'Do not remain here': Tokyo ward raises flooding awareness through hazard map

TOKYO -- Getting the public to recognize hazard maps to protect people's lives from disasters is a challenge in Japan, so the capital's Edogawa Ward is trying to tackle the issue by placing signs in certain areas saying, "Do not remain here."

[...]

The new measure was carried on the front page of the "Edogawa City Hazard Map," released by the ward in May, which also shows arrows pointing outward from Edogawa Ward "to other areas that are safe from flooding" including locations in Chiba and Saitama prefectures as well as western Tokyo.

Edogawa Ward is surrounded by the Edogawa River to the east, the Arakawa River to the west and Tokyo Bay to the south. Around 70% of the area is below sea level at high tide. Critics, however, have argued that the new anti-disaster measures are an abdication of responsibility as an administrative body to encourage locals to evacuate from the ward in the absence of a designated evacuation area.

"We chose this phrase so people could properly understand information and think about a wide evacuation area," said Edogawa Ward's Disaster Prevention and Risk Management Section head Yoshinari Honda. The use of such a straightforward expression to warn people of the risk of flooding drew a great public response.

[...]