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[Provisional Translation]

On December 25, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the fourth meeting of the National Council for the Promotion of Disaster Prevention at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, there were reports on the activities to date of the National Council for the Promotion of Disaster Prevention and its future activities as well as the initiatives of the member organizations.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

“I would like to offer a few remarks at the opening of the fourth meeting of the National Council for the Promotion of Disaster Prevention

This year, large-scale disasters took place in succession and many people suffered damage across the Japanese archipelago, such as the earthquake in the northern part of Osaka Prefecture, the heavy rains in western Japan in July, the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake, and the series of typhoons including Typhoon No. 21.* I once again express my deepest condolences for those who lost their lives and my heartfelt sympathies to all who have been affected by them.

To the members of the National Council, I also once again express my sincere gratitude for your cooperation for the activities of this council and active contributions in the various areas of disaster management from both hard and soft sides, such as prior measures, a series of actions and care for those who affected during times of disaster, and local disaster management.

As disasters have been intensifying in recent years, promoting disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, and national resilience, which protect the lives and property of the people, are important and urgent issues for the politics and society of our country. The Government recently finalized the Fundamental Plan for National Resilience and the three-year emergency response plan for disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, and building national resilience.

Among these efforts, it is important to raise public awareness on disaster prevention and create a society with higher disaster prevention awareness which is prepared for a range of natural disasters, through combination of self-help of each and every citizen and mutual support among communities, companies, schools, volunteers and others, along with the supports from the Government.

In the case of the heavy rains in western Japan in July, there were several cases in which residents were able to evacuate safely because of the day-to-day efforts in their communities. It is imperative that such initiatives are broadly shared among the people in order to comprehensively raise the public awareness on disaster prevention and I believe this is the role to be played by this National Council.

The initiatives in any given field that you are engaged in are also essential for promoting self-help and mutual support. I would like to conclude my remarks by asking for the further cooperation of all of you who are leaders in your respective fields. Thank you very much.”

*Typhoon Jebi