Disaster Prevention Day
In Japan, September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day. This day commemorates the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and is a day on which disaster preparations are taken nationwide, especially in the Kantō region.
History
On September 1, 1923, Tokyo and surrounding areas were devastated by a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake, with a death toll of over 100,000 people from the disaster, including a large number of Koreans and socialists murdered by mobs.In June 1960 during the Prime Ministership of Nobusuke Kishi, the decision was made that September 1 would become Disaster Prevention Day in order to reduce the death toll from disasters. One year after the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake the Japanese government declared the anniversary date of January 17 to be Disaster Response Volunteers Day.
Subsequent to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Japanese government added November 5 to the calendar of national awareness days.
Every year people ranging from children in schools to parents in offices to dustbin cleaners, all prepare for a non wanted earthquake a man from shinonome, Tokyo once said that "if the disaster prevention day was never there thousands upon millions would have died"