Guidelines for Wide-area Aerial Firefighting Support Teams during Large-scale
and Special Disasters (past 20 years)(As of November 1, 2018; Unit: Case)By type of dispatch
Fires in forestsand fields

Fires inlocations otherthan forests andfields

18

15

1

23

21

2001

32

31

2002

38

38

2003

24

18

2004

27

21

Year

Dispatch trackrecord

1999
2000

2005

20

18

2006

8

6

2007

13

12

2008

10

10

Storms andfloodsExplosion
disasterEarthquake
disaster

Volcano disaster

Accidents
Other disasters
involving aircraft

2
1

1
1

2

1

2

5

1

1

1

1

2
1

2009

21

18

2

2010

16

12

2

2011

28

23

5

2012

7

5

2

2013

20

17

2

2014

36

19

2015

10

10

2016

5

3

1

2017

7

5

1

2018

13

12

Total

376

314

1
1

1

1
17
1
1
1

5

24

0

52

7

1

4

21

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

teams with the capacity to respond to special disasters
such as oil and chemical disasters, as well as those
involving toxic or hazardous substances, or radioactive
materials, as well as air teams that use fire protection
helicopters and water teams that use firefighting boats.
This brought the types of teams to eight, and the numberof teams to 1,785.

based on the thinking that the national government bears
responsibility for deploying firefighting capabilities toafflicted regions in the form of ordering the dispatch of
National Fire-Service Teams for large-scale disasters thatshould be handled from a truly nationwide perspective.
The unprecedented, enormous disaster of the Great East
Japan Earthquake was the first time this authority was
exercised since it was established.

B. Enshrinement in Law through the 2003
Revisions to the Fire Organization Act
It has been pointed out that potential earthquakes likea Tokai Earthquake, Tonankai/Nankai Earthquake, oran earthquake directly below the Tokyo Metropolitan
Region are imminent, and the dangers of NBC terrorism
disasters. As such, scenarios can be envisioned where it
would be difficult to respond to such disasters promptly
and precisely solely through the firefighting capabilities ofthe municipalities in the afflicted region or those found in
the afflicted prefecture. Therefore, the Commissioner of
the FDMA has been vested with the necessary authority
to work to enhance and strengthen emergency response
structures from a national perspective. In conjunction
with this, the Act for the Partial Revision of the Fire
Organization Act was drafted in 2003 and entered into
force in 2004. This act includes provisions for national
financial measures. etc..

(c) Enactment of the Basic Plan pertaining to National
Fire-Service Teams
It has been legally mandated that the Minister forInternal Affairs and Communications is to enact the Plan
on Basic Items concerning the Organization and Outfittingof Facilities for National Fire-Service Teams (hereafterreferred to as the “Basic Plan”).
This Basic Plan was enacted in February 2004, andestablished matters such as standards for equipping andorganizing the crews that comprise National Fire-Service
Teams, dispatch plans, and targets for setting in place
the necessary facilities. When it was initially enacted, it
set the target of registering 3,000 National Fire-Service
Teams by FY2008.
(d) Financial measures by the national government for
National Fire-Service Teams
The dispatch of National Fire-Service Teams has beenlegally mandated in cases where they have been ordered todispatch by the Commissioner of the FDMA. Therefore,
the expenses that are newly required as a result of said
dispatches are to be borne by the national government
as treasury expenses as per Article 10 of the Local
Government Finance Act.
What is more, the establishment of facilities pursuant
to the Basic Plan were clarified in a legal sense as
constituting “expenses to be subsidized by the national
government.” In addition, the eligible facilities and thesubsidy rate (one-half) have been established throughgovernment ordinance. (Table 2-7-2)(a) Main content of the revised law
The main content of the revised law consists of staking
out a clear legal position for National Fire-Service Teams,
establishing the authority of the Commissioner of the
FDMA to order dispatches, formulating basic plans
relating to National Fire-Service Teams, and the financial
measures of the national government.
(b) Legal position and dispatch orders by the Commissionerof the FDMA
National Fire-Service Teams, which have been put touse based on certain guiding principles since they were
established, were given a clear legal position within theFire Organization Act through the revisions to this law.
In addition, in the event that a Tokai Earthquake or otherlarge-scale disaster extends over two or more prefectures
or an NBC disaster were to occur, the Commissioner of
the FDMA shall be able to issue the orders to take thenecessary measures to dispatch National Fire-Service
Teams. This authority to order dispatches was established(e) Use of equipment for National Fire-Service Teams freeof charge
With regard to those pieces of equipment from among
the equipment needed for the organization of National
Fire-Service Teams that it would be inefficient for local
public bodies to outfit and own from a cost-effectivenessperspective, it is hard to imagine that progress will be

Table 2-7-2 Enshrining National Fire-Service Teams into law through the 2003 revisions to the Fire
Organization Act
Position of the National Fire-Service Teams

Prior to the revisions

After the revisions

Guidelines for National Fire-Service Teams

Fire Organization Act

Standards for organization and equipment, basic dispatch
Guidelines for National Fire-Service Teams
plans

Basic Plan established by the Minister for Internal
Affairs and Communications

Involvement of the Commissioner of the FDMA

Requests for measures(1)Requests for measures(2)Orders(Tokai Earthquake and other large-scale earthquakes,
NBC disasters)

Special tax grants, etc.

Treasury expenses(The national government will bear any increased
expenses and new expenses as a result of activities
when said activities were ordered)Financialmeasures,etc.

Activity expenses
Facilities and equipment

Encouragement subsidies(general subsidy rate of 1/3) Mandatory subsidies (subsidy rate of 1/2)

Use of government-owned assets and goods

Paid loans, etc.

Permission to use free of charge

53

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig 2-7-1 Organization of coordination
headquarter for firefighting support activities

necessary for the sake of urgently providing firefighting
support for municipalities where a disaster has occurredthat lie outside of the municipalities in which said National
Fire-Service Teams normally operate. This structure
was set in place based on the fact that teams spanning
across municipal borders within the same prefecture were
mobilized for the 2004 heavy rainfall disasters in Niigata
and Fukushima, as well as the Mid Niigata Prefecture
Earthquake in 2004. In cases spanning across prefecturalborders, it has been stipulated that the Commissioner of
the FDMA shall coordinate this, since said coordination
will span across two or more prefectures.

Coordination headquarters perform overall coordination
for the movement of teams within the prefecture.
They also gather information on the afflicted region,
liaise and coordinate over the activities of the relevantorganizations, and assist prefectural governors inreaching appropriate decisions.

(c) Establishment of coordination headquarters for
firefighting support activities
To ensure that the prefectural governor’s orders
from (b) are carried out smoothly, the prefectural
governors are to establish coordination headquarters
for firefighting support activities (hereafter referred toas “coordination headquarters”) in order to carry out thegeneral coordination for measures like lending support
for firefighting when National Fire-Service Teams aredispatched for this purpose. The coordination headquarters
are tasked with handling tasks related to coordinating with
the Japan Self-Defense Forces, police, and other relevantorganizations. This is done in an effort to ensure that tasks
related to general coordination over measures designed
to support the firefighting activities carried out by theprefecture and municipalities within the prefecture inquestion are carried out smoothly. (Fig. 2-7-1)

made in outfitting this even if government subsidies
are provided for it. There is some equipment that needs
to be provided quickly in order to fulfill the national
government’s responsibilities when it comes to largescale and specialized disasters. As such, it was stipulated
that this equipment is to be set in place by the national
government, but provided for use free of charge to theprefectures or municipalities to which the personnel who
are active as National Fire-Service Team members belong.

(d) Revisions to the requirements for the Commissioner of
the FDMA to order the dispatch of National Fire-Service
Teams
The dangers of earthquakes causing enormous damage
in a localized manner as a result of active faults have been
pointed out. It was stipulated that the Commissioner of the
FDMA can order the governors of prefectures aside fromthe prefecture where the municipality in which the disasteroccurred is located or the mayors of municipalities within
the prefecture in question to take the necessary measures
to dispatch their National Fire-Service Teams. Where
this was previously limited to cases where the disasterwas regarded as a large-scale disaster spanning two or
more prefectures, now it can be done when it has been
acknowledged that there is a special need to respond to thedisaster in question, even when it is a large-scale disasterthat has occurred solely within a single prefecture.

C. Enhancing mobility through the 2008 revisions
to the Fire Organization Act
In 2008 the Act for the Partial Revision of the Fire
Organization Act was drafted and entered into force.
This included content such as enhancing the mobilityof National Fire-Service Teams in an effort to further
strengthen fire and disaster defense structures for largescale earthquakes such as a Tokai Earthquake, Tonankai/
Nankai Earthquake, or an earthquake directly below theTokyo Metropolitan Region.
(a) Main content of the revised law
The main content of the revised law consists ofestablishing the authority for prefectural governors toorder the dispatch of National Fire-Service Teams thatare already active in municipalities where disasters haveoccurred, the establishment of coordination headquarters
for firefighting support activities, and revisions to therequirements for the orders to dispatch National FireService Teams by the Commissioner of the FDMA.

(2) Organization of and Dispatch Plans for
National Fire-Service Teams
Issues like the organization of and dispatch plans for
National Fire-Service Teams are established within the
Basic Plan set by the Minister of Internal Affairs andCommunications. An overview of these issues is provided
below.
A. Organization of National Fire-Service Teams(A) Command Support Battalion
The Command Support Battalion is tasked with theduty of urgently heading to afflicted regions via helicopteror the like when large-scale disasters or special disasters
occur to gather information related to the disaster andconvey this to the Commissioner of the FDMA, the(b) Establishment of the authority for prefectural
governors to order dispatches
This stipulated that prefectural governors can orderthe dispatch of National Fire-Service Teams active inmunicipalities where they normally operate. This can bedone in cases where a disaster has occurred in two or more
municipalities within a prefecture, and where it is deemed

54Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Fig 2-7-2 Organization of teams comprising National Fire-Service Teams

Prefectural battalion

Command support
battalion

Prefectural battalion chief
Commandsupport unit
Command support
unit chief

Commandsupport unit
Command support
battalion chief(Command support or
the fire departmentsin the afflicted
municipality)

Command support battalion
Promptly heads to the scene in ahelicopter or the like to determine theextent of the damage, communicatesand coordinates with the FDMA, andprovides command support for local
firefighting agencies.

(Command activities at the scene of the disaster;
Representative personnel from firefighting agencies)

Oversees the prefectural squad and manages its activities.

Prefectural battalion command Unit
Firefighting company

Firefighting unit

Firefighting unit

Carries out firefighting activities like preventing fires fromspreading when large-scale fires break out.

Rescue company

Rescue unit

Rescue unit

Prepares advanced rescue equipment and supplies, searches forpeople who need rescuing, and carries out rescue activities.

First-aid company

First-aid unit

First-aid unit

Prepares advanced first-aid equipment and supplies andcarries out first-aid activities.

Logistical support company

Logistical support
unit

Logistical support
unit

Communications
support company

Communications
support unit

Communications
support unit

Air company

Air unit

Air unit

Water company

Water unit

Water unit

Carries out the necessary transport and supply activities forvehicles outfitted with water supply equipment and so forth inorder to support the activities of each of the teams.
Carries out support activities related to ensuring communication
through vehicles equipped with equipment that makes thispossible.
Uses fire protection helicopters to carry out firefighting
activities.
Uses firefighting boats to carry out firefighting activities.

Special disaster company

Special disaster
unit

Special disaster
unit

Carries out firefighting activities to respond to special disasters,such as disasters involving toxins or large-scale disaster involving
hazardous substances.

Special equipment company

Specialequipment unit

Specialequipment unit

Carries out firefighting activities through the use of special
equipment via shipwreck rescue teams, long-distance watersupply teams, and more.

Prefectural battalion
Commandsupport teamPrefectural battalion

Command support
team leader

Prefectural battalion

governors of the relevant prefectures, and others. In
addition, it has also been tasked with the duty of carryingout support activities to ensure that commands pertaining
to National Fire-Service Teams are carried out smoothly
within the afflicted region.

sophisticated and specialized firefighting activities
promptly and in the correct manner in response to special
disasters in regions containing petrochemical complexes,
chemical plants, and other energy and industrial
infrastructure.

(B) Prefectural Battalions
Prefectural Battalions are comprised of the teams
required to aid with firefighting undertaken in afflicted
regions from among a number of different companies.
These include the Prefectural Battalion Command Unit,
Firefighting company, Rescue company, Ambulancecompany, Logistic company, Communication company,
Air company, Water company, Special Disaster company,
and Special Equipment company established within
the prefecture in question or municipalities within said
prefecture. (Fig. 2-7-2)

B. Dispatch Plans(A) Basic Dispatch Plans
When large-scale disasters occur, the Commissionerof the FDMA makes efforts to gather information andclosely coordinate with the prefectural governor of theafflicted prefecture and other officials. They also decideon whether or not it is necessary to dispatch National FireService Teams, and take the measures to request or ordertheir dispatch based on Article 44 of the Fire Organization
Act. Dispatch plans are to be established ahead of time toenable their prompt and precise dispatch in such cases.
Specifically, for each prefecture in which a disasteroccurs, they designate prefectural battalions that
dispatched to provide support with a primary focus onneighboring prefectures as “first response prefectural
battalions” and prefectural battalions that provide
additional support according to the scale of the disaster as“reserve response prefectural battalions.”(C) Comprehensive Mobile Unit
The Comprehensive Mobile Unit is tasked with theduty of promptly dispatching advance dispatches upon
the orders of the Prefectural Battalion Chief after a largescale disaster or special disaster occurs. It is also tasked
with collecting and providing information conducive toensuring smooth activities on the part of the Prefectural
Battalion that follow, as well as carrying out urgent
firefighting activities in the afflicted regions.

(B) Rapid Dispatch Standards for when Large-scale
Earthquakes Occur
When large-scale earthquakes occur, communications
infrastructure is disrupted and a considerable length oftime is needed in order to determine the overall extent of
the damage. In light of this, National Fire-Service Teams
must be ready to be quickly dispatched to the afflicted(D) National Fire-Service Team for Energy/Industrial
Disaster ("Dragon Hyper Command Unit")
National Fire-Service Team for Energy/Industrial
Disaster is tasked with the duty of undertaking

55

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

Earthquake, and earthquake directly below the Tokyo
Metropolitan Region, and is based on the response
guidelines, estimates of the damage from such disasters,
and other data from the Central Disaster Prevention
Council. (Fig. 2-7-6)
For example, there is an National Fire-Service Teamaction plan for a Nankai Megathrust Earthquake thatwas formulated in March 2016. This plan determinessites to receive assistance in 37 other prefectures aside
from the ten prefectures designated to receive priority
assistance, to which every National Fire-Service Teamcapable of providing assistance would be simultaneously
and promptly deployed. What is more, the action plan
for an earthquake directly below the Tokyo Metropolitan
Region that was enacted in March 2017 decides on
assistance providers from the 43 prefectures (excluding
four prefectures designated as the prefectures receiving
support), and states that every National Fire-Service
Teams that can provide support is to promptly devote
personnel to this all at once.
For an earthquake along the Nankai Trough, the reportby the Working Group to Review Disaster Responses
based on Seismic Observations and Evaluations fora Nankai Trough Earthquake from September 2017indicated the course for a disaster response in the eventthat abnormal phenomena were observed along the
Nankai Trough. Therefore, the entire policy for deploying
National Fire-Service Teams for the Tokai Earthquake wasrevised and changed to the action plan until a new disaster
response for the Nankai Trough is determined.

region so that they can effectively save lives throughfirefighting, rescue, first-aid, and other such activities.
For this reason, the Commissioner of the FDMA
has prefectural governors and municipal mayors fromaround the country prepare Requests for the Dispatch of
National Fire-Service Teams pursuant to Article 44 of theFire Organization Act in advance. The Implementation
Guidelines on Rapid Dispatch of National Fire-Service
Teams for Large-scale Earthquakes were enacted in July
2008, which contained content on matters like dispatchingthem the instant a large-scale earthquake occurs.
Then, in March 2015, these implementation guidelines
were prescribed in the Guidelines on Requests for
Assistance from National Fire-Service Teams.
(C) Dispatch Plans for a Tokai Earthquake and Other
Potential Earthquakes
It is envisioned that a Tokai Earthquake, Nankai
Megathrust Earthquake, or earthquake directly below theTokyo Metropolitan Region would produce considerable
damage that would extend over multiple prefectures. The
thinking is that the firefighting capabilities of just thefirst response prefectural battalions and reserve response
prefectural battalions alone would be insufficient for this.
Therefore, it has been decided that National Fire-Service
Teams would be dispatched at a national scale for these.
Therefore, the FDMA has formulated guidelines andaction plans for using National Fire-Service Teams foreach of these disasters should they occur. This was doneby envisioning a Tokai Earthquake, Nankai MegathrustFig 2-7-6 Basic dispatch and action plans for National Fire-Service Teams(1)Tokai Earthquake(2) Earthquake directly
under the Tokyo
Metropolitan Region(3) Nankai Megathrust
Earthquake- Earthquakes
other than those in(1) through (3)- Other natural
disasters

Basic dispatch plan

Responses based on the respective action plans

Disaster Strikes[(1)Tokai Earthquake]

Application standards

1. Announce warnings/information pertaining to a Tokai Earthquake
2. Proclaim an official warning pertaining to a Tokai Earthquake
3. When an earthquake with a magnitude of fi-lower (magnitude of 5-upper in special districts and ordinancedesignated cities) or greater occurs in one of the eight prefectures where intensified measures are in effect in thecase of 1 or 2
4. When an earthquake with a magnitude of fi-lower (magnitude of 5-upper in special districts and ordinancedesignated cities) or greater occurs in two or more of the eight prefectures where intensified measures are ineffect with the hypocenter within the hypothesized hypocentral region[(2) Earthquake directly below the Tokyo Metropolitan]
1. Cases where an earthquake with a seismic intensity of six-upper or greater is detected within the limits of the 23
wards of Tokyo
2. Aside from cases where an earthquake that fulfills the conditions for 1. above occurs, cases where the damage is
expected to be commensurate with that from an earthquake directly below the Tokyo Metropolitan Region orwhere the Commissioner of the FDMA has determined that a prompt and appropriate response is possible byutilizing the National Fire Service Teams based on the action plan[(3) Nankai Megathrust Earthquake]
1. When an earthquake that meets either of the requirements (1) or (2) below occurs(1) When the epicentral location where the earthquake occurs corresponds to dry of the locations within the
hypothesized earthquake source fault region(2) When an earthquake with a magnitude of fi-upper or greater is predicted or a major tsunami warning has been
issued as a result of the earthquake in any of the three regions of the Chubu Region, the Kinki Region, or the
Shikoku/Kyushu Region
2. Aside from when an earthquake that fulfills the requirements in 1 above occurs, when damage to an equivalentdegree to that from Nankai Megathrust Earthquake is expected, or when the Commissioner of the FDMA deems
that it is possible to mount a prompt and precise response by using the National Fire Service Teams based on theaction plan[Command support units]

1. The entire country is divided up into eight blocks, with a Support Unit designated from six to ten fire departments from each block
2. From the various Command Support Units, one such team is to be designated with which a Command Support Unit leader is affiliated
3. Request the dispatch of the necessary command support units out of consideration for the region where the disaster occurred, the extent of the damage, etc.

[First response prefectural battalions][First response air units]

1. Designate the four neighboring prefectures to send first response battalions to the
1. Designate the ten air units to send first response squads to the prefecture envisioned toprefecture envisioned to suffer the damage.
suffer the damage.
2. Request the dispatch of the necessary prefectural squads out of consideration for the region 2. Request the dispatch of the necessary air units out of consideration for the region
where the disaster occurred, the extent of the damage, etc.
where the disaster occurred, the operable aircraft, etc.

[Reserve response prefectural battalions][Reserve response air units]

1. Designate 12 neighboring prefectures for the prefecture envisioned to suffer the damage.
2. Request the dispatch of the reserve squads as necessary when the first response prefectural
battalions are not enough.

1. Designate 12 air units for the prefecture envisioned to suffer the damage.
2. Request the dispatch of the reserve units as necessary when the first response air units
are not enough.

56

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities

scale disasters such as a Nankai Trough Earthquake or anearthquake directly below the Tokyo Metropolitan Region,
for which damage that is worse than that from the Great
East Japan Earthquake is envisioned.

(D) Assistance Plans by the Prefectures
Each prefecture formulates its own Implementation
Plans for Assistance from National Fire-Service Teams
based on the registration status of National Fire-Service
Teams within the prefecture in question. These plans are
based on consultations with the firefighting agencies ofeach prefecture in question with regard to the organizationof prefectural battalions and other teams, meeting
locations, information communication structures, andother necessary items concerning the prompt dispatch of
National Fire-Service Teams to afflicted regions.

B. Equipment
Since they were first launched, the FDMA has
formulated standards for the equipment for National
Fire-Service Teams. Moreover, since their enshrinement
into law in 2003, it has included provisions for this in
its basic plan as it has worked to round-out their line-upof equipment. Starting from 2006, government subsidy
measures have been taken through a subsidy for outfitting
National Fire-Service Teams with facilities and equipment.
Through this, progress has been made in equipping themwith special disaster-response fire pump vehicles, rescue
work vehicles, special disaster-response ambulances,
as well as the support vehicles active teams need to act
in a self-contained manner in afflicted regions, and also
fiberscopes and other sophisticated rescue equipment andsupplies.
What is more, the stipulations in Article 50 of theFire Organization Act provide for a system for using
equipment free of charge. Under this system, some of theequipment needed by National Fire-Service Teams fortheir team activities and logistical activities is allocatedto fire departments and other sites throughout Japan.
Such equipment includes systems for water sources for
firefighting capable of handling disasters at energy andindustrial infrastructure, response vehicles for handlingtsunamis and large-scale storm and flood damage, vehicles
that can function as mobile bases, and more. (Table 2-7-3)
Moreover, the emergency and disaster prevention andreduction business debentures (100% allocations, 70%
tax grant rate) that were established in FY2011 wereexpanded in FY2013 to newly encompass “Equipment forvehicles for the functional enhancement of National FireService Teams” and “Facilities to serve as bases for widearea activities for National Fire-Service Teams.”
In FY2014, base facilities for rescue activities and thelike were added to the list of facilities eligible for aid
via subsidies for the costs of outfitting fire and disasterprevention equipment. Such facilities consist of helicopter
landing pads, facilities for storing equipment and supplies,
and private refueling facilities. Through this, progress has
been made with setting in place base facilities that willallow National Fire-Service Teams to carry out rescue andother activities in a self-reliant manner.
The FDMA will continue working to round-out andenhance the equipment of National Fire-Service Teamsin a systematic manner to ensure that they can effectively
carry out their activities.

C. Plans for Receiving Assistance
Each prefecture formulates Plans for Receiving
Assistance from National Fire-Service Teams by
hypothesizing situations in which said prefecture
itself falls victim to a disaster. This is done throughconsultations with the firefighting agencies within
the prefecture over necessary matters regarding theacceptance of National Fire-Service Teams. And the fire
departments must likewise formulate plans for receiving
assistance while striving for consistency with the contentsof the plans for receiving assistance formulated by theprefectures and the prefecture’s regional firefighting plans
for the sake of receiving National Fire-Service Teams intheir region.
(3) Number of National Fire-Service Teams
Registered and Their Equipment
A. Number of teams registered
The stipulations of Paragraph 4, Article 45 of the Fire
Organization Act states that the Commissioner of the
FDMA must register National Fire-Service Teams basedon applications to do so from the prefectural governors ormunicipal mayors.
Since the launch of the 1,267 National Fire-Service
Teams in September 1995, there has been a growing
recognition of the importance of their activities during
disasters. As a result, the number of teams registered has
been on the rise, and as of April 1, 2018, 5,978 teams havebeen registered from 725 fire departments nationwide(roughly 99% of the fire departments nationwide). Thisis an increase of 320 teams over and above the number
registered in April 1, 2017 (of 5,658 teams).
In March 2014, the basic plan was revised and a target
for the number of teams registered was set for the endof FY2018 that would substantially increase the numberof teams from its current level of roughly about 4,500
to roughly 6,000 teams. This is to be done because it is
crucial to set in place a structure for deploying teams
quickly and at a large scale in preparation for large-

57

Chapter 2 Fire and Disaster Prevention Organizations and Activities
Table 2-7-3 Main allocation of vehicles and other equipment via the system for using equipment free ofcharge stipulated in Article 50 of the Fire Organization Act
FY of
allocation
2005
2006
2007
2008

2009

2010

2011

Allocated vehicle, etc.

2013

Operation Base Vehicle

4 vehicles

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster Countermeasure
Vehicle2 vehicles
2 systems

Helicopter

1 helicopter

Vehicle equipped with large blower

5 vehicles

Vehicle equipped with water cutter

5 vehicles

Water system for firefighting capable of handlingdisasters at energy and industrial infrastructure

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination system

5 vehicles

Helicopter movement management system

4 systems

Special elevated work vehicle

5 vehicles

Operation Base Vehicle

2 vehicles

Fuel supply vehicle

6 vehicles

Helicopter movement management system

8 systems

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster Countermeasure
Vehicle2 vehicles

Special disaster response vehicle

10 vehicles

System for firefighting capable of handling disasters atenergy and industrial infrastructure

2 systems

Special elevated work vehicle

9 vehicles

Drone for firefighting activities

2 systems

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination system

8 vehicles

Heavy machinery and heavy machinery transport vehicle

3 pairs

Fuel supply vehicle

2 vehicles

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination system

1 vehicle

Firefighting system that use ocean water

2 systems

Helicopter movement management system

6 systems

Helicopter movement management system

2 systems

Operation Base Vehicle

2 vehicles

Infrared camera

1 system

Type 1 support vehicle

47 vehicles

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster Countermeasure
Vehicle3 vehicles

Water system for firefighting capable of handlingdisasters at energy and industrial infrastructure

2 systems

Firefighting system that use ocean water

3 systems

Helicopter

2 helicopters

Personnel transport vehicle

47 vehicles

Equipment transport vehicle

46 vehicles

All-terrain response vehicle

1 pairRadio relay vehicle

2012

No. allocated
2014

2015

2016

21 vehicles

Elevated rescue vehicle for large-scale earthquake
disasters

3 pairs

Heavy machinery and heavy machinery transport vehicle

19 pairs

Prefectural command team vehicle

45 vehicles

Fuel supply vehicle

30 vehicles

Type 1 support vehicle

17 vehicles

Firefighting system that uses ocean water

1 systemSpecial disaster response vehicle

1 vehicle

Special disaster work vehicle

2 vehicles

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination system

4 vehicles

Helicopter movement management system

11 systems

Heli-Sat system

1 system

Operation Base Vehicle

6 vehicles

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster Countermeasure
Vehicle15 vehicles

Mobile communication vehicle

33 vehicles

Helicopter

2 helicopters

Helicopter movement management system

4 systems

Heli-Sat system

4 systems

Heli-Sat camera

3 systems

2017

2018*

(Note)

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination systems

1 vehicle

Helicopter movement management system

5 systems

Operation Base Vehicle

2 vehicles

Water system for firefighting capable of handlingdisasters at energy and industrial infrastructure

2 systems

Radio relay vehicle

3 vehicles

Vehicle equipped with large decontamination systems

1 vehicle

Fuel supply vehicle

9 vehicles

Helicopter video transmission receiver

23 systems

Operation Base Vehicle

6 vehicles

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster Countermeasure
Vehicle6 vehicles

Water system for firefighting capable of handlingdisasters at energy and industrial infrastructure

4 systems

All-terrain response vehicle type II and transport vehicle

2 pairs

Information gathering drone

18 sets

Chemical agent remote sensing equipment

3 vehicles* indicates equipment scheduled to be allocated in FY2018

Tsunami/Large-Scale Water Disaster
Countermeasure Vehicle

Operation Base Vehicle-omitted-

58

Attachment☞ Japanese Original P.312
Attachment 1-1-2 Extent of fire damage by prefecture
Classification
Prefecture
Hokkaido
Aomorilwate

Miyagi
Akita

Yamagata

Fukushima

Total

Forests

Vehicles

1,692

1,046

20

307

5

0

314

421

249

45

29

0

0

98

443

724

266

336

597

1,154

Gunma

794

752

277

362

166

187

333

582

367

375

23

28

19

23

42

4,261

2,857

477

341

12

135

7

NiigataToyamaIshikawa
Fukui

Yamanashi
NaganoGifu

Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie

Shiga

Kyoto

2,141

184

245

165

360

843

667

1,160

1,197

134

103

407

209

556

268

361

Osaka

2,319

1,608

Nara

449

203

Hyogo
Wakayama

1,764

350

Tottori

182

Okayama

758

ShimaneHiroshima

Yamaguchi
Tokushima
KagawaEhime
Kochi

Kagoshima
Okinawa

Prefectural total
Sapporo city
Sendai City

Saitama City
Chiba City

876

149
87

265

340

418

349

385

631

499

512

683

517

145

157

249

168

793

157

224

290

252

235

322

216

25

81

36

14

12

303

263

173

128

854

144

99

482

77

80

338

14

200

13

43

74

13

182

28

2

0

0

1

17

26

25

30

31

43

25

47

141

26

24

21

48

44

44

28

53

41

72

49

43

58

57

214

249

111

0

0

6

0

21

0

2

0

2

7

2

13

60

3

156

224

98

6,444

4

5

3

56

23

20

19

25

17

811

625

211

21

60

32

379

447

1,353

1,493

612

201

208

181

32

219

163

57

47

94

54

51

78

81

45

21

7

262

177

442

327

189

199

335

46

50

808

209

42

220

337

453

417

108

252

103

52

550

115

1,145

203

1,977

189

304

135

85

30

73

23

22

59

112

444

125

62

38

155

54

276

90

20

252

999

173

0

0

0

2

2

4

133

0

128

0

166

0

0

9

0

1

0

2

0

0

0

4

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

2

59

346

115

365

118

190

271

188

454

375

548

272

70

146

123

224

42

62

81

19

115

134

52

300

527

14

92

125

81

148

15

13

76

84

24

111

18

123

24

73

18

21

126

65

70

173

111

177

133

7

30

127

61

94

0

103

0

304

368

234

166

762

2,499

99

243

51

7

0

60

0

150

0

185

0

140

0

78

0

(Note) The “21 city total” is found within the prefectural total.

196

98

73

15

0

7

210

17

73

179

0

0

76

14

92

0

1

146

63

605

0

0

0

124

184

14,117

0

1

39

37

8,063

0

0

134

1,677

0

0

200

1,089

152

68

173

458

220

44

61

122

237

87

184

390

254

35

612

6,967

0

0

247

242

30,824

0

1

212

145

12,783

0

0

98

443

166

6

0

0

76

0

0

3

170

663

102

0

618

11

203

97

50

39

86

1,252

9

129

54

500

103

4

80

100

139

16

58

918

162

80

230

2

604

2,463

36

494

226

763

625

120

0

224

221

281

69

333

558

124

629

152

122

179

83

145

107

159

77

23

358

344

90

242

19

1,432

103

217

95

135

50

241

786

258

353

95

0

0

4

175

20

3

0

0

116

495

24

52

22

53

749

98

10

0

57

807

109

152

77

165

0

296

25

226

0

196

9,950

26

305

195

146

158

0

10

171

12

1

32

269

321

14

614

665

222

3

472

263

67

152

305

0

176

Kobe City

297

26

144

674

228

36

0

918

226

90

17

25

0

1

14

185

132

2

83

48

444

1,005

162

0

0

534

411

0

0

3

391

71

0

3

95

0

0

1

295

438

3,304

0

0

1,315

1,182

0

2

Minor fire

0

0

3

Partially
destroyed

1,670

0

0

Half
destroyed

785

0

0

57

63

267

0

1

1

19

0

0

0

19

21

135

0

1

51

0

0

0

6

Osaka City

21 city total

79

94

0

4

0

551

Kumamoto City

60

1

1

0

34

Nagoya City

Fukuoka City

226

0

98

239

2

0

5

106

Kitakyushu City

81

1

149

323

194

Hiroshima City75

0Totally
destroyed

Total

0

0

1

280

474

Shizuoka City

Okayama City

24

0

72

210

Sakai City

27

Other
0

0

3,863

330

Kyoto City

43

2

1,284

Kawasaki City

Hamamatsu City

28

Aircraft

21,365

2,193

Niigata City

52

Ships

39,373

3,099

Sagamihara City

185

118

41

259

167

28

459

500

391

Special wards

Yokohama City

37

817

479

Miyazaki

2

28

Nagasaki
Oita

1

122

1,443

Kumamoto

8294

Fukuoka
Saga

218

27

1,075

634

4

95

337

2,126

85

174

18

566

87

14

156

352

30

95

Tokyo

Kanagawa

30

18

1,043

925

95

123

33

2,016

1,998

43

35

Saitama
Chiba

No. of buildings burned

Buildings

IbarakiTochigi(During 2017)

No. of fires

83

572

106

129

177

163

402

28

20

16

59

67

463

1,910

15

4

48

176

30

38

2

27

17

12

35

12

32

44

24

10

4

66

36

9

9

53

2,632

237

268

144

7,867

49

16

18

66

31

30

211

82

38

225

39

263

29

30

18

166

134

132

23

85

41

15

242

314

63

193

23

38

784

127

19

28

24

39

11

32

4

19

604

10

327

132

93

373

48

49

99

66

231

74

127

47

137

46

510

202

68

58

160

75

164

70

32

1,878

117

76

5,058

Attachment
Attachment 1-1-2 Extent of fire damage by prefecture (continued)
Classification
Prefecture
Hokkaido
Aomorilwate

Miyagi
Akita

Yamagata

Fukushima
IbarakiTochigi
Gunma

Saitama
Chiba

Tokyo

Kanagawa
NiigataToyamaIshikawa
Fukui

Yamanashi

Area burned
Building
Building
floor area (㎡) surface area(㎡)

495

1,379

26,8082,913

42,459

38

75

251

124

11

116

615

1,838

721

189

80

24,266

20,222

12,76323,62737,805

26,52626,18084,15844,62322,09622,02738,008

11,737

8,070

1,779

1,397

3,165

2,474

249

3,212

2,128

5,444

3,014

8,624

1,715

156

704

626

51

4,631

192

588

15

2,675

516

14

116

18

51

24

112

79

266

65

83

69

17

15,397

2,764

308

20

43,804

14,211

8,569

2,199

2,522

1,733

186

6,000

586

33,969

11,696

14,128

5,441

502

186

245

7,404

1,248

1,589

197

303

671

80

524

201

21,4002,318

715

18,435

2,239

12,258Hiroshima

22,655
7,069

618

3,010

488

269

206

151

18

65

310

54

26

131

57

234

101

114

354

710

125

72

99

320

16,043

Kumamoto
Oita

MiyazakiKagoshima
Okinawa

Prefectural total
Sapporo city
Sendai City

Saitama City
Chiba City

841

160

52

207

58

24

68

1,781

1,606

12

1,697

170

602

20,422

1,517

13,072

1,559

21,28335,207

5,305

1,641

Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka City

Kumamoto City
21 city total

144

42

108

123

15

53

14

12

26

87

166

683

108

265

598

595

1,967

376

730

1,402

3,478

12

123

450

28

6

538

77

10

87

31

202

67

20

139

20

12

76

48

8

64

398

98

18

41

359

4

30
8

44

54

1,635

268

182

211

776

350

1,027

74

264

14

133

67

500

261

463

229

764

186

37

541

1,579

195

58

5

132

459

14

140

128

267

223

225

262

121

39

10

73

10

73

14

69

98

23

10

16

79

184

138

154

82

315

663

437

494

549

260

41,518

2,050

139

55

10

38

118

13

4

101

259

5,677

3,712

3,036

5,137

2,274

5,869

Hiroshima City

34

232

13,385

Hamamatsu City

Okayama City

88

11

63

7

68

331

1,305

10,500

Kobe City

28

69

896

4,163

Niigata City

Sakai City

63

4

61

18,853

1,487

580

4,955

21

0

254

22

1,856

0

220

Osaka City

16

16

2,374

6,052

3,283

Kyoto City

64

214

1,456

Kawasaki City

Nagoya City

83

26

842

1,708

93,808

5,856

Shizuoka City

1,933

21

4,915

90

539

111,304

13,628

Sagamihara City

3,067

68

2,074

54

1,069,932

Special wards

Yokohama City

773

9

32

30

226

Nagasaki

13,726

162

115

2,958

Saga

55

495

37,330

6,765

219

456

152

Fukuoka

39

2,560

146

211

8

655

776

41

79

1,968

697

201

898

22

1,454

75

189

614

1,115

1,103

262

9,577

203

27

305

322

2,013

Kochi

20

27

437

31

22,589

Ehime

59

162

121

112

18

14

420

474

236

20

188

96

861

163

14

934

12

95

19

258

44

50

69

14

240

627

76

138

185

128

16

172

13

136

10,005

28

20

33

853

Kagawa

42

70

125

28

119

158

248

39

29

1,090

186

1,748

28

42

779

493

49

6

86

106

99

52

10

302

329

339

95

12

158

94

140

12

490

214

27

79

89

2,507

38

16

265

43

762

39

80

151

90

240

32

6

346

62

1,091

50

6

254

291

322

34

10

1,281

80

24

1,505

1,549

138

36

1,955

43

108

44

7,853

774

78

38

219

8,535

84

30

435

Shimane

Yamaguchi

924

10,2504,305

Tokushima

1,000

1,624

35,077

Okayama

No. of people
affected

73

Hyogo

Tottori

Minor
destruction

138

1,244

Wakayama

Half
destroyed

706

17,438

Nara

Totally
destroyed

263

2,451

Kyoto

Osaka

Total

72

34,783

Shiga

Injured

2,907

Shizuoka
Mie

Fatalities

7,113

19,59526,510

Aichi

Forests (a)(During 2017)
No. of households affected

57,634

Nagano
Gifu

No. of casualties

0

0

215

26

358

3

327

0

627

2,079

413

18

4,627

2,042

7,099

3,868

3,890

997

115

987

11

4,203

2,714

3,817

3,796

5,939

2,192

3,468

101,866

365

361

19

12

33

233

155

91

64

415

180

175

1,586

3,703

11

57

179

21

12

146

345

26

118

10

24

10

20

12

7

465

77

78

23

117

24

80

301

0

25

184

745

12

71

15

77

10

35

11

34

7

15

130

9

6

5,809

1

122

396

144

115

24

26

9

181

1,905

24

65

24

19

582

7

0

33

58

3,354

22,945

59

11

878

985

82

56

52

11

54

34

322

1,772

(Note) The “21 city total” is found within the prefectural total.

60

199

177

206

116

215

181

220

111

5,969

59

14

24

34

7

5

372

56

49

170

210

30

13

41

18

242

62

41

642

1,263

175

445

15

24

28

1

18

8

74

1,040

64

157

141

18

13

32

8

175

31

14

175

738

425

22

51

26

15

8

2

79

122

83

4,806

243

208

573

363

411

274

452

367

396

244

11,957

Attachment
Attachment 1-1-2 Extent of fire damage by prefecture (continued)
Classification
Prefecture
Hokkaido
Aomorilwate
Miyagi
Akita
Yamagata
Fukushima
IbarakiTochigi
Gunma
Saitama
Chiba
Tokyo
Kanagawa
NiigataToyamaIshikawa
Fukui
Yamanashi
NaganoGifu
Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie
Shiga
Kyoto
Osaka
Hyogo
Nara
Wakayama
Tottori
Shimane
Okayama
Hiroshima
Yamaguchi
Tokushima
KagawaEhime
Kochi
Fukuoka
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
Oita
MiyazakiKagoshima
Okinawa
Prefectural total
Sapporo city
Sendai City
Saitama City
Chiba City
Special wards
Yokohama City
Kawasaki City
Sagamihara City
Niigata City
Shizuoka City
Hamamatsu City
Nagoya City
Kyoto City
Osaka City
Sakai City
Kobe City
Okayama City
Hiroshima City
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka City
Kumamoto City
21 city total

Total
2,761,071
765,348
1,751,493
1,966,232
839,592
510,276
1,403,749
3,099,246
1,624,378
1,995,860
14,538,215
3,730,210
5,078,191
2,663,186
2,675,524
794,650
535,871588,509639,682
1,489,541
1,049,805
3,543,972
4,129,270
877,640
1,538,713
1,290,335
3,618,574
3,456,967
1,546,149
493,068
316,448
409,821
1,539,812
1,307,528
914,931
488,062
462,103826,180
530,165
3,238,014
1,054,051
817,358
991,146
3,071,796
661,867
1,066,779
631,289
89,322,667
402,483
197,855
271,045339,945
3,725,726
662,767
307,863
400,673
1,387,895
379,982471,604
330,979
400,180
594,186
266,260
560,421278,623
441,928
329,916
192,488
210,998
12,153,817

Subtotal
2,534,303
694,183
933,174
1,895,695
719,582
471,334
1,171,409
2,850,887
1,493,514
1,875,330
14,366,241
3,454,338
4,890,621
2,405,466
2,621,088
764,164
510,371536,985
602,644
1,436,544
1,009,575
3,087,049
3,779,978
800,036
1,099,484
1,261,983
3,481,728
3,230,961
1,492,992
450,757
311,905
395,988952,887
1,204,537
838,262
457,889
411,372
792,137
463,466
2,390,884
725,464
736,834
875,885
2,890,297
614,069
1,004,771
609,928
81,598,991
379,389
187,223
256,853
205,578
3,585,395
611,515
295,906
393,529
1,376,719
249,639
426,065
308,189
389,478
579,566
226,246
529,143
268,272
431,907322,339
137,463
203,091
11,363,505

Building

Buildings
1,579,085
476,100
751,095
1,143,274
463,396356,599
959,328
1,829,844
1,085,773
1,248,531
10,399,941
2,080,277
3,201,292
1,668,728
2,069,483
535,785
323,942
413,228
463,721
1,092,095
627,836
2,186,348
2,203,023
653,710501,258
884,452
2,261,862
2,130,148
1,310,292
349,184
272,018
308,342712,838
775,306
631,449
323,234
291,903537,448319,290
1,420,696
459,502606,911
663,736
705,864
449,999
538,601
331,104
54,597,871
299,070
137,669
208,327
153,061
2,286,450
486,672
141,995
245,846
1,172,499
202,324
332,339
235,619
307,911281,283
140,897392,291
179,693
262,423
148,345
99,385
161,838
7,875,937(During 2017) (Unit: 1,000 yen)Amount of damages
Contents
955,218
218,083
182,079
752,421
256,186
114,735
212,081
1,021,043
407,741
626,799
3,966,300
1,374,061
1,689,329
736,738
551,605
228,379
186,429
123,757
138,923
344,449
381,739
900,701
1,576,955
146,326598,226
377,531
1,219,866
1,100,813
182,700
101,573
39,88787,646240,049
429,231206,813
134,655
119,469
254,689
144,176
970,188265,962
129,923
212,149
2,184,433
164,070
466,170
278,824
27,001,120
80,31949,554
48,52652,517
1,298,945
124,843
153,911
147,683
204,220
47,31593,726
72,57081,567298,283
85,349136,852
88,579169,484
173,994
38,07841,253
3,487,568

Forests
539
2,772
756,980
14,7394,842
11,712
14,397
1,041
707
200
5,395
2,026
0
0
0
45
515
47
1,671
1,455
73
34,739
2,750
480
210
0
0
381
23,048
477
0
469
1,189
467
15
173
10
858
38
3,764
828
53
2,762
2,128
4,882
1,184
300
900,361
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
33,854
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
284
1
0
34,152(Note) The “21 city total” is found within the prefectural total.

-omitted-

61

VehiclesShips

131,019
25,45622,311
42,274
5,762
10,903
98,282
74,83642,60037,864
100,250
116,731101,037
126,115
26,584
15,58522,481
44,187
20,793
27,46329,98173,015
151,724
51,81841,05015,673
100,779
127,430
19,199
8,356
4,059
9,182
89,454
52,68065,41814,02920,05922,17327,89373,37356,031
16,40039,312
15,781
11,232
43,465
11,0252,283,124
21,3907,356
10,75526,98667,00728,516
5,805
5,919
6,431
13,9594,433
19,241
9,015
12,14026,54125,705
8,968
8,345
4,738
11,563
6,532
331,345

71,07323,994
0
0
0
326
30
0
0
0
110
683
0
892
40
0
0
168
0
0
0
727
262
2,300
0
1,588
435
1,449
0
162
0
1,240
396,732
56
5,807
0
0
6,400
1,763
40,569054,573
502
2,150
0
5,195
0
619,226
0
0
0
0
0
60
0
0
0
0
0
53
0
183
10
0
0
0
1,550
32,000033,856

Aircraft
0
0
0
0
0
8,000
0
60
0
35,032
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
43,092
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Other
23,971
11,854
18,127
13,523
109,294
7,995
97,868172,422
10,76629,531
62,236
155,582
58,141
118,759
27,034
6,885
2,504
3,034
12,501
7,715
9,474
341,442
167,084
23,002
17,711
10,95634,54883,055
9,063
33,316484
2,942
21,24643,5094,340
15,9706,960
4,542
33,029728,927
271,728
9,498
72,685
161,434
26,60012,164
10,036
3,105,487
1,538
3,272
3,182
107,38145,061
22,649
6,152
1,225
4,745
116,384
7,252
2,952
1,589
2,288
13,463
5,573
1,374
1,676
799
11,252
1,375
361,182

Explosions
166
7,089
20,901
1
112
6
21,763076,791
17,9033,983
850
28,392
11,954
778
7,971
0
4,088
2,073
16,364702
7,000
27,472
4
380,258
135
1,084
13,6911,847
00078,304
6,279
1,089
1
23,702
70
3,976
497
0
0
0
6
5,084
0
0
772,386166
0255
028,263
27
0
0
0
0
0
544
98
9
0
0
0
0
206
209
0
29,777

Attachment☞ Japanese Original P.348
Attachment 1-2-1 Trends in the number of facilities for hazardous material

Year

Types ofmanufacturing
facilities, Net total Manufacturing
facilities
Subtotaletc.

(As of March 31 of each year)

Storage facilities
Indoorstoragefacilities

Outdoortankstoragefacilities

Indoor tank Undergroundstoragestoragefacilities
facilities

Handling facilities
Simpletankstoragefacilities

Mobiletankstoragefacilities

Outdoorstoragefacilities

Subtotal

Fuel
supplydepotsClass 1sales
handling
facilities

Class 2sales
handling
facilities

Transfer
handling
facilities

Generaloutlets

1959

95,2072,523

63,30323,566

19,090

2,048

5,484

7,237

3,527

2,351

29,381

19,937

1,702

7,742

1967

213,526

3,008

140,842

34,163

48,975

8,863

23,891

4,648

15,1905,112

69,67642,347

2,059

25,2701968

246,767

3,164

157,456

36,52353,938

9,993

28,243

4,731

17,856

6,172

86,14749,041

2,478

34,628

1969

279,012

3,309

175,150

38,88059,504

11,17233,142

4,793

20,556

7,103

100,553

54,0602,907

43,586

1970

308,784

3,459

192,155

40,70964,693

12,33438,852

4,767

22,645

8,155

113,170

58,0963,274

51,8001971

346,1133,684

213,883

43,254

71,32013,61145,8804,849

25,396

9,573

128,546

62,749

3,553

1972

377,123

3,789

231,972

44,872

76,09014,66752,132

4,805

28,484

10,922

141,362

66,638

3,722

91

70,911

1973

410,158

3,929

251,372

46,76981,38815,57558,913

4,748

32,13911,840154,857

71,0493,697

163

79,948

1974

461,500

4,037

288,771

50,25391,596

16,84068,4234,774

36,04920,836

168,692

74,697

3,763

258

1975

495,161

3,961

312,00953,23997,846

17,53475,642

4,578

39,36423,806

179,191

76,879

3,727

319

1,148

97,118

1976

512,675

4,035

323,827

55,14099,401

17,93680,906

4,540

41,90923,995

184,81378,508

3,717

374

1,225

100,9891977

527,118

4,104

333,440

56,772

99,626

18,23685,874

4,496

44,26624,170189,574

79,998

3,675

464

1,229

104,208

1978

539,532

4,124

341,341

57,81999,456

18,632

90,734

4,286

46,33324,081

194,067

81,288

3,626

513

1,251

107,3891979

552,597

4,184

349,777

58,52898,98418,92995,823

4,194

49,42723,892

198,636

82,900

3,538

541

1,316

110,341

1980

575,376

4,272

366,356

60,165

100,373

19,451

104,193

4,187

52,35025,637204,748

84,588

3,462

604

1,357

114,737

1981

587,052

4,346

373,465

61,55497,50919,923

109,755

4,076

54,986

25,662

209,241

86,056

3,416

647

1,366

117,756

1982

596,575

4,393

379,752

62,78997,00720,013

113,398

3,953

57,12625,466

212,430

86,962

3,351

667

1,382

120,068

1983

601,905

4,435

382,91463,44096,341

19,955

115,724

3,871

58,662

24,921

214,556

87,678

3,284

705

1,380

121,5091984

607,040

4,477

386,406

63,59896,057

19,878

117,715

3,742

61,01924,397

216,157

88,143

3,221

729

1,391

122,6731985

613,364

4,560

390,825

63,87895,685

19,831

119,749

3,638

64,39323,651217,979

88,582

3,124

744

1,400

124,129

1986

617,540

4,598

393,41964,081

94,998

19,621

121,2543,531

66,99822,936

219,523

88,882

3,040

739

1,402

125,460

1987

620,783

4,657

395,877

63,98094,334

19,465

122,509

3,435

69,97622,178220,249

88,890

2,939

758

1,397

126,265

1988

574,720

4,677

397,687

63,69393,497

19,354

123,402

3,361

72,957

21,423

172,356

89,088

2,845

766

1,381

78,276

1989

578,881

4,722

400,597

63,562

93,105

19,150124,374

3,288

76,451

20,667

173,562

89,506

2,768

765

1,372

79,151

1990

582,911

4,775

403,577

63,426

92,77818,955

125,630

3,199

79,30820,281

174,559

89,814

2,696

776

1,360

79,913

1991

561,184

4,774

385,975

61,35087,95017,999125,874

2,354

71,596

18,852

170,435

89,388

2,630

657

1,373

76,387

1992

562,980

4,917

387,019

61,52287,55017,710126,599

2,266

73,111

18,261

171,044

89,616

2,554

640

1,369

76,865

1993

562,250

4,975

386,022

61,28587,03817,459126,706

2,212

73,69917,623

171,253

89,996

2,464

652

1,377

76,764

1994

560,790

5,013

383,979

60,862

86,272

17,168

126,543

2,169

73,704

17,261

171,798

90,647

2,395

647

1,380

76,7291995

561,295

5,046

383,683

60,30485,764

16,880126,533

2,089

75,307

16,806

172,566

91,418

2,321

647

1,382

76,798

1996

561,094

5,071

382,941

59,824

85,114

16,598

126,552

2,040

76,575

16,238173,082

92,037

2,256

660

1,378

76,751

1997

560,108

5,126

382,40959,221

84,553

16,315

126,617

1,965

77,881

15,857

172,573

91,583

2,196

652

1,365

76,777

1998

556,647

5,159

380,337

58,697

83,902

16,133

126,218

1,906

78,184

15,297

171,151

90,226

2,146

641

1,359

76,7791999

551,371

5,156

377,229

58,07382,877

15,848125,4811,828

78,404

14,718

168,986

88,382

2,075

645

1,350

76,534

2000

546,043

5,145

374,034

57,246

81,646

15,497

124,558

1,768

79,027

14,292

166,864

86,616

2,017

638

1,343

76,250

2001

542,068

5,160

371,351

56,72280,26015,311

123,964

1,703

79,802

13,589165,557

85,182

1,963

631

1,331

76,450

2002

537,8255,183

368,561

56,01079,26415,022

123,096

1,646

80,356

13,167

164,081

83,869

1,876

625

1,322

76,3892003

530,484

5,085

363,829

55,17877,631

14,709

121,795

1,586

80,194

12,736

161,570

82,371

1,807

618

1,288

75,486

2004

523,341

5,076

358,786

54,577

76,147

14,368

119,988

1,514

79,804

12,388

159,479

80,814

1,737

611

1,262

75,055

2005

514,990

5,050

352,872

54,33774,724

14,086

117,491

1,446

78,683

12,105

157,068

79,104

1,681

600

1,250

74,433

2006

506,245

5,058

346,532

53,77073,42813,803

114,564

1,384

77,63011,953

154,655

77,642

1,632

591

1,241

73,5492007

496,789

5,107

339,728

53,72072,213

13,363111,204

1,307

76,262

11,659151,954

76,310

1,584

583

1,226

72,251

2008

486,8125,121

332,859

53,47370,898

12,965108,292

1,247

74,513

11,471

148,832

74,388

1,523

567

1,215

71,1392009

475,989

5,154

325,590

53,18269,756

12,574105,206

1,204

72,387

11,281

145,245

72,121

1,480

554

1,208

69,882

2010

465,685

5,164

318,562

52,63768,606

12,287

102,417

1,170

70,232

11,213141,959

70,005

1,428

551

1,190

68,785

2011

455,8295,152

311,996

52,21967,47011,92399,383

1,141

68,746

11,114

138,681

67,990

1,381

542

1,179

67,5892012

447,277

5,150

305,975

51,516

66,294

11,67996,1201,114

68,29910,953

136,152

66,470

1,333

537

1,153

66,6592013

436,918

5,160

299,142

51,24565,33011,502

91,255

1,101

67,916

10,793

132,616

64,593

1,293

538

1,151

65,041

2014

428,541

5,154

293,544

50,88864,206

11,296

87,831

1,060

67,665

10,598129,843

63,222

1,245

529

1,142

63,705

2015

422,0295,106

289,034

50,55363,093

11,02185,4991,019

67,49810,351

127,889

62,269

1,209

518

1,127

62,766

2016

416,234

5,088

284,849

50,201

62,12010,802

83,341

1,002

67,17010,213

126,297

61,401

1,178

510

1,111

62,097

2017

410,651

5,096

280,863

50,023

61,124

10,586

81,417986

66,733

9,994

124,692

60,585

1,138

499

1,098

61,372

2018405,238

5,093

276,879

49,81160,36010,386

79,723961

65,806

9,832

123,266

59,715

1,107

493

1,084

60,867

62,244

89,974(Notes) 1 Prepared based on “The Survey on Regulation Work of Hazardous Materials”.
2 1959 is as of September 30.
3 With regard to the numbers in 2011 and 2012, because of the influence of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the numbers for the
Rikuzentakata City Fire Department in Iwate Prefecture and the Futaba Fire Department in Fukushima Prefecture were calculated based on thenumbers at the time of last fiscal year’s survey (as of March 31, 2010).

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62

Attachment☞ Japanese Original P.361
Attachment 2-1-2 Trends in the number of firefighting agencies and volunteer firefighter (As of April 1 of each year)
Category

Fire departments
Firedepartments

Unions among
theseFire stations

Branch offices

1956

383

6

465

713

31,864

5,332

-

101

1,830,222

1957

406

6

488

735

32,745

4,484

-

107

1,737,319

1958

429

6

507

778

33,729

4,304

-

104

1,677,555

1959

438

6

533

831

35,168

4,153

-

93

1,633,792

1960

445

3

562

833

36,627

4,016

-

102

1,591,053

1961

461

3

578

889

38,4893,957

35,46396

1,542,406

1962

484

3

597

919

40,9483,909

35,377100

1,488,495

1963

511

3

617

961

43,1693,852

34,323116

1,445,508

1964

544

4

641

996

45,357

3,835

33,825

117

1,413,285

1965

620

4

735

1,024

48,075

3,826

31,653123

1,330,995

1966

640

4

755

1,072

50,806

3,818

30,940125

1,301,702

1967

671

5

817

1,110

53,957

3,764

29,926107

1,283,003

1968

700

9

851

1,155

56,681

3,748

29,45194

1,258,277

1969

734

26

892

1,242

60,486

3,743

28,99889

1,234,696

1970

756

58

937

1,308

64,2303,699

28,48271

1,210,839

1971

782

129

986

1,470

70,077

3,682

27,73261

1,189,675

1972

805

221

1,094

1,769

79,092

3,659

27,63823

1,166,625

1973

829

304

1,155

2,120

88,754

3,696

27,39225

1,148,567

1974

848

359

1,230

2,407

98,3293,682

27,08122

1,131,723

1975

859

378

1,258

2,590

105,005

3,668

26,80522

1,118,036

1976

869

387

1,286

2,665

107,632

3,673

26,65022

1,105,299

1977

878

398

1,321

2,742

110,618

3,669

26,46317

1,094,367

1978

887

408

1,336

2,771

114,249

3,669

26,32418

1,087,269

1979

895

419

1,366

2,840

117,657

3,666

26,28112

1,078,536

1980

906

427

1,425

2,883

120,460

3,641

26,08411

1,069,140

1981

914

435

1,462

2,930

123,204

3,645

25,99511

1,063,761

1982

923

441

1,470

3,001

125,335

3,656

26,1159

1,057,404

1983

927

445

1,476

3,063

126,959

3,653

26,0028

1,050,271

1984

932

451

1,483

3,111

128,087

3,658

25,8588

1,042,463

1985

933

454

1,496

3,132

128,914

3,641

25,7987

1,033,376

1986

933

454

1,501

3,151

129,6103,650

25,7017

1,026,224

1987

931

455

1,514

3,152

130,463

3,648

25,66771,017,807

1988

930

456

1,526

3,170

131,407

3,649

25,606

6

1,008,998

1989

931

458

1,535

3,160

132,437

3,649

25,6206

1,002,371

1990

933

464

1,554

3,166

133,610

3,654

25,6396

996,743

1991

935

468

1,589

3,175

135,157

3,648

25,5592

991,566

1992

935

467

1,602

3,181

137,388

3,642

25,574

1

986,996

1993

932

466

1,618

3,200

141,403

3,642

25,575

1

983,014

1994

931

465

1,615

3,207

144,885

3,641

25,561

1

979,737

1995

931

467

1,631

3,207

147,016

3,637

25,506-

975,512

1996

925

470

1,636

3,219

148,989

3,636

25,480-972,078

1997

923

471

1,654

3,224

150,626

3,641

25,455-

968,081

1998

920

473

1,662

3,232

151,703

3,643

25,393-

962,625

1999

911

473

1,670

3,239

152,4643,641

25,351-

957,047

2000

907

472

1,682

3,230

153,439

3,639

25,322-

951,069

2001

904

475

1,687

3,225

153,952

3,636

25,268-944,134

2002

900

475

1,690

3,226

154,487

3,627

25,238-937,169

2003

894

472

1,696

3,207

155,016

3,598

25,064-928,432

2004

886

459

1,699

3,207

155,5243,524

24,852-

919,105

2005

848

385

1,704

3,225

156,082

2,963

24,384-

908,043

2006

811

329

1,706

3,221

156,758

2,584

23,946-900,007

2007

807

320

1,705

3,230

157,396

2,474

23,605-892,893

2008

807

316

1,706

3,218

157,860

2,380

23,180-888,900

2009

803

312

1,710

3,197

158,327

2,336

22,997-885,394

2010

802

305

1,716

3,180

158,8092,275

22,926-883,698

2011

798

303

1,711

3,186

159,354

2,263

22,839-879,978

2012

791

305

1,706

3,184

159,730

2,234

22,753-874,193

2013

770

304

1,700

3,162

160,392

2,224

22,578-868,872

2014

752

296

1,703

3,153

161,244

2,221

22,560-864,347

2015

750

295

1,709

3,145

162,124

2,208

22,549-859,995

2016

733

291

1,714

3,130

163,043

2,211

22,484-856,278

2017

732

290

1,718

3,111

163,8142,209

22,458-850,331

2018

728

289

1,719

3,117

164,873

2,209

22,422-

843,667

FY

Firefighters

Volunteer fire
corps

Volunteer fire corps
Standing
Divisions
volunteerfire corps

Volunteer
firefighters(Note) Prepared based on “The Survey of the Current Status of Fire Prevention and Earthquake Countermeasures” and “The Report on Personnel
Changes concerning Fire Defense Headquarters and Volunteer Fire Corps”.

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63