Michi-No-Eki Rest Areas Send Container Toilets to Japan’s Quake-Hit Kumamoto Prefecture
Michi-no-Eki roadside rest areas across the country are improving their capabilities related to disaster preparedness. Some of the facilities, which serve as bases in the event of a local disaster, have been sending container toilets used there during normal times to Kumamoto Prefecture, which was hit by a massive earthquake last month.
Michi-no-Eki roadside rest areas are enhancing their disaster preparedness by dispatching container toilets to Japan's earthquake-affected Kumamoto Prefecture. These facilities, functioning as disaster response bases, have been utilizing container toilets during normal operations and sending them to affected areas during emergencies.
The Tokyo Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry aims to raise the number of Bosai Michi-no-Eki, government-designated disaster response bases, from 79 to approximately 100. Container toilets were recently installed at a rest area in Kumamoto Prefecture following a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck the region on July 28.
These toilets, equipped with solar power generation and automated sewage purification, can operate even during power and water outages. Eight container toilets have already been transported from Michi-no-Eki facilities in Fukui and Kochi prefectures to Kumamoto Prefecture. The government established the Bosai Michi-no-Eki system in 2021, with 79 facilities selected based on earthquake resistance and emergency power capabilities.
The government provides subsidies to cover the costs of stockpiling supplies and installing power generation facilities. The Michi-no-Eki system was launched in 1993, with the aim of providing disaster shelters and emergency supplies.
Written by urgent.news from The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
