facilities occurs; it is thus necessary to restructure society to ensure that there is awareness of the need to prevent floods."

In accordance with this report, the MLIT determined that it would newly endeavor to restructure society into one that is aware of the need to prevent floods by FY 2020 based on a Vision for the Restructuring of Society to Raise Flood Prevention Awareness through initiatives carried out for all rivers under ministerial jurisdiction (109 water systems) and municipalities at risk of flooding from the overflowing of such rivers (numbering 730 in total). With respect to non-structural measures, efforts will be undertaken to transition to more effective non-structural measures to be implemented in accordance with the perspective of residents in order to enable residents to detect risks themselves and evacuate on their own accord. To illustrate, the transmission of push-type flood forecast notifications with smartphones will be progressively introduced beginning in the flood season of 2016. As for structural measures, we will steadily promote conventional structural measures to safely discharge flood flow in areas requiring upgrades on a priority basis, such as areas with significantly inadequate downstream capacity and areas with a history of water leakage. In addition, we will for now introduce structural measures for flood damage mitigation, including ideas for the construction of levees that can extend the time to collapse even in the event of an overflow, to be implemented in areas that have not yet undertaken levee upgrading on account of the need to strike a balance between upstream and downstream flows irrespective of the extent to which there is a considerable risk of an overflow.

For the Kinugawa River, where extensive damage was caused because of the recent flooding, emergency flood control measures integrating both structural and non-structural elements for the first time in the country will be implemented as part of the Kinugawa River Emergency Measures Project. In different regions, councils consisting of river administrators, prefectural governments, and municipalities will be newly established for the shared objective of mitigating disasters and in order to promote the aforementioned structural and non-structural measures on an integrated, systematic basis.

Vision for the restructuring of society to raise flood prevention awareness

In response to torrential rains that fell in the Kanto and Tohoku regions, the restructuring of society to raise flood prevention awareness is to be newly incorporated into FY 2020 targets applicable to all rivers under ministerial jurisdiction and municipalities along such rivers (109 water systems, 730 municipalities) in accordance with a Vision for the Restructuring of Society to Raise Flood Prevention Awareness.

- Carry out a shift to more effective non-structural measures from the perspective of residents and implement these measures on a priority basis by the 2016 flood season in order to enable residents to detect risks themselves and evacuate autonomously.

- In addition to structural measures to safely channel off flood waters, adopt crisis management-type structural measures to mitigate damage in the event of inundation and implement these measures by FY 2020.

Set up new councils comprising river administrators, prefectural government officials, municipal officials, and other members in each region, share targets for disaster mitigation, and promote structural and non-structural measures in an integrated, systematic manner.

Key measures

○ Raise levees and take measures to prevent infiltration in sections requiring development on a priority basis.

☐ Disseminate information on risks to induce actions on the part of residents:

- Disclosure of zones in which homes are at risk of collapse and from which forced evacuations are required;

- Upgrade to hazard maps indicating, in an easy-to-understand manner, actions that should be taken by residents;

- Hold briefing sessions for real-estate-related business operators.

○ Produce preliminary action plans and promote drills:

- Formulate timelines

☐ Provide information prompting evacuation actions in real time:

- Install water-level gauges and live cameras;

- Provide push-type flood forecasts to smart phones and other such terminals.

*Zones in which wooden homes are at risk of collapse due to flooding caused by the breaching of river embankments.

## Shaping National Land that is Safe and Resilient to Disasters and Enhancing and Strengthening the Framework of Preparedness for Crisis Management

## (1) Flood Measures

Many of Japan’s major cities are positioned on low-lying districts that are lower than the river level during flooding,