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The annual comprehensive disaster prevention drills for 2013 were held on September 1, Japan's National Disaster Prevention Day. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took part in the drills together with all Cabinet members.

This year, the drills were conducted based on a scenario in which an earthquake in the Nankai Trough occurred at 6:05 a.m., with a magnitude of 9.1, a maximum seismic intensity of 7, and its epicenter stretching from Shizuoka Prefecture to the Hyuga-nada Sea.

The drills involved the operation of the government headquarters at the Prime Minister's Office, which is in charge of ensuring the implementation of emergency measures for earthquake disasters, among other tasks. After the first meeting of the Emergency Disaster Response Headquarters, the Prime Minister held a press conference to explain the overview of the earthquake and the status of the Government's response, and to give a message to the people.
Following this, Mr. Keiji Furuya, Minister of State for Disaster Management, talked to the press about the overview of the meeting of the Emergency Disaster Response Headquarters and the details of the Government's response policy.

Then, arriving by a Self-Defense Forces helicopter, the Prime Minister led a government inspection team to the venue for the joint disaster prevention drills held in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, by the nine municipalities in the Kanto region. The Prime Minister observed the demo and hands-on experience corner as well as inspection and training sessions for rescuing and aiding victims, offering medical transport across a wide area, and other activities carried out by the organizations related to disaster prevention.
Lastly, the Prime Minister said in his address at the closing ceremony of the drills,
"It is of great significance that disaster prevention day drills of this magnitude were held today with the participation of many parties, including the people of Chiba City and Chiba Prefecture, as well as the police, the fire department, the Japan Coast Guard, the Self-Defense Forces, and the private sector.
Today's drills were large in scale, with a record high number of 124 organizations and 11,000 people taking part. It was encouraging that a variety of drills, including the victim rescue and assistance drill and the wide-area medical transport drill, were carried out in an integrated manner with the cooperation and coordination of the relevant parties.
As exemplified by the spate of damages wreaked by the unprecedented heavy rainfall which lashed various areas in Japan this year, the natural conditions of Japan make the country prone to disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons, and heavy rains. Many precious lives and invaluable property have been lost as a result of such disasters.
In order to protect people's lives and property by preparing against future major disasters, including a metropolitan earthquake that was assumed in today's drills, the Government will continue to take steps to make all of Japan disaster-resilient.
It is important that each and every person stands ready and prepares against disasters that are beyond our expectations in order to mitigate the resulting devastation. On this account, I would like to ask relevant organizations and community members to make doubly sure that preparatory steps have been taken, for example, by collaborating on practical disaster prevention initiatives and inspecting such initiatives on a regular basis.
In closing, I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who worked hard to make today's disaster prevention day drills possible."