Viewing Disaster Information in a Foreign Language

During a disaster, check official information from the Japan Meteorological Agency, your municipality, the fire department, the police, and similar sources — not just unverified information on social media.

There are also services that let you receive disaster information in a foreign language.

Safety tips

"Safety tips," supervised by the Japan Tourism Agency, is a disaster information app that can be used not only by foreign tourists but also by foreign residents living in Japan.

As of August 2026, in 15 languages, you can receive push notifications for things such as:

• Earthquake Early Warnings
• Tsunami warnings
• Weather warnings

It also includes things such as evacuation action flowcharts.

Multilingual information from your municipality

Depending on the municipality, disaster information is provided through things such as:

• Multilingual disaster-prevention email
• Disaster-prevention apps
• Social media
• Foreign resident consultation counters
• International exchange associations

Check the services in your area in advance, during normal times.

When only Japanese-language information is available

For important information, do not rely only on automatic translation — check with your municipality's foreign resident consultation counter, evacuation shelter staff, or similar.

Information for tourists may also be usable

JNTO provides disaster and transportation information and services such as the "Japan Visitor Hotline" for foreign visitors to Japan.

Some services are intended for travelers, so check whether you are eligible to use them.

What you can check next

• Japan's Disasters and the Basics of Disaster Preparedness
• Typhoons, Heavy Rain, Floods, and Landslides
• Tsunami and Evacuation Shelters

Main places to check

• Japan Meteorological Agency
• Fire and Disaster Management Agency
• JNTO
• Your municipality

Last checked: August 2026