## (Maintaining emergency transport roads)

As the urgency of an earthquake occurring directly below greater Tokyo is pointed out, the Tokyo metropolitan government, in an effort to prevent collapsed buildings from blocking emergency transport roads, established an ordinance in March 2011 to promote seismic retrofitting of buildings along such roads. Starting April 2012, this ordinance requires owners of some 5,000 office buildings and condominiums along specified emergency transport roads (1,000 km of roads designated as such) to conduct earthquake diagnoses. The government reckons that earthquake diagnoses of some 3,000 structures will be completed by fiscal 2013 and that they will undergo repair if required.

## (Backups for the central functions in the Tokyo area)

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused tremendous damage to a wide range of areas, and its economic effects extended widely to cover not only Japan but also the rest of the world. Therefore, how national land should be developed to minimize damage caused by a huge disaster like the March 11 earthquake became an important issue to be addressed in formulating national land policy. In particular, it is clear that if a massive disaster hits the Tokyo area where the nation’s central functions are concentrated, it would have incalculable, serious effects on not only the Tokyo area but also the entire nation, and that furthermore, it would even widely affect the international community.

For this reason, it is pointed out in various circles that the central functions in the Tokyo area should not stop no matter what situation may occur and that backup systems should be established so that minimum necessary functions start work in other areas even if the central ones should stop.

In this backdrop, the Ministry established a panel of experts to consider establishing basic backup systems for the Tokyo area's central functions, and in April 2012, the panel analyzed basic issues such as operations to be backed up, resources required for the execution of operations to be backed up (such as how chains of command, personnel, facilities and equipment, information, and resources should be prepared (stand-by at normal times)), requirements for backup sites, etc., and decisions on and procedures for shifting to backup systems and policies and other guidelines for addressing the issues. The probability of an earthquake of magnitude 7 class occurring directly below greater Tokyo during the next 30 years is estimated at 70%, and in view of its urgency, the national government is urged to take swift actions to establish backup systems for the Tokyo area's central functions.

## 3 New recognition of energy and environmental restrictions

The Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused an accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power station. Later, nuclear power stations nationwide suspended operation one after another due to regular inspections and other factors, and for this and other reasons, the relationship between power supply and demand became tight on a nationwide scale. Initiatives for electricity conservation were carried out in many areas, including those served by Tokyo and Tohoku Electric Power Companies.

Meanwhile, global warming has serious effects on the global environment, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change makes it its ultimate objective to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system,” and attaining this objective is becoming a task shared by all mankind. Japan has worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking a stance of addressing this issue on its own initiative, and through discussions about how new energy supply and demand should be, an issue raised after the occurrence of the March 11 earthquake, it is important to push forward with advanced initiatives for energy conservation and use of renewable energy in order to realize a low-carbon society.

In order to achieve energy conservation, it is necessary to curb power consumption during peak hours in addition to making an all-out efforts for energy saving. It is also necessary to pay attention to renewable energy that has not been fully tapped in the past. Some of the hitherto unused and unprofitable energy might become profitable if electricity charges are expected to rise in the future. Not only businesses but also individuals are urged to make efforts to utilize renewable energy.