to continue observing the existing agreement even if the facilities change their owners.

After the earthquake occurred, many people rushed to hubs of transport such as the terminal stations of railways. For this reason, the Ministry identified problems by establishing a council to examine how to resume railway operation in greater Tokyo after the occurrence of a massive earthquake, and the council considered how to evacuate and guide passengers swiftly, provide information to ensure smooth resumption of operation, and receive stranded people at urban facilities, as well as measures to be taken to secure sufficient means of transport for people coming home.

MLIT also participated in a council co-hosted by the Cabinet Office and the Tokyo metropolitan government to consider measures to handle stranded people and cope with other problems when an earthquake occurs directly below the capital area. The council discussed such issues as making the policy of preventing all workers from coming home at the same time known to employers, protecting users at stations and other facilities, guiding and transporting people staying in front of stations, and providing appropriate information to stranded people, and put together an interim report on these issues in March 2012. In the summer and autumn of 2012, it will develop guidelines for protecting users at large crowd-attracting facilities, stations, and so forth and organize policy to solve issues based on simulations of transport of stranded people.

Furthermore, railway operators are doing seismic retrofitting and taking other measures for their 270 or so major stations, which are used by 10,000 people or more a day and have such functions as serving as a junction for two or more lines, because they are important as places to ensure the safety of passengers and temporary evacuation sites for stranded people.

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## Coping with People Stranded in the Capital Area, a Problem That Was Highlighted after the Great East Japan Earthquake

According to the Cabinet Office, some 5.15 million people were stranded in the capital area after the March 11 earthquake. The Cabinet Office assumes that if a massive earthquake occurs directly below the capital area, 6.5 million people would be stranded in urban districts in Tokyo and the other three neighboring prefectures. The Tokyo metropolitan government's assumptions of damage indicate that in its 23 wards, some 2.39 million residents would be forced to stay at evacuation sites due to loss of their own houses. In eleven of these wards such as Adachi, Ota, and Sumida, however, the currently available evacuation sites would not be able to accommodate about 276,000 residents even if all public facilities such as elementary and junior high schools are used. If stranded people are included, it would be necessary to find new evacuation sites capable of accommodating about 1.3 million people or more.

In March 2012, the Tokyo metropolitan government established an ordinance requiring businesses to save for emergency water, food, and blankets that will allow their employees to live for three days. It estimates that around 40% of businesses have already stored three days' supplies or more. It has also entered into agreements with shipping companies on the transport of emergency supplies at the time of disaster, but its policy is to conclude new agreements with these companies to transport stranded people as well. In accordance with this policy, the government will determine marine routes that allow stranded people to go home by ferry or high-speed jet boat via Kisarazu Port in Chiba Prefecture and Yokohama Port in Kanagawa Prefecture.

A total of 26,914 houses suffered damage from the liquefaction of the ground due to the Great East Japan Earthquake (as of September 27, 2011). In order to prevent disaster due to liquefaction again, it is necessary to not only restore the damaged houses to the original state but also improve the soil on which they stand, and to that end, it is efficient and effective to take integrated measures involving neighboring residential areas.

Expenses for measures taken for public facilities to cope with liquefaction are borne by governments, but in principle, owners of private houses must pay expenses for measures they take for the houses to cope with liquefaction. The Ministry, however, recently created projects to promote liquefaction measures integrated with public facilities, such as roads and sewerage, as well as neighboring residential and other areas.