Daily Life Lessons · Disasters
Be able to look up the designated emergency evacuation sites and designated evacuation shelters near your home, workplace, and school using municipal information and hazard maps, and choose a place that suits the type of disaster.
Municipalities designate "designated emergency evacuation sites" (指定緊急避難場所), where you go urgently to protect your life, and "designated evacuation shelters" (指定避難所), where people who cannot return home stay for a period of time.
Designated emergency evacuation sites are designated for each type of disaster, such as floods, landslides and debris flows, earthquakes, tsunami, and large fires. A site that can be used in one type of disaster may not be usable in another, so be careful.
Use your municipality's website, disaster prevention map, or hazard map (ハザードマップ) to find the sites near your home, workplace, and school, and actually walk the route in advance. Check again when you move or when you travel. Evacuation shelters are not the only option: you can also evacuate to the home of a relative or friend in a safe area.
逃げる 場所には 2つ あります。
・指定緊急避難場所（していきんきゅうひなんばしょ）：すぐに 逃げて、命を 守る 場所。 ・指定避難所（していひなんじょ）：家に 帰れない 人が しばらく 生活する 場所。
1. 市や 町の ホームページや ハザードマップで 場所を 調べます。 2. 洪水（こうずい）、地震（じしん）、津波（つなみ）など、災害（さいがい）の 種類で 場所が ちがいます。 3. 前に、道を 歩いて 確かめます。 4. 安全な 親せきや 友だちの 家に 逃げても いいです。
Where do you go urgently to protect your life?
It is a place you evacuate to urgently to protect your life from the danger of a disaster.
Where do people who cannot return home stay for a while?
A designated evacuation shelter is a facility where people affected by a disaster stay for a period of time.
Which statement about designated emergency evacuation sites is correct?
They are designated for each type of disaster, such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, tsunami, and large fires.
How can you find evacuation sites near you?
Look them up in normal times, and walk the route to check it.
Which statement about "evacuation" is correct?
Evacuation (避難) means "avoiding danger." What matters is moving to a safe place.
Q. Can foreign residents and travelers use evacuation shelters?
A. Yes. Evacuation shelters are places that anyone in trouble because of a disaster can use, including foreign nationals living in Japan and travelers. If you cannot understand the language, communicate using an app's translation function or gestures.
Q. Are schools and community centers always evacuation shelters?
A. Schools and community centers (公民館) are often designated, but which facility can be used for which disaster differs by municipality. Be sure to check your municipality's information.
Q. What should I bring to an evacuation shelter?
A. If you pack water, food, medicine, a flashlight, a portable radio, and so on in an "emergency go-bag" (非常持ち出し袋), you can evacuate right away. For details, see the lesson "What to Put in an Emergency Go-Bag."
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Systems and procedures may differ depending on the city, ward, town or village where you live and on the time of year. Please check the latest information from your local government or the relevant organizations.
Content checked on: 2026-09-28
This page is a translation of the Japanese original. If the translation and the original differ, the Japanese version takes precedence. View the Japanese original