and strengthen wide-area disaster prevention readiness in preparation for large-scale disasters such as great earthquakes.

## (v) Preparing for Initial Response at Sea

The Japan Coast Guard deploys patrol vessels and aircraft around the clock to allow for rapid responses in the event of a disaster. Also, in accordance with the scale of the disaster a countermeasure headquarters is established to implement damage assessment surveys and rescue operations through patrol vessels and aircraft for an immediate and appropriate response.

(10) Management of Existing Stock with ICT (Information and Communications Technology)

An optical fiber network is being used to enable the management of public facilities and the sophistication of crisis management by taking advantage of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Specifically, measures are being promoted for safe road use, such as sophisticated management of optical fibers for continuous monitoring of the road slope and providing disaster information through the Internet. Also, in addition to remote control of floodgates and the remote monitoring of river flow conditions and volcanic regions, sewage treatment plants and pump stations are connected with optical fibers for remote monitoring and control as well to make management more sophisticated.

In addition, to speed up and consolidate the control of

floodgates and other facilities, the development of tsunami and storm surge disaster prevention stations to prevent tsunami and storm surge damages is being supported through disaster prevention and safety grants and other means.

## (11) Disaster Recovery of Public Works Facilities

Damage caused to public civil-engineering facilities under the jurisdiction of the MLIT (including rivers, roads, coastal areas, and sewage systems) in 2015 is reported to have totaled approximately 185 billion yen (at 6,819 sites) due to the frequent occurrence of disasters nationwide, including a disaster caused by record amounts of torrential rains in the Kanto and Tohoku regions in September 2015 attributed in part to the arrival of Typhoon No. 18 and inundation damage caused to Anan-city, Tokushima, as a result of the arrival of Typhoon No. 11 in July.

In response to the damage caused by these natural disasters, technical advice to facilitate rapid restoration and reconstruction and the prevention of secondary damage as well as other forms of support for affected local governments were provided, such as by dispatching TEC-FORCE to local areas immediately after each area was visited by a disaster and by dispatching specialists registered with the Association of Nationwide Disaster Prevention to local areas as requested by local governments under a system for dispatching technical disaster recovery experts in order to support the formulation of disaster recovery and rehabilitation plans.

In order to help local governments dealing with an especially heavy concentration of damage recover quickly, administrative procedures up to the point at which a project is adopted have been significantly reduced through the simplification of the assessment process in order to accelerate disaster recovery. For example, the maximum amount of a project that can undergo a paper-based assessment rather than an on-site assessment has been increased from less than JPY three million in ordinary cases to less than JPY ten to thirty million, depending on the local government.

Costs for disaster countermeasures and the promotion of other emergency projects have been administered for (thirty-five) areas that have been damaged by natural disasters, including the torrential rains that fell in the Kanto and Tohoku regions as well as other examples of torrential rains, landslides, heavy snow, and avalanches attributable to Typhoon No. 11 and other such weather events. In order to help ensure the safety and security of residents, disaster-prevention measures have been carried out again on an emergency basis.