[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting of the Central Disaster Prevention Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, the revision of the Basic Disaster Management Plan was decided, and the Final Report of the Working Group on Volcano Disaster Countermeasures Promotion was presented, as well as reports on other matters.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

“Last year, many large-scale disasters took place, such as the landslides in Hiroshima, in which 74 people lost their lives, and the Mount Ontake volcanic eruption, in which 57 people lost their lives and six are still missing. Also, this year, there was a total evacuation of the residents of Kuchinoerabu-jima Island after the volcanic eruption there. I would like to once again express my deepest condolences and sympathies to all those who lost their lives or were affected by these disasters.

The Government will continue to take all possible disaster management measures with a sense of urgency to protect the lives and property of the people in the event of volcanic activity and other major disasters such as landslides.

In today’s meeting, I would like you to hold discussions on the revision of the Basic Disaster Management Plan, which includes the strengthening of measures which take into account the lessons learned from recent landslide damage such as that in Hiroshima; the strengthening of volcanic disaster measures which take into account the lessons learned from the Mount Ontake volcanic eruption damage; and, in addition, the strengthening of countermeasures for complex disasters. Thank you.”