January 29, 2025 Meeting of the "Study Team for the Enhancement and Strengthening of Measures for Maintaining and Securing Broadcasting Services in the Event of a Wide-Area Major Disaster"

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) will hold a meeting of the “Study Team for the Enhancement and Strengthening of Measures for Maintaining and Securing Broadcasting Services in the Event of a Wide-Area Major Disaster” with the aim of considering measures and actions to ensure that broadcasting continues so that necessary local information can be delivered to disaster victims in the event of a disaster.

1. Background purpose

 Disasters in Japan are becoming more intense and frequent, and in recent years there have been many natural disasters, such as the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake, the 2020 Kyushu floods, and the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake and floods, which have led to the implementation of measures to deal with these disasters, and countermeasures based on last year's Noto Peninsula earthquake are being gradually implemented.
 On the other hand, with the first “Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information (Major Earthquake Warning)” issued in August 2024, there is also concern that a large-scale disaster may occur in the near future, such as the Nankai Trough Earthquake or a trench-type earthquake around the Japan Trench or Kuril Trench, and in addition to the measures taken so far, it is necessary to consider additional measures in advance to ensure that local broadcasters can deliver necessary local information to disaster victims, such as (1) measures to maintain broadcasting, (2) securing alternative means in the event of a broadcast outage, and (3) ensuring a viewing environment for disaster victims, in the event that a disaster affects a wide area.
 Based on the above, this study team will be held under the Study Group on the Future of the Broadcasting System in the Digital Age, and will focus on enhancing and strengthening measures to maintain and secure broadcasting services in the event of a large-scale disaster in the future, with the cooperation of related business operators, etc.

2. Items to be considered

• 1.
  Policies for maintaining broadcasting in the event of a large-scale disaster affecting a wide area
• 2.
  Securing an alternative means of broadcasting in the event that a local station stops broadcasting
• 3.
  Securing a viewing environment for disaster victims
• 4.
  Other

3. Meeting period

 This meeting has been held since February 2025, and more are scheduled to follow.